The Hot Pot

Under the cherry blossom

Our group at the table.

Steam from the hot pot hides our birthday boy.

The cave.

On Friday nights we go to dinner somewhere in Shaoxing. Sometimes there are 12 foreign teachers, and other times there are just 4 or 5 of us. Last Friday night it was pouring with rain, and there were supposed to be 7 of us going to a Hot Pot Restaurant. The French couple got lost and we didn't see them.

Seven of us arrived at the restaurant which was built to resemble a cave. We entered via a staircase which had cement stalagmites and stalactites built into it, and when inside we could see cave like structures as well as big tree trunks all created with cement.

The restaurant is very popular and was very crowded and busy, so we had to wait for a table for a short while. Eventually a table was vacated, it was cleaned and we sat down. I am always complaining that there is no wine on any drinks menu - as I do not like beer. The beer is a very "watered down" version of what the Aussies like to drink anyway. One of our group spotted "white wine" on the menu. It was very cheap - so curiously we ordered some for me. I have no idea what it was - it had a vague wine taste, but it resembled a beer. Anyway, for me, better than a Coke or Fanta.

We ordered - thanks to some students who had translated the menu for us as we had to mark on a sheet the food that we wished to eat.

Soon a waiter arrive and put the "soup" in the hole in the middle of the table, our food arrived. All on a big tray and each item we had ordered was on a little plate or in a little bowl. We were given three "soup ladles" and chopsticks and when the soup was bubbling we dropped our food in to cook, and fished it out again with our chopsticks or the ladle.

It was quite an experience and as often happens here we had ordered more food than we could eat. An interesting way to eat. And so inexpensive too. No wonder it was so popular. So there we were in a cave under cherry blossom, eating our meal.

The "bake"

One of the students prefers to "pose" for photos.

The eating continues.

Trying to cut the beef with a blunt knife.

Waiting for the hot coals.

The area for the "bake" - and one of the many chickens.

It might take me several posts to tell this story. On Thursday some students invited me to go with them to Lanting. I had been to Lanting before, but did not know that there were two parts to it. I was about to discover the other part to it.

They asked me to invite another foreign teacher which I did, but she declined as Saturday is our sleep in day, and we were required to be at the West Gate at 7.40 am. So I agreed to go alone.

There were several text messages between me and the student, and on the Friday night I went out with a group of foreign teachers (I'll report on that, later) and left my cellphone back at my apartment on the charger.

When I arrived "home' I looked to see if there was a message, and sure enough there was. It read "Teacher, I am Ellen. Sorry. I put off the time on the sunday. Because it will rain heavily in tomorrow morning. The food will be prepared. And there are two another English teachers going with you. Ok? I will phone you with the detail time."

It was 11 pm. Too late to phone her, but I assumed that the "bake" to which I had been invited had been postponed. She will let me know when it is on. It has been raining heavily for several days, so a postponement was not out of the question on weather grounds.

So when I awoke in the morning, I wandered around doing a few things of little importance in my apartment , and made my usual "instant porridge" and was about to eat when the phone rang.

"Dianna, where are you. The bus is here."

"What?!!!!!"

"We are waiting for you."

"OMG. Er, I'll hurry."

So I raced into the shower, ate some of my breakfast, dressed, and raced out of the door all within 15 minutes. And ran to the West Gate.

There the whole class of nearly 40 students was sitting in a bus waiting for me. They had hired a bus (which as it turns out had been late.)

So in the pouring ran, we travelled to Lanting. When I arrived, I saw it was different to where I had been before, but apparently the part that I had been - the more famous part - was close by.

We trekked for a while past lakes, picnic areas, through beautiful forests. Apparently tigers used to roam there, but I am assured that there are none now, just venomous snakes, but I think the cold and wet would keep them in their holes. Along the way, one of the students gave me a gift. An extra ordinary gift as it turns out. She asked "Do you know Edwin Mayer?" Of course, I do. Despite the fact that my TV seldom works, I do know him as the guy from Australia (who was a newsreader in Victoria for the ABC) who is the newsreader/anchor man for CCTV9 in Beijing. It is the only English TV station here.

She handed me a book, written by Edwin, called "My China Daily" which chronicles his struggles with the language and culture when he came to China, which is a collection of stories from his column in the China Daily. In a strange way the gift was going to have a greater impact on me that either of us realised, although I suspect she may well have read it and knew.

Eventually we came to an area beside a lake. There were cement tables with tiled tops with holes in them. Little bench seats surrounded the tables. There was much confusion, chaos and loud shouting until we eventually sat down in our "families" I think we would say "groups" but that is OK. I didn't count the girls, but there were three of the four boys in the class with the girls.

Shortly a piece of paper was thrust into my hands - with Chinese characters and English as it turned out. I had to choose what food I wanted. It included pigs gizzards, duck tongue, and dog meat. All of those I said I would not eat, but at the end of the day I have an inkling that at least some of that passed my lips! Not the dog, hopefully!

Soon the girls brought trays to the table with two awful looking wooden handled pastry brushes, a small stainless steel bowl with oil, and another with spices and a dozen or so metal skewers. Soon there were trays of meat - chicken wings and legs, a slab of what they said was beef, which we all had turns at trying to cut with a knife that was so blunt that we couldn't make much headway. The meat had an unpleasant odour about it - it was not as fresh as I would have liked!

Shortly after a man came with a pole across his shoulders and hanging from each end was a box of burning charcoal. Each box was carefully placed in the hole in the table, a metal frame was placed over it, and we all sat around and started the cooking process. Each table had two boxes of coal, and we had to fan the coals to keep them going initially. I was surprised that each group had a supply of flattened boxes that they used for fans. Soon another tray of food came with octopus, prawns, and other strange small pieces of meat on skewers. There were buns, and cobs of corn, and more chicken.

I helped - in fact we all played a role in cooking the food and then putting it on the top of the rack so people could take it if they wished. There was so much food - typically the Chinese people tend to get more than they can possibly eat.

We had a lot of laughs doing it, as we played with the fire to keep it going. The man returned with other pieces of charcoal to add to the fire later on.

Meanwhile other groups of students had joined us - two or three other colleges with their groups somehow fitted under the roof, and all prepared and cooked their "bake" just as we had done.

The rain continued, several dozen "chooks" or chickens ran in and out of our legs picking up what ever fell to the ground, and there were groups of girls attached to MP3/4 Players, others on their mobile phones, and others still cooking and having loads of fun. This continued for about 4 hours. Students were still eating, and the rain certainly restricted any outdoor activity.

Eventually though the cooking and eating was over. I think for an hour of this I was the most photographed blonde in all China, as students had photos taken of me with them. Some silly photos when I was getting sick of it and hammed it up for the cameras.

The mess left behind was awful. The tables and floor underneath were littered with food scraps, paper, corn cobs. I said "Aren't we going to tidy up or clean?" "No, the waiter does it." It seems that the staff at the establishment clean up all the rubbish.

Next it was back along the path that we had travelled previously, but this time we trekked in another direction, which was past more buildings, more lakes, more groups of students having their "bake", two restaurants and lots of people and chickens.

Soon we came to the inevitable steps - slippery stone steps reaching high into the forest. With a wry smile I continued with the students being very careful where I placed my feet on the slippery moss covered steps. We hadn't gone far, when one of the students announced she was tired. Too tired to walk. Then someone reminded us of the departure time by the bus, so we decided to return to the bus area. Thankfully!

So back down the slippery steps - but this time we had to "share" the step with umbrella wielding students from another group coming the other way. I was pleased to arrive safely at the bottom of the steps!

We slowly wandered back to the bus place, but our bus wasn't there, so it was time for more photos and this time a young man who was nearby took the photo of us all. Soon the bus arrived and we were all on our way back.

We had a sing-song on the bus, and students sang "Click go the Shears" in Chinese. For me. The song that had so impessed Edwin Mayer when he first heard it sung by a Chinese family in Beijing.

They are such an amazing bunch of young people and despite the rain I had a wonderful time.

I am still confused about the text message that I thought was "postponing" the event.

A gift

On Monday night at last minute notice Sue and I were "guest speakers" at the Translation Club. It was quite funny really as they wanted us to talk about Australia - which of course we did - and then we showed photos of our families, and then I organised a word game for them.

The following night I had a phone call from one of the students asking me to set u a secret meeting at my apartment for Thursday at 6 pm and I had to invite Sue. I was not to tell her much about it - which was easy because I knew nothing about it. Sue kept asking me, and when I told her it was 'a secret' she suspected I knew more but I didn't.

At 6.15 pm last night Sue and I were waiting in my apartment, and shortly afterwards the phone rang. One of the students was saying they would be late - as it turns out only 10 minutes late, but they duly arrived, giggling and laughing.

They had gifts for us for speaking at the meeting on Monday night. I received a lovely purple scarf. Wonderful. It was one of the boys that knew that purple was one of my favourite colours.

Sue is a smoker, and they knew this too, and for Sue they had a Chinese Emperor Ash tray.

They had been granted leave from the classroom so did not stay long. We were delighted.

It is starting to get cool.

The weather here in Shaoxing is quite a bit cooler now. I do wear my leather jacket to classes to keep warm, though I have a heavier jacket for the really cold days. However, I find I take it off part way through the class. I tend to move around a lot in class to keep up with my students.

I don't enjoy cold weather very much and hope I am well prepared here. I will buy an electric blanket this semester. They do not cost much and I know that the very cold nights will test me! I have not seen snow fall, so I am somewhat hoping that the snow will come in January before I leave for Australia. I am hoping to go to Hangzhou - more or less on my way from Shaoxing to Shanghai to get the plane home to Australia, and I expect the scenery to be very beautiful at that time of the year too.

Already there is strange weather here in China this season. Apparently it snowed in Beijing a few days ago, and in Tibet they have had the heaviest snow falls on record. Another part of China is experiencing very wet weather and flooding.

I do have some good jackets and other clothes but I am not keen to get a great deal more winter clothes as I am not likely to use them in sunny Queensland.

The fashions here for the girls in China are quite exciting. The students generally wear jeans - summer, winter, autumn, spring, but the clothes they wear on top are colourful, and in a wide variety of designs. Many have "jewels" on them from crystals, to pearls and other coloured beads. There is lots of trim.

We might say "tizzy" at times, but to my mind they suit the small frames of the Chinese women. I've seen quite a few well dressed Chinese women - perhaps wealthy women, business women or similar. Very impressive.

Melbourne Cup Chinese style

My Ausie hat which included dangling grapes, a boomerang, a koala

with chopsticks and a rose. All stitched to a fabric hat.

The Aussies had to celebrate the Melbourne Cup here in China. There are 6 Australian English teachers that spend time together here in Shaoxing. We do have quite a bit of fun, but this event caused quite a lot of mirth with us, especially as the Chinese students thought we had all gone mad.

We ran a Melbourne Cup Sweep - so all paid 5 Yuan for a horse. We managed to get some other foreign teachers and 2 Chinese staff to participate, so managed to "sell" all 23 horses. We have found a new bar in what is known as SPT Street, and we had arranged to meet there at 5.30 pm. All were invited to wear a hat.

Now we are quite limited in what we have to make our milinery creations, but non the less we managed to come up with a few things that were, well, unique.

There was a "copy" of an old Emperors head dress, and the rest of it was well, difficult to describe. One hat was modelled on the Sydney Opera House. Many of us did not don our head gear until we arrived at the venue - and when we did we had curious staff and students watching through the window.

"What on earth are the teachers doing?" Some laughed and smiled at us through the window, and when we went outside to greet the latecomers, (after one or two cocktails for courage) there were more laughs and curious looks.

We played a tape of the BIG RACE, and divied up the winnings for those who were lucky enough to have found themselves "on" the winning horses.

A few more cocktails, and a few laughs and some of us, complete with head dress went to the canteen for dinner. I think the canteen staff were more amused than the students who looked at us in awe!

Even today I was questioned about it. Students asked what festival we were celebrating and we found it hard to get them to comprehend that 24 horses raced around a track and we were celebrating this event.

An American teacher asked why we did not organise a party to celebrte the US Presidential elections - which were of course being held at that time. I just said that we Aussies were not interested in the US elections, and anyway as the only US representative it was up to him to organise it. We Aussies will celebrate almost anything with almost anybody.

I bet he does nothing though...................

Tall duck and handsome.

The English language is not easy. But there are days when we hear some great "mistakes". Several words that are often spoken incorrectly are snacks/snakes, smell/smile. The children ate the snakes in the canteen. Ooops. You mean the children athe snacks in the canteen?

The lady had a smell on her face. You mean the lady had a smile on her face?

There are many of course - too many to recount. But today I heard a new one. I had been reading a piece about Valentine's Day and how the girls were looking for someone tall, dark and handsome. There were a series of questions, and some came back with the answer - which was not the answer to the question I asked, but they wrote in their test paper "tall, duck and handsome." Well, it sounds like it doesn't it.

I have been doing assessments on spoken English. It is hard for some of the students, and getting them to say a few sentences about simple things is not always easy.

Can you tell me a little about your mother? Usually the answer is "She is very beautiful and is a kindly lady. She loves me very much and I love her very much." In fact it is surprising that most students, male or female will recite such stories. Everyone is "beautiful" "handsome" "honest" and "kindly".

Now it is not about limited vocabulary, but this is what these students will say about their families. One does wonder sometimes if this is genuine - and I feel it is, but I do wonder if they are telling this story to the foreign teachers as they would not want us to know anything but good about their parents and their lives.

Curiously asking about grandparents is somewhat different. Many of them when asked if they have a grandparent will answer "yes", but when you ask a question about the grandparent, you might find that they are dead. And they know nothing about their lives.

Or you might hear about a grandparent that no one wants to talk to because no one likes him. Sometimes I feel like I am intruding on family "secrets" and backpedal quickly.

I keep on comparing these students with the students in Australia, that I am more familiar with.

Quiet weekend

This weekend I don't plan to do anything. Well, I may go to Tesco supermarket in the morning as I have found that I need a few things. We have often walked there, and I could ride my bicycle there, but if I am bringing a few things home, I'm not all that happy riding amongst the Chinese traffic with a load of things. The taxi is quite cheap and as it is wet and miserable I will catch a cab both ways. I can tell the cabbie where I need to go in Chinese, so that's OK. Some of them do speak English, but not all.

I do think I have a party to go to with students - am waiting to hear the details but it will be in the new Green Cafe here at the college. Start at 6 or 6.30 pm and all over by 8.30 pm. Chinese parties are different!

Maybe we can go to the Cocktail Bar after the party!

It has turned quite cool too, and this weekend I have put my washing in the bedroom to dry with the air conditioner on warm. It is so damp and no breeze so hanging it outside will be a fruitless excerise.

I have also been back to my Chinese dressmaker. Jing is very good. Not a lot of English spoken, but we manage. I have had a black dress made which fits well, and I am happy with it. She is currently making some denim trousers for me, and altering a skirt to cope with my reduced waistline. I have a couple of other things for her to make for me this winter. I do not really have enough winter clothes so keen to add to my "wardrobe" and getting things made is the only way for me here.

Last night a group of us went to the Banana Leaf Thai Restaurant for a meal and dancing. Great night out but as usual the Chinese events finish early - we left the restaurant by 8.45 pm and were home by 9.30 pm. Early to bed again.