For the first few days of the week, we were missing electricity for a good part of the day. Normally, it starts some time in the afternoon and is back on before dark. One day though, it went out sometime early in the morning before we awoke, and we noticed it because the electric blanket was no longer keeping us cozy. Unfortunately, when the power goes out at the Thanka Center, it’s out in all of Old Town and the first block of New Town…which means no coffee or internet. If you’re reading this, then I’ve been able to make myself a cup of tea and all is well.
Now that I’ve gotten the traveling and first visa run out of the way, I’ll be settled here in Shangri-la until sometime in July. This makes settling into a routine MUCH easier, and I look forward to seeing my students progress instead of wondering what they learned while I was gone. I also started thanka lessons on Monday, though I don’t spend 6 hours a day on it like the other students. It will fill up my days a lot more than they have been so far, but that will keep me from spending too much time on the internet and overplanning my lessons. I have started with drawing a lotus and some leaves a few times, and hopefully they’ll let me touch the paint sometime before I leave.
We also received our first package here, courtesy of my mum. She sent some much-needed Pepto and Ny-quil, which apparently annoyed customs enough to hang onto things for a MONTH. Also included were some warm weather clothes, which seemed pretty silly on the day they arrived. The package must have also contained sunny weather, since it’s been beautiful ever since and it makes me optimistic.
I have a strange feeling that my husband is a lot like my uncle Tom. My mom jokes that everywhere he goes, he runs into someone he knows.
Last night, we took the overnight train from Kunming to Lijiang to avoid the overnight bus. While buying our bus tickets to travel from Lijiang to Shangri-la, two excited people cried out and greeted the hubs. I know we weren’t far from where we expected to run into a lot of people anyway, but it was still funny. We ate breakfast with them there, boarded the bus, then joined them for lunch after we arrived.
My first impression of Shangri-la as we approached in the bus was not positive. The majority of the town is much like any other rapidly sprawling Chinese town, except that all signs are in Tibetan, Chinese, and a peculiar variety of English. It’s been said that the Tibetan isn’t terribly accurate either. The Old Town, which is newly built for the tourists, is quaint and lovely. All the streets are paved with big, uneven hunks of rock and the buildings are constructed in the traditional style. My only complaint is that I have to leave Old Town for things like toilet paper.
Getting Settled
Our room was not quite ready for us when we arrived at the Tangka Center, but the lack of mattress was remedied before dinner. I didn’t realize that the room he offered us is brand new. All wood, huge windows…I promise pictures soon. We still lack a few things like a trashcan, wardrobe, and bedding that fits, but I trust that it will all fall into place. Dakpa, our host, was excited to see us and took us for a rapid tour where we met the master painter (I get free painting lessons if I choose), the master Buddhist guy (I get free training in Tibetan Buddhism and language), and a number of the students. Tomorrow I meet with people in the primary school to see about teaching a little bit there. I have no doubt that I’ll be busy.
Another Climate Adjustment
Adjusting to Kunming was not difficult. I love warm weather. Here, we’re back on par with folks in Wisconsin and Michigan, though considerably higher up. Unfortunately, we sent most of our luggage with a shipping company and won’t be able to get our coats until morning. I’m a little nervous since all of my EFL books that I brought from home are in that luggage. I’ll happily replace all of my clothes, but losing the books would make things very difficult indeed. For now, I’m just grateful I packed my hat in the bag I carried with me. I’ll probably sleep in it.
I start teaching on Friday. Yikes!
We flew out of Kunming a few days ago and landed in Nanchang, the capitol of Jiangxi province. The flight took us over about 15 forest fires that I spotted from my side of the plane. The drought in Yunnan is bad, and some are predicting that we’ll run out of water in about a month if there is no rain. I think the last precipitation was in October.
The wind was crazy in Nanchang as we checked into a cheap hotel (so cheap it had hourly rates, but the sheets were clean) and walked to the train station to try and purchase return tickets. The trees looked as if they were bending nearly in half. The next morning, we took a double-decker bus to Jian, where we were treated to a Chinese-dubbed showing of Airplane. Once there, we were met by our host’s sister and uncle who took us to the family farm. Now, I’m not exactly an urbanite, but I’m a little soft for the Chinese countryside in winter. It’s a fair bit colder than it was in Kunming, and raining (go figure). I can handle the outhouse, but the lack of indoor heating is hard to cope with.
Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and that’s when the party starts! I have pictures, but they will have to wait until I have a way to upload them.
Recent Comments