Food so far...

FOOD

Here is some of the food that we have seen or had so far.  I have taken a lot food pics, I guess we like to eat???  I will post more later but here are a few, hope you enjoy as much as we have.  

These are a couple of street food vendors near a place Hattie and I went called Furniture City in Shunde.  (pics of Furniture City to come later).  We did buy a futon couch in this shopping area in case we have visitors we will kick the kids to the new couch.   This women was selling corn, coconuts and peanuts.  If you look closely she is using a very old measurement tool for weighing the peanuts.

One of Hattie's favorite foods is corn and it was delicious and only $0.50

These were chestnuts actually roasting over an open fire on the back of her bike.  They were also fantastic and smelled so delicious it makes my mouth water.  They were already cracking open, you just peeled them and popped them in your mouth.  They were soft and meaty tasting.

This was another street food vendor selling apples and cherries outside IKEA in Guangzhou, of course I couldn't pass up cherries.  They were also very good.  

These pics are a little dark, but this is a market about a mile from our apartment.  It is outside the garden gates.  There was pretty much any cut or kind of meat you can imagine and also vendor after vendor selling vegetables.  We bought potatoes and carrots.  Then we had delicious mashed potatoes and cooked carrots for supper :)  Also keep in mind once in a while a scooter or cycle would just zoom up an aisle.  We were there late in the day, but early on a Saturday it is packed. 

Banana Tree and Mango Tree

These are some fruit trees we pass on a small farm outside our gated community on the way to the market.  The plot of land is quite small but packed with vegetation.

This was the fruit we were given from school as a mid-autumn festival gift.  The one on the right is a large cantaloupe and they are very juicy and tasty.  The ones on the left are called Pomelos and are like a giant grapefruit, only not as juicy.

This is the inside of a mooncake.  The mid-autumn festival is occurring this week and we were given these as a gift from our school, also.   We went to a dinner with school staff and they all agree they are not very good.  They have gained a reputation much like a fruitcake.  Everyone gives them away but no one admitted to eating them.  None of us cared for it either.  This one has an egg in the middle representing the harvest moon.  Some have fruit and nuts inside.

This is a Muslim noodle shop we have frequented, it is delicious and the chef makes his own noodles from scratch.  It is like getting a show and dinner all at the same time

Here are Luke, Mason and Gabe in the lunchroom and a few of their classmates, they go to soccer (football) practice first and then head to supper.  Their school lunch consists of rice, meat and vegetables. 

Everyday for lunch my kindergartners eat a pot of noodle soup.  First they eat a bowl of rice and some meat and vegetable combination.  When they are finished they fill their bowls with this noodle soup and it also serves as their drink/liquid for the meal.  It also cleans out their bowl and we rarely have any garbage after lunch.  

This was a dinner celebration for National Teacher Day.  It was held at a restaurant, at a resort, connected to the school.  It sat about 700 people and these are just some of the 20+ dishes that were brought to our table.  Also the man near the Coke bottle is Eric.  He is the kids math teacher.  This is his 5th year here and he is from the Philippines.  His wife Ivy is in the left of the picture and teachers kindergarten in my department.  

Last but not least, the what you don't usually see at home pic for this post...sorry if it offends anyone, but it is amazing that they wear this stuff.  This isn't even the worst shirt I have seen or heard of.  We did tell his teacher that he should not be wearing that shirt, but this was the second day I saw him in it.  He is cute though isn't he :)

This is a map that is posted of the campus, at our school, Country Garden.   It is a boarding school, so the majority of students arrive on Sunday night and leave on Friday afternoon.   It is located in Beijao Town in the Shunde district.  We live and go to school within a gated community about 1/2 hour from the second largest metropolitan area in the world, Guangzhou, China.  

In the very middle of the map above you will notice a green space.  This is referred to as the hill on campus.  This is us on a walk up to the top of the hill.  There is an observatory at the top, unfortunately it does not look as though it has been used in a long time.  

This is my classroom a week before school starts.  The rooms seem adequate.  The white machine in the far back corner is an air conditioner which they turn on and off all day long, we also have one in our home.  They run the air with the windows and doors open a lot though because the air will make the students sick???  I have a nice TV but the internet is not so reliable.  Otherwise a white board is not visible in this picture, but it is off to the right.

This is a picture of Mason standing in the bedroom of my classroom.   The children nap here each day from about 12:30 to 3:00 and then sleep here at night.  They change into their pajamas each nap time. The beds are very hard with just a grass mat and thin blanket below.  This is apparently the chinese way to sleep because our beds at home are very hard also.  A colleague told me it was good for your back and health, I beg to differ.  Each child has a blanket and pillow.  After they awake each day they fold their own blankets and get dressed.

Here are Mason and Gabe enjoying one of over the 20 full basketball courts on campus. This was the week before school started when we had all the courts to ourselves.  Hattie's getting in a few shots. Although they have all these courts the sports are quite disorganized and more laid back than we are used to.  We will see what is still to come in the sports world.   

Hattie was excited to take a run around the track, when she returned her feet looked like this???  Shoes will be a priority in the future.  The track facility is quite nice and has a full size turf soccer (football) field in the middle.   Luke will do some of his classes in this area.  It doesn't seem like he will use a gym very often, if ever.  

These are some sinks outside one of the cafeterias.  You usually rinse your hands before and after dinner.  Many men also rinse out their mouths and spit in them, it makes me gag.  There is not usually soap either.  Also the only thing to dry your hands with is toilet tissue, which if you think about isn't to absorbent when drying your hands, it just sticks to you...another chinaism as we are referring to the moments we come upon where you just shake your head and wonder???

Here is the picture I am choosing as stuff you don't see back home...these were some new TV's being delivered at school and it appears Jackie Chan is their endorser.

This is a picture from the third floor of the opening day flag raising ceremony.  Thousands of kids lined up independently in these lines with their classmates and stood at attention for about a 20 minute opening address by the headmaster David Lee.  

This is my class and the man to the right is Ryan, the head Chinese Teacher or Classroom Teacher

This is my class and I think they are all actually present :)  They are adorable, but very busy.  Most of them are 5,  some still 4 and few will turn 6 soon.  Many of them have been at this school since they were 3.   

Lastly this is a small group I have every other Thursday for a Math Logic Club.  For our first class we learned what Tic Tac Toe was, how to say it in English and then how to play.  They were very quick to catch on.  We only had 50 minutes for class and they were really into it by the time class was over.   A good teaching moment :)

At the Eau Claire Airport at 5:01 on Wednesday, August 22nd on our way to live and work in China for one year.  

Saying our goodbyes to family, a few tears were shed.  The anticipation of going on this new adventure had finally arrived.  It all seemed very surreal and everyone was emotional.  

 The kids had never flown on a long trip (minus Hattie at age 3 and the boys on a 4 seater plane) so our first takeoff and landing was a success, arriving in Chicago for our first leg.  Then we boarded for the second of three legs to Vancouver.  Where we had a five hour layover, due to a delay.  Then our last leg was a 13 hour flight to Guangzhou, China.  It proved to be a successful journey, just not a very restful one.

 This is our first picture at the airport in Guangzhou, China.  We arrived about 9 pm.  An employee named Dorothy greeted us.  She would prove to be a lifeline of translation for us over the first few weeks helping us get all of our paperwork completed for work and finding our apartment.  Her english is quite good.  A school van with a driver named Peter drove us to our temporary housing.  The apartment was three bedrooms with two baths and living room and a kitchen with basically just a sink and a very old fridge.

Here are Gabe and Mason on the scooters of the real estate agents.  This is the most common mode of transportation.  Luke, Hatte and I rode in the car with another agent and our translator, Dorothy.  We looked at two apartments and two houses.  We chose an apartment on the top floor of a high rise because of the view and it less buggy up high.  

This is a view of the school courtyard where Luke has been doing much of his teaching for the time being.  These colorful floors are also classrooms in the primary school.


This is one of the meals we have been eating it consists of steamed buns filled with pork and veggies, dumplings filled with pork and veggies, cornbread, crab wrapped in seaweed and rice and pork wrapped and cooked in a banana leaf.  This whole lunch feeds us all and costs roughly $6.00 and everyone agrees it is delicious.

I am also going to try to include some pictures of things you may not see back home...this was a car transporting a tree by dragging it down the road???  I guess it works.

Here we are at a more traditional chinese store. The local neighborhoods are filled with these multi purpose shops.  They are very small but packed with an abundance of items...we purchased hangers, silverware (although we are improving our chopstick skills), and a toilet brush at this shop.  

This is a neighborhood bakery.  They sell pastries, including a pretty decent sugar donut.  They also sell cakes.  Mason is trying a cake treat that looked better than it tasted.  We later found out they make many of their treats with bean curd.  

This is the first authentic restaurant we ate at.  It is called, Shan Dang which is Mountain Pool in English.  Our wonderful cab driver, Sam, who speaks very good English took us here.  He was gracious enough to stay and show us the ropes.  He showed us how to prewash our dishes and chopsticks.  Sam also helped us order a traditional chinese lunch of meat and vegetables.  He ordered about 10 different dishes, we ate until we were full and then took home lots of leftovers.  The picture below is the restaurant and workers.  

Sam, our cab driver, who we are absolutely loving!  He is so helpful, informative and kind.  

The kids enjoying lunch.  Right behind them is the lake and mountain.