Of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Teacher Day, and more

The Mid-Autumn Festival was this past weekend.  This also combined with Teacher Day, which allowed for a three-day weekend.  The Friday before Teacher Day, which was Saturday, the school hosted an amazing banquet at a hotel; I noted this earlier.  Then, the evening of Teacher Day itself, the principal of the school hosted a private dinner for the teachers of the International Division.  This was a truly elegant affair, in which we were treated to an assortment of wonderful food at a very large circular table, around which sat about15 or 16 individuals.  There were toasts, good conversations, and, afterward, tea in a separate tea room.

That Sunday I met my friend Chang for church at 8am, and had a relaxed time with her, learning more about China and the language.  She had graciously ordered me a Chinese-English, English-Chinese dictionary for me, which will be of great help as time goes on.  She also helped me find a very good, and complete, version of The Dream of Red Mansions, a Chinese classic.  At 2500 pages it ought to be a classic!  I have not been able to start it yet.

That afternoon, another colleague of mine, David Lasson, and I were given a four-hour walking tour by a group of students.  This was a tour of a very famous hutong (alley) that used to be the home of nobility and the wealthy during the some of the dynastic periods.  Now it is a very, very crowded shopping street, but it still bears the marks of history.  That a group of 6 students would take 4-5 hours out of their day to host an afternoon like this speaks highly of education in China, and of the students themselves.

On Monday I got together with the daughter of an old friend from the military, whom I haven’t seen in about 30 years!  She is a senior at the Naval Academy, and is doing a semester here in Beijing.  I had never seen her before, obviously, and it was wonderful to meet her, and through her to hear about her father.

This afternoon, I went over to observe the after-school Model U.N. organization at work.  Keep in mind that this group has its own lecture hall at the school.  Within about 5 minutes of being there, I had been asked to be the English adviser to the group in order to help the students with English wording and phrases as they prepare for their events.  I was at once surprised, but I am also incredibly honored to be asked to do this.

While China may have its bureaucratic intricacies, they are not always at work.  Tonight when I got back from school, I told Kimmy, one of the front-desk clerks, and a wonderful human being, that the sink in my kitchen was clogged.  Within about 20 minutes there was a staff engineer on his way up to the apartment.  In about 15 minutes it was fixed.  Keep in mind, this was in the evening.  I marveled.  I later brought down some moon cakes, a Mid Autumn Festival treat and gift, for the front-desk staff.  And there I met a gentleman who works in education through the State Department and his wife, who is from Paraguay.  I have met some truly interesting people just entering and exiting the apartment.  (I was reminded by this man that the Model U.N. is a very big and prestigious organization in schools throughout China.)

Beijing.  It’s an amazing city.  The weekend is soon upon us — and it will be cooling off!