The past two weeks

Before I write about going to Shenzen, Zhongshan furniture shopping, and other things I have been doing… What I’m thinking about now…

All educators know that even though teaching is rewarding it is so tiring. I am really looking forward to retirement in a few years (okay, more like 5). Teaching is a sprint every year. The pace never ends and teaching international baccalaureate biology is crazy. I have great kids but the content is so heavy that there is no time for fun projects.

I am struggling to get to all the content I need to cover this year. It is a 2 year class so there is more content for next year too.

I am really fortunate to be here. I landed in a top tier school on my first try and will be here most likely until I retire. I work with amazing educators from all over the world and have incredible students. Being able to travel and see this part of the world is the icing on the cake.

This past week I had a massive ear infection that required IV antibiotics and steroids. A digital detox was unexpected but great for catching up on work as high level government meetings shut down VPN’s across the country. I practiced my mandarin and binge watched the first few seasons of Game of Thrones before the new season starts to rest while my ear healed.

I am looking forward to moving to a new apartment next year. This will be my new digs…

I have a week after school ends to move before flying home to spend 4 weeks in PA and another week traveling to Amsterdam before flying back. I will fly to Philly first to go to ISTE.

A couple weeks ago I traveled to Shenzen to visit Chuck Allessie and his wife Wei Ying. She is from Shenzen. Chuck had stomach issues but I still traveled to see her family. We ate at the most impressive dim sum restaurant. The food was amazing…

While we were waiting we walked around the mall and viewed some art on display.

Around the mall.it was great meandering and talking about life in China and the US. Wei Ying, her daughter and her sister are lovely and funny. It was good to be somewhere new and see new sights. I am grateful for their company and hospitality. Shenzen is beautiful and much smaller than Guangzhou.

We walked around the park on a beautiful but overcast day.

Shenzen is right next to Hong Kong which you can see across the water.

The next weekend a group of us chartered a bus to go to Zhongshan where there are many furniture stores in one place. Many of the stores have apprentice programs for youth and make impressive pieces.

I love the apothecary look and have thought about purchasing one for years.

One store had tables with water features in the center. They were gorgeous… And huge.

Lunch was amazing at a little restaurant nearby. Homemade noodles and dumplings.

Lots to see walking around…

In the end (literally the last 20 minutes) I did buy something. I will be moving into a different apartment and there is a lack of drawers in the kitchen.

Running and biking…

I sometimes think I am a bit less active here than when I was state-side but think I am still staying very active. My activities have just shifted a bit.

I still try to run three or four days a week. It was easier to do when I was coaching cross country and running with them. Since the season ended, it is so much easier to leave work early on the days that I don’t need to stay for meetings. Once home in my apartment I find it difficult to want to go out for a run. Work days are a little longer here especially when you include the commute.

I am training for a half marathon in Yixing China at the beginning of April. That helps to motivate me.

I did join the local Nike Run club. I was introduced by a Chinese national I met at an exercise bootcamp. They are all very friendly there and welcoming. I am practicing my chinese a little (mostly counting down stretches, but every little bit helps).

Here is a pic before one of our runs. We run on Tuesday night through the greenway which is lit up and has many pedestrians allowing me to practice quick weaving in and out to avoid collisions!

run club

Nicole is another first year teacher from Australia I spend much time with. She likes to go walking around instead of taking the metro or didis (taxis) and runs in the club as well. This is after one of the runs while we were waiting for the other groups to finish.

Nike run club post run

At the last club event yesterday we went on a longer run. Information before sometimes includes new product information. Since it is in Chinese I will try to pick out words I know but also make up my own narrative when I feel silly.

Before the run. There are stretches, info, introducing of pacers, and a group Photo.

During the long run. There were 4 groups based on pace. I chose the fast group that night. They are pretty crazy marathoners.

After the run there are stretches.

And time to chat.

This time they also had giveaways. When my name was pulled the person could not pronounce it but the pacers could as I am a regular every week.

As my name was pulled I was to draw the next name. I kept thinking to myself that there is no way I will be able to pronounce the name I draw and was surprised when it was Nicole’s!

We stayed a little longer to try out the new fly knit shoes on the treadmill. For giving feedback and running one minute they give you a massage ball. Nicole and I with one of the pacers, Sam.

Since I do not like to ride the bus all the time, I joined a group of teachers who bike to work. It is about 12-13 miles and takes us around 50-55 minutes to bike. There are showers at the school and usually we ride the bus home as traffic is a bit more in the afternoon. Since they are coach buses, there is room to store the bike underneath.

Biking

My goal is to use a go pro to show the tire of traffic around here. It is not just the trucks, cars, and busses… The pedestrians and other bikes can be the biggest challenge. I will add that later.

Friday night hot pot

There is a restaurant along our running route we have been wanting to try. Nicole and I finally stopped to try it.

After some translating app use, we ordered the broth for the hot pot. I am certain it is not vegetarian but good nonetheless. I’m not worried about broth.

The heating is in the center of the table.

The food choices were fabulous. A lot to choose from.

Veggies, mushroom, tofu…

Assorted meats. You grab skewers of mear or trays of seafood along the bottom to take back to the table.

They count everything up in the end.

You start adding your pieces to the hot pot as you go.

The dish in the lower left on the above picture is additional items to flavor your broth you put in your bowl. Garlic, chilies, sauces…

Fun and yummy. Items to add are at the end of the table and you add to the broth as you go.

I know there is bit out on other places of the world but this was really fun. When we would run by we would always smell curry. Turns out it is probably not coming from this restaurant. More exploring to do!

Everything’s coming up flowers…

There are some spectacular displays here for Chinese New Year. For weeks they have been working on garden displays and finally opened it up to view.

Each area has a specific design and focus.

Many different decorations can be seen.

There were so many flowers and all were gorgeous.

These large flowers are made from flowers themselves.

The orchids are just beautiful.

This display with a waterfall and deer is one of my favorite.

It is the year of the pig. Pigs showed up in many displays whether they fit the theme or not.

Love these trio of elephants.

It would not be Chinese new year without a dragon.

This car made from plants is pretty clever.

Another display:

Another pig in the style of Peppa pig.

This display was meant to look like a painting.

Between vacations… Or a vacation break?

After Christmas break we were back in school for 3 weeks. With such a short time, it s crazy trying to get teaching, IB labs, formatives/summatives in begore our next big break : Chinese new year. I will have to stay here one time just to participate in the celebrations. But this year I will split my time between Thailand and Laos.

My friend Daniel came to visit and we were able to find some of the markets I had wanted to find. The qingping markets are on sets of streets and are a great way to find bargains.

Yes. Those are scorpions. Below is alligator legs. We saw pretty much everything out in the market.

Dried mushrooms, herbs, and teas. I also loved the area around apartments and the buildings.

The signs were especially interesting here in China :

I also participated in a hike on Baiyun mountain with my friend Nicole with a K2Fit event. It was off the beaten path and had some really tough vertical walks. But it was beautiful.

Best of all is the new food places I am finding. Noodle soups are still the best.

I also finally ate at traveler kitchen that I had passed many times and never stopped at. Exceptional food.

A great way to start vacation!

New years eve

It is already the first here in China. We had a more relaxed day planned for the last day Becca and Ryan were here. Becca liked the work of the tattoo artist for our family tattoos and decided to get her other one she was thinking about. The first is also a bit less here for the same quality work.

We started out the day with the last run before Becca leaves. We ran a little over 4 miles on Ershadao. I’ll miss my running buddy.

After the run, we made breakfast here in my apartment. I made Vietnamese egg coffee, one of my favorite. I have to confess that I was supposed to become an expert in making the drink before becca and Ryan arrived but I kept putting it off. It is my first year of teaching again. Here is our breakfast. Egg coffee, sweet potato hash and an omelet.

Egg coffee originated when milk was scarce in Vietnam and whipped eggs were used as a substitute. Now the drink is made with sweetened condensed milk and eggs white into a froth and piled on top. I bought Vietnamese coffee when I visited in October. To date it is my favorite place for food.

Back to the story. The best part is that our favorite restaurant is in the Buddha temple in Beijing lu and it is not far from the tattoo parlor.

We had more great dishes for lunch that day. It will take some time to work through that menu.

Dumplings with a mushroom filling.

Baked squash with filling, what we thought was fried tofu but think it was taro, and a yummy dish made with coconut milk.

After lunch, I walked around the other side of the temple.

I have heard “welcome to China” often, especially with head scratching events. Such as driving your car onto the sidewalk then yelling at the pedestrians in your way. It sits not happen often but entertaining when it does.

Afterwards we came back to the apartment to relax before going to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. We tried to stay awake for the new year, but needed to get up early to get to the airport. I actually woke up 8 minutes before midnight and because it was cold, stayed under the covers. I thought I would get up to see if there was a light display. I feel back asleep and awoke at 12:30. Oh well, no one seemed concerned of missing out.

Family tattoo

Some time ago I wanted to get a simple tattoo like bamboo.

Even though Rebecca and I got matching tattoos (infinity symbol with the word “run”) before I left the states, I promised Ryan I would get one with him too.

I wanted something that would remind me of China and not just that I got a tattoo here. I like my Chinese character as I was born in the year of the dragon so it seemed fitting to get our respective animals. Ryan would get the dog and Becca the goat.

Ryan was not keen on that. Instead we decided on a minimalist bamboo design which is pretty much my style anyway.

One of my colleagues knows a person who had a tattoo here and swears by this shop. I love we chat. You can send your designs to them, give earnest money, etc. They were located in an area we had explored just a few days before.

They were very professional and are lot of fun. They had 3 people available to work on us at the same time so took very little time overall.

Here is the end result:

They also made a little video during the session.

https://youtu.be/yRzm_rjVFGY

They were a lot of fun and with some broken English, use of a translator app, and expressions made for a very fun afternoon.

Their we chat id is: wenyifantattoo-3

Instagram: acantattoo

Baiyun mountain

We started the day hiking up Baiyun mountain. It means White Cloud Mountain and is also the “lungs of Guangzhou”.

We have been taking the metro so often and in directions I have not previously gone that I am becoming much better at getting around the city. I also greatly appreciate how the metro is laid out in this city. It is done well.

The west entrance to Baiyun.

These flowers remind me the flowers from the Lorax.

The climb up.

The weather this morning is cooler with some rain. The fog has not burned off as of yet.

At Shanding square below the summit there was entertainment and a TV crew. We watched for a few minutes. The music and dancing was wonderful to listen watch.

At the Square we took in the views.

At the west gate of the mountain.

Lots of walking these last few days but it has been great fun exploring areas around Guangzhou with Becca and Ryan.

Botanical Garden, South China

Even though it is almost winter, we decided to go to the botanical gardens anyway.

The place is beautiful even without everything in full bloom. We started at the Palm garden.

We followed some trails then went to the bamboo garden.

It is great to see Darwin revered here. The are statues of him also in science city where I work.

The bromeliad garden.

I just loved how vines were wrapping around the trees.

These trees are striking with their white trunks.

The medicinal herb garden was interesting with all of the species that are on display.

Near the ginger garden.

It is getting cooler today. Poor butterfly.

At the Neolithic garden.

Along the water with the water plants.

Though not everything is blooming it was still a great time to enjoy nature and get a break from the city

Ancient Whampoa Anchorage


Shiji Village, Bazhou Street, Xingang East Road, Haizhu District
, Guangzhou, China

We took the metro and walked some distance to this village. Becca, Ryan, and I were searching for souvenirs and street food for lunch.

Ryan tried vegetarian steamed buns and flatbread. We also bought candied ginger, sesame candies, dried sweet potato, dried mango, and dried figs. At one of the restaurants, we ordered a veggie dish (fried morning glory? Or some variety of spinach) and stir fried squid with vegetables. Yummy.

This place is getting more commercial but you can still find residents who sell their wares on the street.