Rats

Okay, so it’s been almost a full month since the last post. I know, I know, we’ve still got to complete the Xi’an posts since there’s a lot more to tell but things have been really busy here. Not much of an excuse but it’s all I can muster at this time (I’ll find a much more plausible excuse and put that one in the next post if it’ll make you feel better). We will again step away from the Xi’an posts to focus on Suzhou and the happenings here. What’s happened in the last month, Warren took a trip to an Outward Bound camp in Singapore, bicycles have become a new mode of transportation for the Dudley family and Jacob was in his first (waaaayy) off Broadway play.

We’ll focus on the play; “Rats” for this post, although the other items will also be worth mentioning in future posts (and hopefully that means near future and not a month from now). At SSIS (the kids school in case you don’t know), they had a class performance and Jacob’s teacher encouraged him to join their all star cast for the Elementary School play, Rats. Rats is a play based on the tale of the pied piper, just so we are clear on that (it’s not a sci-fi thriller about rats gaining mutant powers and fighting crime or anything like that). I didn’t know anything about the play but we “encouraged” (read, told him to take part in) him to be in the play. We don’t push our kids into things like this but in this case, we made an exception since it would be good for him. He would be a part of something that he had never done before. [Editor’s note: Just so Warren doesn’t feel left out….he has started to play Water Polo at school. I know; water polo at a high school?!?! It’s not the normal high school that’s for sure (and no they aren’t walking down the halls singing either).]

So for many weeks Jacob has stayed after school and practiced with the cast in preparation for the performance. He seemed to have everything down pat but the performance would tell the story of how well he knew his lines and if the efforts would pay off. Thursday and Friday night (20 & 21) were the performances. He seemed to be more excited about the pizza party Friday night but we knew he was really anxious about being there and having to get up in front of all those people. Tammy went to see the play both nights but I only went on Friday night since I have Chinese class on Thursdays. I’m not a big “theatre” guy (although I’m pretty sure I could’ve done the Siskel and Ebert thing if I were paid to go and watch these things) and I haven’t seen a play in many, many years so this was the first time to see a performance by kids in the elementary school. I was hoping Jacob would do okay; he had a small part (he was Bruiser Rat) and only had to say a few lines. It was a good show, not very long (which is always a bonus…always leave them wanting more right) but pretty darned entertaining and Jacob did well (along with all of the other kids in the play). There must’ve been around 90 kids in total involved in the performance so it was a pretty involved thing, a lot more than I was expecting. His teacher Ms. Sally headed up the play and did a great job of getting the kids ready. A lot of time and effort (and patience) went into getting this play off the ground and all of the people that took part put together a really strong performance. I’ll take one moment on Ms. Sally and tell you that first impressions here are dangerous (as they are anywhere but here where you meet people from different countries and cultures you don't always have a grasp on what is "normal" or acceptable). We first met her at the school open house since she is Jacob's homeroom teacher. She’s from the UK with red hair, many piercings, the multiple bracelets, rings on fingers, thumbs and some tattoos on her arms. I thought to myself, what kind of liberal flower power wanna-be are we getting here to teach the kids (quick, get me Newt on the phone). Well, I was completely wrong about her. Ms. Sally is a very organized and caring teacher; the kind of teacher that everyone wants for their kids. She may not have looked like your “standard” teacher but she sure as heck has gotten a lot out of Jacob and it’s the results that make all the difference (unless you are in politics, then it’s all about what you say, how you say it and how “honorable” your intentions are….what a crock!). I know that you are asking yourself, “Scott, did you learn a lesson from this and learned not be so quick to judge people?” Sorry to disappoint you, but the answer is “No”. Hey, at least I admit it (and did you expect any different?).

Back to Rats and Jacob; he looked pretty darned funny in his rat costume with his face all painted up. He did very well and I think all of the kids did a really good job. One small child in the front was a hoot, he looked lost virtually the entire performance. He was one of the younger kids so he wasn’t expected to do much but just the look on his face was great. I watched Jacob a lot but couldn’t help checking out this kid every once in a while to see if he had returned to planet Earth from fighting aliens (oops, I mean undocumented intergalactic travelers…no profiling here) on a distance planet in a galaxy far, far away. Jacob complained that he was bored but I think he enjoyed being on stage. I don’t know that he will take part in any other plays (we won’t “encourage” the next opportunity, we’ll let him decide….unless we change our minds which we have the right to do, after all, we are the parents and we make the rules right) but at least he tried it and gave it a good effort.

Once again, I will say it. My kids have surprised me. Warren in water polo, Jacob in a play…these are not things they would’ve done at home (forget that there’s no water polo in Stockbridge…work with me people). They have adapted to the environment and are thriving at most things (some of the education is coming very hard for them but they are trying hard, considering the ranking of GA public schools…it’s not a surprise to see they are behind many of their peers). It’s coming to the end of their first year at SSIS and all things considered, they have done remarkably well. We like the school, they like the school and we are trying to take advantage of all it has to offer them. You’ll have to wait and see what they try next.

Hua Mountain (Part 1)

Xian 4 – Hua Mountain
Day 2 in Xi’an was a planned trip to Hua Mountain provided the weather was good. We got to sleep in a little so we were rested and the weather was okay so Jacky picked us up and we headed out to the mountain. Now, this isn’t part of the standard Xi’an tour package. Probably most visitors stay in the city, Drum Tower, Wild Goose Pagoda, etc. We decided that it would be nice to get away from the city and so we asked to visit the mountain. It is one of the 5 most famous mountains in China so we figured it was close and why not see some nature while we were out in that part of the country. We were told it was 90 – 120 minutes from the city so it wasn’t too bad of a ride. Unfortunately, it was actually 3 hours away from the city but little did we know… The ride to the mountain was full of surprises and we learned a lot just from looking out the windows of the van.

We headed essentially to the TCW museum area and kept on going. On the way to the mountain, Jacky avoided the interstate highway since it was under construction and he wanted us to see the smaller villages along the way. Well, we got to see the real China on this trip into the countryside. It’s tough to write down a lot about all we saw so I’m going to spare you (your welcome) a long dissertation and wrap it up with short points about the trip.

• The villages and farming communities in China are interesting and show the difference between the China we experience in Suzhou. These people are dirt poor (this isn’t the typical “less fortunate” people on welfare in the US that have cars, the big screen tv and all of the stuff that they have a “right” to have…even if it means that they utilize the government to steal that money from their neighbors) and I mean dirt poor. They depend on themselves and their neighbors to survive; if they don’t plant food and tend the crops…they don’t eat. If they don’t make their clothes…they are naked, you get the drift. You see the homes they live in, no central air, probably no running water and I’m certain that there is limited electricity. Jacky explained to us that they live a simple life (and there aren’t two dumb blondes anywhere to be found) and since this is the only life they know, there’s no complaining about what they don’t have. In many ways, I wonder who is happier, them or the people that are always chasing “the dream” (consisting of having everything their neighbors have and then some). Jacky indicated that they may have never been to a city in their life or that they may take a trip once per year to buy things that they cannot get in their village. This reminded me of my youth living in Princeton, Maine where my family would load up the station wagon and make semi-annual trips to Bangor to buy clothes for school or other things. That’s a pretty sheltered life right there but at the time I never thought there was another choice (we also walked 2 miles to school in 4 foot of snow, uphill, both ways). I don’t know how many villages we drove through but it was amazing to see how life was for those people. They swept their trash out to the sides of the road and waited for someone to come by and pick it up (I guess, I mean there were piles of it like it was garbage day). This is why we say that we saw some of the real China on this trip. No big city living, just hard working people living life as best they can and using what they got. They didn’t depend on others; they depended on themselves to ensure they had a decent living.
• It appeared from what we saw that you either farmed the land or worked in a rock quarry, or in one of the power plants. We saw multiple mills that cut the rocks with these huge saws (it looked like something out of the Bugs Bunny cartoon with Wil E. Coyote strapping the Road Runner to a log and trying to saw him in half). Crazy looking stuff and hugely dangerous I’m sure but a job is a job. There were the small shops, local restaurants and stuff but not much other work in the villages, just like any small town.
• Sorry animal lovers but the dogs here are just skin and bones. I know that the people are poor so they don’t have a lot of table scraps to share so I’m sure they do what they can for the animals. You just feel for the dogs, they are scraggly, nasty looking things. I know that they would be just like any other dogs (or at least most of them) if you went over to them but I guess we are so used to seeing dogs treated like anything but dogs (and that includes our own life with a dog) that you forget that these are animals. Around the world people just don’t have the same affinity for the dog as we do in the US. I guess that’s why in many places, it is okay to eat the dog (little Johnny, Rover went to a better place….my stomach). Along some of these villages, in the windows of some of the places there are pictures of dogs and cats. At first you might think that this is a kennel or a vet but we’ve been told (and you know that rumors are always absolutely 100% true all of the time) that when they have a picture of a dog in the window, it means that dog is on the menu. How much is that doggie in the window (arf, arf) the one with the de-li-cious tail (arf, arf).
• The roads we traveled on were narrow and winding but it didn’t stop the drivers from passing each other. In some ways, this was more amazing than the driving we see here in Suzhou. Out in these villages and between these villages were a bunch of dump trucks and heavy duty trucks traveling to carry stuff between the quarries and the rock mills. The drivers never seemed bothered by the trucks. They would pass on a bind corner without a moment’s hesitation. There were times where they would pass a dump truck on both sides (the left and right) at the same time…even if they were going into a corner. Honk your horn, flash your lights and I guess that’s the signal that you now own the road for the next 15 seconds. It was nerve wracking to watch them drive like this. You were waiting for someone to get crushed but just at the last moment, someone would move just slightly to allow room for them to get through. I wondered what the market was for Depends in China since they’ve got to dirty their britches with the way they drive. These were two lane roads and sometimes people were passing like they were 6 lane highways.
• I’ve mentioned the coal power plants around Xi’an. Well, just because we were out in the country doesn’t mean they weren’t there as well. About 30 minutes from Hua Mountain we drove by one of the biggest power plants I’ve ever seen. I don’t need to draw you a picture about this and the less I say the better. However, when you need power you have to get it from somewhere and this is how they power this area of the country.
• We’ve seen chickens on their first and last ride to the processing plants back home. Here we’ve seen pigs on the ride (this little piggy went to market, that part of piggy went home) here. Driving through one of the villages, we happened to pass a man on a scooter with two goats on the scooter. The goats were alive but I don’t think he was taking them out for a ride (at least for their enjoyment). We had a hard time not laughing out loud with this but we didn’t want to draw attention to how funny it looked to us.

To be continued....