Ok, here it is, all you want to know about Scott, Sylvia, and the Olympics! I'll do my best. Sometime last Fall we applied to volunteer. We had interviews in March, heard in May that we were accepted, and then got trickles of emails here and there. Scott is assigned to the Olympic Common Domain, doing Spectator Services. Basically, he stands inside the Olympic park (south end, between the Bird's Nest and Water Cube) and helps foreign spectators with any problems they have. The biggest problem he encounters is that people get dropped off by taxi, or enter the wrong gate. Then they have to walk 500m the other direction. Because of security you can only go into the park at certain spots. There's just a lot of walking involved. Even for us, the bus drops us off one place, we have to walk up to the security gate, then walk back down to check-in, then back up again to your location. Chinese people are used to it, but foreigners generally get pretty fed-up with all the walking :) So that's Scott. His managers are really great, they contacted him right away when we were back from camp, he was working before the olympics even started. He basically is required to work everyday, but it's kinda flexible. He usually works 4 then takes 1 off. The chinese are pretty thrilled about the Olympics. They don't take days off!
As for me, I had never been contacted by my manager. I called an Inspector for my site, and he said that they had problems with the manager, he wasn't answering his phone. Finally, 3 days after the Olympics had begun, I was called to go pick up my ID badge. I went to the south end of the city to get that, then had to go to my venue at the opposite end of town. I am also on the Olympic Green (park where most of the venues are), but in the northern end, about a 15min. bus ride from Scott's location. I am at the Tennis, Archery, and Field Hockey venues. As I found out on Monday, I'm in the office for the Volunteer Assistant staff. This office is in charge of checking in and out of all the volunteers for the tennis venue, getting uniforms for them, some statistics about the volunteers, numbers for catering, and writing a newspaper for the volunteers. So the question was at first, what would I do?? They didn't really have anything set for me to do, so I suggested maybe something in English in the newspaper, because there are other foreign volunteers. So I'll be interviewing foreign volunteers, and writing some short articles for the newspaper that gets put out every other day. It's been pretty laid-back though. We have a TV in our office, where we can watch all the Olympics we want. And today I helped make some paper flowers! My job is much easier than Scott's, but a bit more boring.
Our office is located underneath one of the tennis courts. Our security clearance doesn't allow us to go INTO the actual venue, but we can get pretty close, and peak inside. Yesterday I peeked at the match between a famous chinese girl and a spanish girl. Also, we went into Center Court when there was no game going on. But I'm pretty sure it was a William's sister that was practicing there. Tall, black, USA uniform. Pretty cool. And yesterday I saw some of the field hockey action between the UK and Argentina. We receive free breakfast, lunch, and all the drinks we want. The food isn't that great. Actually, lunch is pretty bad. But at least the drinks are good! The Olympics are totally sponsored by Coke.
One of the best things about doing this is meeting other chinese people. Most of our colleagues are university students. They are all excited to have foreigners working with them. I was paraded around to other offices to meet them, but it kinda felt like they were showing me off. It was kinda awkward.
We went to 2 women's soccer games last night. Brazil vs. Nigeria and Canada vs. Sweden! Good times. And on Friday we're going to see Handball. Looks like fun. We're also hosting 2 delegates from Niger right now, so our French is coming in handy! We're all going out to dinner now so I've gotta go! Thanks for all your comments!!!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Anybody reading this?
Not sure how many people actually read this anymore, besides our parents. If you're not able to comment here, you can email me your comments :) Funny thing, there was a magazine article that named some things to do before you leave Beijing. One of them was "Start writing a blog. Stop writing a blog when you realize everyone is writing one."
In any case, it's at least a good way for me to process things. We returned a few days ago from 2 weeks in Nanchang, which is a 12hour train ride south. We went down with a friend, to meet up with his fiance and our friends who are part of an organization that runs camps for orphans. It's difficult to paint a picture for you of all the things that happen at this camp, but I'll try. This year, the camp is using a hotel that is semi-abandoned. They still seemed to have some guests, but they don't provide many things (like change of sheets, towels, etc.) There was a big open courtyard at the center that we used for assemblies and playing with the kids. So, this organization has established relationships with state and private orphanages. Up to 40 children are sent to the camp for 5 days. Each child is paired up with a Foreign buddy (american, canadian, australian) and a chinese college student who acts as the translator, and also is like an older brother/sister to the child. The children sleep in the same room as the translators, and we're called family groups. With these groups we eat all our meals together, swim together, do crafts, and spend almost every waking moment together! The point is to show the children love, and that no matter what they do, we will always love them, because they are valuable! We will not abandon them like their parents did.
On Thursday we write letters to each other, and we also spend part of the evening doing a life chart. In this exercise, we encourage the children to discuss each year of his/her life and rate it on a scale of happiness. For some, it's easy to talk about. For others, they don't know how to talk about it, or even express their emotions. If a child does open up, it's very powerful for everyone in the family group. The child has the opportunity to share their emotions in a safe environment, and the foreigner and the translator are made aware of the tragic stories that happen over and over again here. It's really heart-breaking. Thursday nights are quite emotional. The foreign volunteers have a meeting each evening, and that night is always the most touching and powerful. Fridays are also difficult. We have a goodbye ceremony where the translator reads the letters we've written to our child, and the child to their buddy. There are always tears, as many of the children express their gratitude for experiencing love and acceptance for the first time. For many, it's the highlight of the year. After lunch we say goodbye, and it's so sad as they all get into the van crying. They drive away and we are all left there on the steps of the hotel sobbing....wishing we could each take our buddy home.....trying not to think about the place they are going back to.....wondering if there is hope for them. We stand there and doubt for a moment, but thankfully most of us are able to lay them back in the hands of their Father who loves them more than we do, and trust that he has a plan for them.
I'll tell you now a little about the girls that I had. The first week we had 2 buddies each. I had two girls, one 14, the other 18. They often look much younger though. Sometimes it's because no one knows their real birthdays. Often they are malnourished and emotionally immature as well. Both of the girls have lived at the orphanage their whole lives. They don't remember anything else. For them, their ups and downs involve school, and acceptance by other peers. One of the girls lives in a foster home, but they are quite poor. The other girl lives at the orphanage, but she has a "love mother and father" that she doesn't like. She said she also takes care of about 6 younger children. I encouraged them to keep studying hard. If they do well in school they do have some hope for a better future independently. If not, they fall into the welfare system. For the second week I had a 14 yr old girl who was visually impaired. It was her first year at camp. She really seemed to come out of her shell and made other friends, had a good time. She was quite afraid of the water at the pool and the first day wouldn't even cross the fence into the pool area. Eventually she did, once she saw the others swimming happily, but just sat on the side. By the 3rd day she wanted to try swimming, but unfortunately it was raining all day and we couldn't go. All week she had been sharing her story with the translator and I, but when we did the life chart she went into more detail. Because of her visual impairment she never went to school until this past year! And she's 14! I guess the orphanage finally had some money to send her. She goes to a boarding school for the visually impaired. She said the hardest part was that parents were allowed to stay for 3 days with the new students, and she felt very lonely because she had none. She told us that her greatest wish is to have parents. I wish I could fulfill that. What's tragic is that in this country, once your turn 14 you are no longer adoptable. The children don't know this. Breaks my heart, the memory of her with tears in her eyes as they drove away.......
On a more positive note, the translators are also deeply moved. Many regular folk don't know about what goes on with orphans. These ones start to ask questions, like why perfectly healthy, beautiful girls are abandoned? For most, they are moved to tears. On the last evening they did a huge fireworks display for us all. One translator was sobbing. When asked why, she said "I want my country to do this for its orphans, not just americans that come in." And that is exactly what we want! We want them to take care of them, to see the problem and find a way to solve it, to raise up a generation that thinks differently. Most of the college students live close to the orphanages that they plan to visit them. Some of them are mentors, who visit the children every weekend. This is the hopeful and exciting part.
We'll post some pictures on facebook. Needless to say, it was a great time. Email me if you want information about the organization, and if you're interested in coming next year!
Olympic updates will be another post later this week :)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Puppy in a basket
Trying to adjust back to life in Beijing, and actually it's not too much of an adjustment. We were only gone for 3 weeks afterall. Things do change quickly around here, at least the way things look. Otherwise, this is our home. We know the routines here, and it's become familiar. In Canada we were out of routine. We didn't really have a place to call home. What was familiar were all the people. How marvelous it was to see so many people and spend time with people who truly know us. Those bonds are irreplaceable. And the time in Ontario really was awesome. The skies were such a deep blue, and the trees and grass were such a beautiful dark green. The air was sweet, and the blueberries were delicious! We had a great time visiting....and although it was hard to leave, it was nice to unpack the suitcases, even if just for a week.
Salt & Pepper (our pet rabbits) grew and matured while we were away. They have both reached puberty and it certainly affects their relationship :) Needless to say, we think Salt might be pregnant. Pepper is as mischevious as always, jumping up on the couch, chewing on almost every piece of paper and wood he can find. Salt is still shy and flighty. We've considered getting rid of them, and have thought it over for a few days. But we don't really have many options. The pet store won't take them. Even though they are quite a bit of work these days, we're still quite attached to them and would hate to part with them. (Yes, we realize that we've become crazy pet parents).
Even though we've returned to our familiar surroundings, we are missing a lot of our friends that have returned to their motherlands. We're really missing Jodee and Steven, who unexpectedly left while we were gone. His contract was cut short by one month and so we didn't even get to say goodbye. We really did a lot with them. Our evenings are currently a bit boring without them around. But we look forward to the beginning of the school year, when new faces will arrive, and some others will come back from summer holidays.
I won't be posting again for a couple of weeks, as we're heading down south to where it is rumoured to be 35 degrees everyday and have lots of mosquitoes! It's an overnight train ride, which is always an adventure. Thankfully our friend Noah is joining us. We'll have 3 other people to share the cabin with.....hopefully no babies or snorers.
Oh, I forgot to mention our impulsive move this week (we realize that together we sometimes make rash decisions). I really wanted to add some colour to our white walls. I wanted a cozier feel....I guess slightly inspired by all the beautifully decorated homes in Canada. We decided on RED for a few of our walls. Choosing the paint at the store is nerve-wracking. We probably should've taken more time and brought the paint chips home, because we ended up with a red that I think is too bright. But it's fine. It was a 1.5 day affair. Cleaning, taping, painting once, painting twice, painting three times, go buy more paint, then paint fourth time! yes, four coats. It actually looks pretty good....but I think we should've done a red that was a bit warmer. Oh well! Stay tuned for pictures! And we're hoping our landlord likes it :)
Goodbye for now from the mainland, where the sicadas are defeaningly loud, and dogs ride in the baskets of bikes.....
Salt & Pepper (our pet rabbits) grew and matured while we were away. They have both reached puberty and it certainly affects their relationship :) Needless to say, we think Salt might be pregnant. Pepper is as mischevious as always, jumping up on the couch, chewing on almost every piece of paper and wood he can find. Salt is still shy and flighty. We've considered getting rid of them, and have thought it over for a few days. But we don't really have many options. The pet store won't take them. Even though they are quite a bit of work these days, we're still quite attached to them and would hate to part with them. (Yes, we realize that we've become crazy pet parents).
Even though we've returned to our familiar surroundings, we are missing a lot of our friends that have returned to their motherlands. We're really missing Jodee and Steven, who unexpectedly left while we were gone. His contract was cut short by one month and so we didn't even get to say goodbye. We really did a lot with them. Our evenings are currently a bit boring without them around. But we look forward to the beginning of the school year, when new faces will arrive, and some others will come back from summer holidays.
I won't be posting again for a couple of weeks, as we're heading down south to where it is rumoured to be 35 degrees everyday and have lots of mosquitoes! It's an overnight train ride, which is always an adventure. Thankfully our friend Noah is joining us. We'll have 3 other people to share the cabin with.....hopefully no babies or snorers.
Oh, I forgot to mention our impulsive move this week (we realize that together we sometimes make rash decisions). I really wanted to add some colour to our white walls. I wanted a cozier feel....I guess slightly inspired by all the beautifully decorated homes in Canada. We decided on RED for a few of our walls. Choosing the paint at the store is nerve-wracking. We probably should've taken more time and brought the paint chips home, because we ended up with a red that I think is too bright. But it's fine. It was a 1.5 day affair. Cleaning, taping, painting once, painting twice, painting three times, go buy more paint, then paint fourth time! yes, four coats. It actually looks pretty good....but I think we should've done a red that was a bit warmer. Oh well! Stay tuned for pictures! And we're hoping our landlord likes it :)
Goodbye for now from the mainland, where the sicadas are defeaningly loud, and dogs ride in the baskets of bikes.....
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
HELLO CANADA
Yes, we've been visiting Canada now for 2 weeks. It was an unplanned trip, spurred on when I realized we had about 3 weeks with no plans, and I really needed a break. After sitting on the idea for 3 days, we went ahead and bought tickets, just 10 days before flying out. We've really enjoyed our time at home. It's been great to catch up with friends and family. Honestly, it doesn't feel like we've left! Facebook is great for helping us keep in touch. The biggest difference would be the kids - they sure grow and change a lot in a year.
Being home is nice and easy...everything just runs simply....not like life in China. Scott reminded me tonight that this is not all that life is meant to be...too much comfort, and you don't grow. I enjoy life in China when we're there, but it's sure nice to visit Canada. We've really appreciated the clear skies, clean air, GREEN everywhere, stars, sunsets, the list goes on. But I know that for now, God has called us to serve him in China. So in obedience, we return there next week. There are lots of adventures planned for this summer, and we look forward to another great school year.
Keep in touch!!!
Being home is nice and easy...everything just runs simply....not like life in China. Scott reminded me tonight that this is not all that life is meant to be...too much comfort, and you don't grow. I enjoy life in China when we're there, but it's sure nice to visit Canada. We've really appreciated the clear skies, clean air, GREEN everywhere, stars, sunsets, the list goes on. But I know that for now, God has called us to serve him in China. So in obedience, we return there next week. There are lots of adventures planned for this summer, and we look forward to another great school year.
Keep in touch!!!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
HOT!
It's been very hot this past week here in Beijing. Saturday and Sunday were probably the hottest days, with temperatures between 30-35. We had an excellent Sports Day on Saturday with the school. The only unfortunate thing was that we had to be outside most of the time! Sitting on astro turf wasn't nice either, it gets really hot! All the students and staff were divided into House teams, and we had a great time getting dressed up as Yellow Lions, or Red Bulls. I even wore yellow nail polish.
In spite of the heat, all in all, it was a great day. Tug-o-war was probably the highlight, especially when us yellow lions won! We didn't win overall, but my team did take second place and Scott's team was third :) We were supposed to have Sports Day on a Friday, but for logistical reasons it was changed to Saturday, and so we got Monday off! We were able to enjoy a nice weekend, which included a trip to the Bird's Nest (Olympic National Stadium). It's pretty cool! Each of the main venues has to have a rehearsal running an event, that's why we've been able to go. We saw the finals for a Track & Field meet, including javelin, triple jump, high jump and the relay races, which are always exciting! (We also had a teacher's relay for our Sports Day, which Scott's team won because he's an awesome sprinter!).
We are down to the last two weeks! It's really hard to teach. The kids are loopy and excited, but I try to find fun things they enjoy doing. We're still not sure what exactly we'll be doing for our holiday after school, but that's ok.
Our bunnies are big now! Pepper can even jump up on the couch unassisted! Which is bad news, because he likes to poop on there. gross. But they are still as cute as ever, just double in size.
We've had some sandy weather lately, which means we have indoor recess. Apparently factories are working overtime now since they will be shut down during the Olympics.
Well, don't forget to come visit us over here! We're craving visitors! And I'm also craving Greek pasta salad mix. That kind in an envelope. Any of those dry envelope mixes would be great! :)
Bye!
In spite of the heat, all in all, it was a great day. Tug-o-war was probably the highlight, especially when us yellow lions won! We didn't win overall, but my team did take second place and Scott's team was third :) We were supposed to have Sports Day on a Friday, but for logistical reasons it was changed to Saturday, and so we got Monday off! We were able to enjoy a nice weekend, which included a trip to the Bird's Nest (Olympic National Stadium). It's pretty cool! Each of the main venues has to have a rehearsal running an event, that's why we've been able to go. We saw the finals for a Track & Field meet, including javelin, triple jump, high jump and the relay races, which are always exciting! (We also had a teacher's relay for our Sports Day, which Scott's team won because he's an awesome sprinter!).
We are down to the last two weeks! It's really hard to teach. The kids are loopy and excited, but I try to find fun things they enjoy doing. We're still not sure what exactly we'll be doing for our holiday after school, but that's ok.
Our bunnies are big now! Pepper can even jump up on the couch unassisted! Which is bad news, because he likes to poop on there. gross. But they are still as cute as ever, just double in size.
We've had some sandy weather lately, which means we have indoor recess. Apparently factories are working overtime now since they will be shut down during the Olympics.
Well, don't forget to come visit us over here! We're craving visitors! And I'm also craving Greek pasta salad mix. That kind in an envelope. Any of those dry envelope mixes would be great! :)
Bye!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Safe & Sound
Yes things are crazy right now in China. The recent earthquake has kinda shaken things up (unintentional pun). I barely noticed the small tremor we got here in Beijing at 2:30 on Monday. We were in school...I was standing at the front of the class and felt dizzy for a moment, as if I was sick. Later on I found out the reason, and that I wasn't the only one who thought I was sick :) Our students didn't even notice, so why would we evacuate? Some parents were wondering why not, when other schools did. Maybe we should first get an Earthquake Evacuation procedure! hmmm.....
Almost two weeks ago now we went on an AWESOME, memorable camping/hiking trip on a section of the Great wall. We planned to go with some co-workers who'd been before, but they backed out....so we ended up planning this trip on our own, blindly. Thankfully we had some other adventurous friends who trusted us to the task. We got a driver and off we went, 6 of us, to a more remote section. Hardly any people! That's an amazing thing when you live in such a crowded country. Unfortunately the china traffic delayed our arrival, so it was 6 pm by the time we made it to the entrance of the park. We hiked up, and then once we figured out which direction to go on the wall, we hiked as far as we could and found a flat tower in which to pitch our tent. We made a smorgasboard for dinner: baked beans, mac 'n' cheese, soup, buns, boiled eggs. So good! Us 4 girls slept in the tent, while the two boys gladly slept outside on mats.
At 2:30 I saw some lights.....prayed it wasn't lightning....but it was. At about 4am we woke everyone up, grabbed everything that was sitting outside, including the boys, and huddled inside the tent as it started to rain. We were completely, and entirely UNprepared for rain. No rain fly for the tent, no rain coats, nothing! Thankfully it wasn't too heavy and only lasted about 40 minutes. Once it stopped there was nothing else to do except pack up and hit the road. On the road at 5am it took us about 3 hrs to make it to our destination, Simatai park. Along the way we met some other really cool people who had also camped out for the night. Even though we didn't have clear skies and thus couldn't see the wall for miles in the distance, it was so wonderful to be up there in the clouds. Beautiful.
We have 4 weeks left of school. But sometimes it feels like just 1. I forget how much we have to do still. We're planning our vacation already - to Mongolia for about 10 days as soon as school is out. Should be a blast!
That's all for now folks!
Almost two weeks ago now we went on an AWESOME, memorable camping/hiking trip on a section of the Great wall. We planned to go with some co-workers who'd been before, but they backed out....so we ended up planning this trip on our own, blindly. Thankfully we had some other adventurous friends who trusted us to the task. We got a driver and off we went, 6 of us, to a more remote section. Hardly any people! That's an amazing thing when you live in such a crowded country. Unfortunately the china traffic delayed our arrival, so it was 6 pm by the time we made it to the entrance of the park. We hiked up, and then once we figured out which direction to go on the wall, we hiked as far as we could and found a flat tower in which to pitch our tent. We made a smorgasboard for dinner: baked beans, mac 'n' cheese, soup, buns, boiled eggs. So good! Us 4 girls slept in the tent, while the two boys gladly slept outside on mats.
At 2:30 I saw some lights.....prayed it wasn't lightning....but it was. At about 4am we woke everyone up, grabbed everything that was sitting outside, including the boys, and huddled inside the tent as it started to rain. We were completely, and entirely UNprepared for rain. No rain fly for the tent, no rain coats, nothing! Thankfully it wasn't too heavy and only lasted about 40 minutes. Once it stopped there was nothing else to do except pack up and hit the road. On the road at 5am it took us about 3 hrs to make it to our destination, Simatai park. Along the way we met some other really cool people who had also camped out for the night. Even though we didn't have clear skies and thus couldn't see the wall for miles in the distance, it was so wonderful to be up there in the clouds. Beautiful.
We have 4 weeks left of school. But sometimes it feels like just 1. I forget how much we have to do still. We're planning our vacation already - to Mongolia for about 10 days as soon as school is out. Should be a blast!
That's all for now folks!
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