Just returned from playing ping pong with a great bunch of young folks. I tell them I am a "Ye Ye", grandfather and they all laugh. It was wo nderful fun. I totally admire how the Chinese are so active physically, I feel like trogolodyte or neanderthal next to them, they are so slim and trim, all of them! Anyway, perhaps I'll shed a few pounds while here and ;the doctor will be happy when I go for my physical in November. Timing is everything now, isn't it?
Shane / aka Yong Xing Guo, aka Eternal Star, came with his girlfriend Emma to the apt. yesterday to cook a fantastic meal including fish tail soup which I swore I would never eat but guess what, I had seconds. He is an excellent cook and now I know how to cook fish authentically Chinese. It was accompanied with great greens, al dente, and lots of rice and tea. It was quite memorable and visually interesting as in the US we only see the middle part of the fish; in China ALL of the species is served whether it be chicken fish or duck,have not had the frog experience yet.
Shane, Emma and I went on to Fr. John Wotherspoon's new school servicing peasant children who would never have an education otherwise if it weren't for Fr. John. He put me to the task of teaching 3 forty minute classes in less than two hours. Shane also stepped up to the plate to teach one 40 min. class. He categorically said he is not too interested in teaching that age, maybe older students. To get to the school we took a taxi at a cost of about 3 US dollars. It was a wild ride over a bumpy curvy road next to a steep river bank. Had we gone off, it would have been a disaster but this driver for some reason was fairly cautious. Most of them are cowboys riding the range and happen to have a couple of passengers along.
After the classes finished at 5 p.m. (US students take note, school goes until 5 p.m. here) were invited to visit the tutoring center. We walked down a very precipitous pathway following the students to the center. It was like something you see in magazines or advertisements for extremely poor people like in the slums of So. America. I've never been that close to so much poverty. But the great thing was, everyone had beautiful smiles and greetings. We went in and observed the students getting right down to their work with assigned tutors, Rosa from Hong Kong and David (I think) from Australia working with them. In a far corner there was a group of teen girls playing guitars with their female teacher: Silent Night and Eidelweiss. It was quite smoky as a cooking fire had been lit and wild looking dogs and cats roamed all around.
After, we went to a nearby street lead by Christopher, a fellow from Hong Kong who is assisting Fr. John. We bought some fruit at a fruit stand and headed for the nearest restaurant. The folks were very pleasant despite the swarm of mosquitos in the bathroom and no running water to wash hands, but other than that...the food was excellent. Had the best tofu dish ever, lots of tea (a staple) and of course the usual fried celery with essence of beef and chicken. Meat is very expensive here so they don't cook much of it.
Will now go to post some pictures. Send me a note when you have chance. Tomorrow, James and I will go to Fr. John's church and play tennis in the afternoon. Zie Jien, Frank
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