It's been a long time

I've been slacking lately. Between Google and China's constant disagreements and the cyber attacks on the US, accessing some sites, even through VPN, have become a huge pain. Eventually, I just stopped trying. Anyways, I am back, and if I find time with my busy schedule, I'll start posting more regularly... I know I keep saying that :(

Currently, I have two soccer groups practicing under me. On top of that, the fellows and I are preparing for an English school musical. This mixed in with studying some programming languages and Chinese have been rough on me lately. Ugh, the tones and characters in Chinese have been kicking my butt.

What else is new... I think I am most likely going to be in Beijing this summer doing an internship, so if any of you are in the area, please let me know. That's about it. Nothing too exciting has happened recently, partially, because I've been pretty traveled out by this point. Over my long Chinese New Year vacation, I went to GuangZhou, Thailand, Beijing, and Hawaii. I went to Beijing again to spend time with my brother and show him around. It was really fun.

Oh! I went with my class to HangZhou to see the West Lake and to spend time with my students outside of the classroom. It was great to see them outside enjoying themselves.

Here are some pictures:

Sorry for rambling and sporadically switching topics.

Anyways, there is a video too. This video is a bit old, but it definitely is interesting (I guess you could say). The Xiuning Fellows created this video in preparations for the conference that happened a few weeks back. The lyrics have useful information for the other fellows who were coming.
(video)

Here is the link just in case the video isn't working for what ever reason:
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTMyMjIwNTQw.html
If it still doesn't work, let me know!

-Gabe

Football & Soccer

     I haven't taken many videos as of late because my computer breaks down every time I turn around; also, I have been feeling a little lazy for some reason. Anyways, when I first came to teach here half of the students thought I played soccer and the other half knew I played American football. I quickly corrected everyone's mistakes and told them I played American football.

      For those of you who don't know, I played a lot of soccer in high school and won some accomplishments here and there. As many of you have guessed, there is no American football in China (none that I know of), so I started to pick up soccer again here to stay in shape. Compared to my opponents here, I do quite well in soccer against the teachers, students, or randos (random people with no connection to the school).

     Before I know it, rumors start flying again that I played soccer in college. A student from another grade told me that his teacher said I played soccer in college... haha I don't think I can ever actually stop the rumors. Anyways, now the kids want me to do a soccer clinic and even start up an actual club team. I am in a rural area where kids have extra classes all the time because they are at a disadvantage of getting into a college from kids in larger cities. This means that the school doesn't have a sports team for anything and extra-circulars are very limited.

     I think if I can get enough support from the school, funding, and interest I will start something for the kids. Right now, I have bought my own soccer ball which usually is the one that is used. I don't think any of the students actually own a soccer ball. Usually, I or another teacher lend the balls out. Besides the lack of balls, there are several other problems I foresee. The field is mostly dirt with rocks with some grass. It's about half or a quarter of the size of an actual football field, so it is overused at times. Secondly, this is more of a wish, but there are no nets for the goal frames. Lastly, with the demanding schedule and strict teachers that the students have, without the support from the teacher, I don't think a project like this will go very far.

Sorry this was so long and messy without a video. Anyways here's a picture of me at one of the student games:

Chinese Wedding and Yali

(vlog entries and videos of the wedding are at the bottom)

So first off, I should say sorry for the delay. I have been MIA partially because my computer has been giving me such a hard time. First the charger wouldn't work (it still doesn't half of the time) and my computer battery loses connection with my computer causing my computer to lose power completely. I also have had a few other minor problems.

A few weeks back:

 

The photo above is a picture of Yali high school's new building. The fellows and I recently went there for a meeting. The campus was extremely nice and quite polar to the school I am at... although I would never trade teaching sites. Yali had nice engravings and even a sign in a big metal casing that had "YaliYale" on it. I am not sure they are allowed to have the second part in there or not. Anyways, I am proud to know that the organization I am here in China with helped pave the way and founding of this beautiful school over a hundred years ago.

This past week:

This past week, I had the honor of attending our neighbor's daughter's wedding. Not only that, but she also invited the four foreign teachers to perform music and dance numbers at the wedding. I only took part in one of the group songs. I am glad (or ashamed) to let you know that I have videos of it.

The wedding was very fun and interesting. We went over to someone's house eat noddles in the morning and pop fireworks. There were fireworks constantly going off. On top of that, there were two family members who were lighting rocket-type fireworks in their hands. I really wanted to try until I realized he wouldn't let me borrow his glove because he was too busy lighting his own and that I needed a cigarette to light it.

I think the videos explain the rest, besides the part where I thought I was in a fight arena during the actual wedding because of the music they were playing. Aiyaaa! Anyways, it was a cute wedding, the bride and groom did a lot of things that I don't think were a tradition or custom of any kind. They gave a scarf and a glove to their spouse's parents, then light some fireworks on a fountain that stood for everlasting love, then cut a cake together, poured champagne into stacks of cups, and finally finishing it off with a drink from of the champagne glasses. Anyways, you can check out the videos:

Sports Meeting

(vlog)

Recently, our school and schools across China had what they call a sports meeting. This is basically a normal track and field event where classes compete in different events. They had a teachers relay in which the foreign teachers had a team. Alex and I decided to dress up ridiculous by wearing a lot of my football gear... hopefully, I will remember to upload some pictures of that. Anyhow, we ended up coming in 3rd place for the relay. Sorry, about the delay in posts, but the fellows and I have been setting up a haunted house-ish thing for the students and getting ready to leave for a teaching conference in Changsha, Hunan.

-Gabe

Big Bug

(vlog)

Hi, I hope everyone is well. I've been pretty busy learning Chinese, planning for classes, and picking up web design. Everything is going well here. Right now, the other foreign teachers and I are planning some extracurricular activities for the kids. Sabrina is starting a singing group, Rachel is teaching dance classes, and Alex and I are thinking of starting a radio/broadcasting club on the speakers at school. Right now, I am over hearing Alex's conversation about our trip to Shanghai. We did this game called Mr.X. They lock you in a maze and you have to use the clues in the room to find your way out in an hour. I highly suggest it to anyone in Shanghai. Oh ya, and we made it out of the maze. Anyways, I hope these vlogs become a weekly thing.

-Gabe

100th Year Celebration

(Vlog)

I know it has been a long time since I put up a vlog, but I have been busy traveling and doing a lot of other things. We recently had the 100th year celebration for our school which was huge. I probably should have done a vlog during the celebration, but I didn't want to be rude even though in China it is perfectly acceptable to talk among other people during a speech. Anyways, there will be more, I think I will have a few weekends to relax... I hope so.

See you soon,

Gabe

I did not know they were making this

(Video made by my Xiuning friends)

So for the past month or so, the other fellows at Xiuning teaching site have been making this video. I had no idea that this was going on and then they surprised me a few days ago. Please enjoy. Even though I am extremely embarrassed, it is only right to make this public for everyone to see. Thank you so much Alex and Rachel.

-Gabe