Winter break, despite the cold, is a wonderful opportunity to rest and pester family members without having to deal with the stress of study, and China, despite the overbearing approach to academics they are known for, actually has a very healthy break between fall and spring semester. However, for kids still in secondary school and under, that time is often not so much a break as it is a change of scene because they will typically end up studying on their own or in increasingly popular part time schools. This provides college students a change to gain some work experience while making some money tutoring the younger students.
As it happened, I became acquainted with one such college student back in the fall. As a native English speaker, I was asked to judge an English speech contest. He was one of the participants and when we spoke a few times toward the end of the semester, he mentioned that he would be working in Laiwu during the break. I and a fellow foreign teacher were curious, and after talking it over, we were invited to visit the school where he would be working on Small Year, the night that begins the week of Spring Festival otherwise known as the Chinese New Year.
As it happened, I became acquainted with one such college student back in the fall. As a native English speaker, I was asked to judge an English speech contest. He was one of the participants and when we spoke a few times toward the end of the semester, he mentioned that he would be working in Laiwu during the break. I and a fellow foreign teacher were curious, and after talking it over, we were invited to visit the school where he would be working on Small Year, the night that begins the week of Spring Festival otherwise known as the Chinese New Year.
My friend, Nash we’ll call him, and I bought a bus ticket and arrived at our destination on Thursday after a four hour trip through the rough looking country side. The first we met the other teachers, college students all, and had dinner with them in the largest location. The man who runs the school has three locations in different parts of the city. Everyone calls him “Boss.” The teachers gather in one of them at night for meals. They were all very eager to meet us, and as with so many other activities and visits, the attention left us feeling as if we were celebrities. It is humbling and can be awkward if you can’t think of anything to say. Usually there is a least one person who is happy to ask questions. Typically they wish to know about us and what we recommend doing to practice or improve their English skills.
Boss was quite happy to have us there because our presence strengthens the reputation of his school. He was very gracious and paid for our hotel and took us around the city! It is on the small side, so there is not much to do, but we did find a delightful park along the river to play in. It was full of steel contraptions, most of which were rusted to the point of hazard, but we played on them anyway!
There were several different bridges, most of them suspension, across a frozen, muddy area that presumably is filled with water in the summer. Nash made it across all of them, but I only ventured to cross two.
My favorite contraption was a blue painted gyroscope swing! We ventured around the park like total five year olds! But sadly I forgot to snap a picture of it.
But that wasn’t all. We were also given a small tour of the steel factory for which the city is famous. That is Boss’s full time job. He runs the school on the side during breaks. He doesn’t get much sleep.
But that wasn’t all. We were also given a small tour of the steel factory for which the city is famous. That is Boss’s full time job. He runs the school on the side during breaks. He doesn’t get much sleep.
He also treated us to many delicious meals.
After talking to the last group of students at a hotel on Saturday morning, we spent some time walking around the city before heading back to Qufu. We found this beautiful shrine across from one of the shopping centers. I was unaware that there was a female follower of Budha who was also worshiped and was pleasantly surprised at the discovery. Her name is Guab Yin, but the main area of the shrine was dedicated to The Emperor in the Sky.
Not long after leaving the shrine we met up with Boss to return to the bus station. We left ready to escape the attention but happy we for the experience. For more pictures, check out my gallery!