Miscellaneous Tidbits from Yingtan, China
July 12-30, 2009

An unusual highlight of our time in China was a solar eclipse. It started about 8:15 a.m. and the sky was clear, so the eclipse was visible. As you might guess, the excitement over the event totally destroyed any attempt to teach English. I told the students over and over to not look directly at the sun and showed them how to image the eclipse using a pinhole in a sheet of paper, but it was to no avail.

As the eclipse approached its maximum, we had a stoke of luck. Clouds moved in and obscured the sun. As the clouds drifted by and breaks in the clouds passed near the sun, the sun's brightness was dimmed, but could still be seen through the clouds. I managed to get this photo by pointing the camera at the sun. I think it is neat! The eclipse in Yingtan was about 90% total, and you could notice it getting darker outside, although it didn't get as dark as in a total eclipse.

On the left is Lily who was initially the local coordinator we worked with for the program. However, she was also teaching a regular class of her own at the school. Having two jobs proved difficult, so she bowed out and was replaced by Page (center). On the right is Ting-ting, a college student who volunteered to assist with the program. Their help was greatly appreciated.

Our hotel was about a 15 minute walk from the school. The local education bureau provided a car and driver to take us to the hotel and back for the midday break. We usually walked in the morning and in the evening. We were often accompanied by one of the Chinese (in this case Page); they must have thought we didn't know the way and would get lost (:-).

A benefit of walking to the school is that we got to see some interesting things, such as this group doing tai chi to start their day. The location is Times Square, in the heart of the city.

Other groups in Times square got their exercise in different ways, such as ballroom dancing, or with swords, as can be seen here. Note the Walmart sign in the background. It was a convenient place to buy food and other incidentals.

Nancy teaching class on the last day in her qipao, a style of Chinese dress. She got a lot of compliments. Nancy, Sandy, and Linda each had a Chinese dress made for them by a local tailor.

Getting ready for the closing ceremony. Linda, Sandy, and Nancy wore their Chinese dresses, and Bob wore his Chinese shirt. It made me look kind of ordinary in my western style shirt, although it was probably made in China (:-).

Our "students" at the closing ceremony. They look happy - they must be glad the program is over. Maybe we worked them too hard. (:-).

The next day we took the train to Shanghai for a debriefing with Amity. Here, Bob is reporting on our teaching in Yingtan. Bob was a very good team leader.

Our return trip to the U.S. was routed through San Francisco, where we had a gorgeous view of the city and the bay from the air. It was a great welcome back present.