Visit to the Beijing Ancient Observatory

One beautiful afternoon Mary Latimer and I decided to take a short walk and visit the Beijing Ancient Observatory.  The first observatory was built in 1227, but the building we visited was built in 1442.  It was used by the Ming and Qing astronomers in the star-gazing reports for the emperor.  Since he was considered the "Son of Heaven," the movements of the heavenly bodies were an important affair.  They also helped them with sea navigation.  During the end of the Qing Dynasty, somebody stole some of the instruments.  It probably was the French and the Germans since they returned them after the close of World War I.  I am not going to try to explain each instrument.  It was a beautiful fall day, and I will just put them on and you can pretend you are taking a stroll with us.   These first few pictures are taken as you come into the entrance of the observatory.

Then we climbed to the top to look at the instruments they used to track the stars and planets.

We then went down again and walked around a garden that had statues of the early astronomers.  I can't tell you much about them because the information was in Chinese.

In all it was a delightful afternoon and chance to see how advanced the Chinese were in their study of the universe.

I Have a Job!

I am not certain where to begin, so I guess I will just do some free writing and hope that I explain everything.  About a month ago I realized that my ability to stay in China would run out soon unless I found a job either here in China or at home.  I started looking online for positions here in Beijing, but missed the application deadlines on them.  I went to the Great Wall on October 20 and 21 with members from the branch, and my roommate was Isabel Berrios.  I told her about needing a job and she said she would send me some information about a job fair on Saturday, October 27.  I went to the fair and turned in resumes for positions such as principal, English teacher and tutor.  Sunday after church, Isabel invited Carl and Melanie Harris and me over for dinner.

Isabel teaches Spanish and geography at Beijing #4 High School (which is the number one school in Beijing and one of the best in China.)  Dr. Carl and Melanie Harris are the interim directors of the Beijing #4 High School International Campus.  It is a satellite school of Beijing #4 that just opened in September.  It has 66 tenth graders and will add eleventh and twelfth graders in the next two years.  The students take all of their classes in English or a combination of English and Chinese so they can apply and be accepted in the top 30 schools in the USA.  Carl and Melanie could not get a work permit in time and so they have a multiple entry visa which means they stay 3 months, go home for 3 months and then come back for 3 months.

As part of our dinner conversation, Isabel asked me about the job fair.  When I told them about applying for a principal positions, the Harrises asked me what experience I had and would I be interested in applying to work at their school while they are gone and continue on after they leave in June.  I told them I would send them a vitae, and they could forward if they thought it was good enough.

That same day in church another member found out I had been a principal and said her friend was looking for one at her school in Shenzhen (in Souther China across from Hong Kong).  I emailed her a vitae at the same time.  I thought it was at least a try.

On Monday, October 29,  the Beijing school contacted me and said they would like to have an interview with me on Friday morning at 10:00.  A little later that day, the Shenzhen school said they would like to fly up and meet with me on Saturday morning.   I was quite surprised by everything.

Friday, November 2, I had a two hour interview with seven people from the governing board of the Beijing school.  Carl and Melanie were part of the group, and we had a very thoughtful discussion about the school goals and the position.  I felt very good about it, but knew it was quite a long shot.  It helped to know that another school was also interested.  That way I didn't need to be desperate.

Saturday I met with four people from ShenZhen for a couple of hours, and then the two main people took me to lunch.  The woman to my left is the lady from church and acted as the translator for us.  The woman in the back and the gentleman are the owners of the school.  Their school is actually a school for students who are not Chinese but are from other countries, especially the US.

The two following pictures have nothing to do with the interview.  The first one is a picture of chicken feet which is considered a delicacy here in China.  The next picture is to show you that I did try one.  I have decided I will try things at least once.  So far I have not died or even gotten sick.

Meanwhile back to the story, we had a wonderful visit.  I was very impressed  with them and the type of school they wanted to have.  At the end of the interview, they offered me a contract. I told them I needed some time to think about their offer.  There was security in knowing I had at least one job when this was all finished, but what would I do if I were offered both jobs.  I did a lot of praying and pondering all weekend long.  Shenzhen is in southern China, and their offer came on the weekend that Beijing had their first snowstorm.  I must admit, that alone made it very tempting.  In the end I decided I would take the Beijing school if I were offered it because it allowed me to work with Chinese students and become more acquainted with the Chinese people and their culture.  If I wanted to work with American students, I could do that at home surrounded by the people I love.

Monday, November 5, I received a call from the Beijing School offering me the job of Academic Dean, who is responsible for all issues connected with curriculum and instruction.  I went over on Tuesday morning to sign the contract, and then spent the rest of last week following Carl and Melanie around trying to soak in any bits of information  I could.

The following pictures are of the school.

 As I leave the subway and walk down the street, this is the view I have of the school.

This picture is taken on the corner and across the street from the school.

Welcome to Beijing #4 High School International Campus.

This is a picture of Carl and Melanie Harris at the back of the school.  Right now the school is only using the first, second and fifth levels and an auditorium on the 3rd floor.  The classes and administrative offices are on the first and second floor.  The students who board at the school - which are about half of the students - live in the dormitory on the fifth floor.

A picture of the soccer field, basketball hoops and track.  (The building at the back of the photo is the Chinese Academy of Music.)

This is the picture of the canteen where staff, teachers and students eat.  They serve wonderful Chinese food, and one of these days I might even become proficient with chop sticks.

This is inside the main entrance of the school. 

So, that is a quick look at Beijing #4 High School International Campus.  I have met the teachers and many of the students, and I am excited to be able to work with them.  I am grateful to be a part of such a wonderful project.  I will post more pictures as I go along.  I do not officially start until November 19 because my friend Char is coming to town Tuesday and we are going to Shanghai for a few days.  It will be fun to spend some time with her.  I will still try to blog the things that are going on in my life.  I may not be able to do more than put up pictures and add a few comments, but I will try to keep up with it a little better.  Although I don't have much time, I have a much happier attitude and disposition now that my life is more stable.  

I'm Back!

No, I have not dropped off the edge of the earth.  I am still alive and well in China.  I must admit that last month has been very challenging.  I didn't have any students to teach after the end of September.  I have found that it is not a good idea to sit around in your apartment all day in a foreign country - or probably any country.  After a couple of weeks of doom and gloom, I decided I needed  to pull myself out of it.  I figured since I had soom time, it might be a good thing to learn some Chinese.  I found a class that is for diplomats and their families, but they let me in anyway.  The best part is that it is free.  No - that is not the best part.  The best part is meeting some wonderful young woman from all around the world whose husbands are here as diplomats from their countries.  They come from Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Belgium, Germany, France and Angora.  It has been a delightful experience getting to know them.  Last week we went to lunch after class.  Next Tuesday we are going to the home of one of the Indonesian lady's home and have home cooked Indonesian food.  Finding the class was one of the things that helped me get a grip on life again.

We had a cultural day at the Chinese class where we learned Chinese knot tying.  The teacher asked if our countries had knot tying as a craft.  I quickly said, "No."  Then the instructor started explaining the process, and I realized I had done the same thing in grade school.  You know.  We had four long lengths of plastic and we would weave them together.  It brought back some great memories at Groveland Elementary.  I did much better at the knot tying than I do at my Chinese.

This is the group with our finished products - feeling pretty proud of ourselves.  I am sure I have a learning disability in arts and crafts, so I was very excited to complete the project.  The woman in the green was the one who taught us how to tie the knots.  The cute lady in the front row in the brown dress and black sweater is the Chinese teacher.  She is really earning her pay while working with me.  I am not progressing very fast.  Maybe if I take the same class a couple more times, I will at least be able to communicate with the cab drivers.  That would be GREAT!

This is a better picture of our teacher.  She is doing a great job.   

Two Saturdays ago I heard a lot of commotion out of my window.  At first it sounded like bagpipe playing, but as it got closer I could tell they were playing flutes and drums.  I am glad I live above a fancy restaurant so that I get to participate some of their traditions. This turned out to be a traditional Chinese wedding.  They are carrying the bride down the street to join her husband.

I am not sure what is really going on, but there appears to be a man who is in charge of the ceremony.  He is in the middle of the picture in red and yellow, and the groom has all red clothing and is directly to the right of him.  

 After quite a bit of talking the groom comes forward to help the bride out of the carriage.  Her face is covered.

When they reach the steps, the animals put on quite a performance that I am sure has a great deal of significance.  I just don't know what it is.  I would like to go to a traditional wedding sometime and really gain an understanding of what is going on.

And they lived happily ever after too.

Miscellaneous Pictures

I have seen so many different kinds of fruits since being in China.  I snapped a picture of a couple of them while I was at the store the other day.  I have tasted the prickly-looking one on the right.  It is the favorite of one of my students, and she brought me some to taste.  I must admit it is not my favorite.  Actually the other students in the class didn't like it either.  It has a very strong odor, and they all started complaining the minute they walked in the door.  I have not tried the purple fruit on the left.  I may have to buy one someday and see how it tastes.  These are only two of some very unusual fruits.  I guess it pays to have a section of your country that is in the tropical zone.

I have to pass on these pictures of a sunset.  I love looking out my windows.  I am constantly amazed at some of the things I see.  We do live in a beautiful world.

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Mid-Autumn Festival around Beijing

The actual celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival was on September 30.  But there was a great deal of preparation leading up to the celebration.  Everyone started cleaning everything: signs, walls, sidewalks, almost everything.  About one week before they added decorations and flowers to the buildings and streets.

This is in the entry way to my apartment complex.

The next two pictures are of the entry way into my building.

I have taken the rest of the pictures as I have been out and about in my area.  It is very festive and beautiful.

The Mid-Autumn has really evolved into a Thanksgiving holiday where family and friends get together to eat and enjoy the company of one another.  Friday and Saturday was very busy as everyone was shopping for food and a gift to take to the home where they would be going to celebrate the day.  It seemed like most of the gifts were nuts, candy, moon cakes, wine - things they would use at the home of the host.

I am not sure if it happens every year, but this year their National Day fell on October 1 which meant there were two official days of holiday in a row.  Many of the shops and businesses were closed.  In fact the holiday lasts until Sunday, October 7 so that people can go home to be with their extended family.  It is not a good week to travel in China because planes, trains and roads are busy with people going and coming.

On the night of the full moon, everyone gets together to eat.  I don't know if they stay up and watch for the moon to come up or not.  They eat a lot of different kinds of food, but included in the food are moon cakes.  Moon cakes have all kinds of different fillings, and for dessert they eat a sweet one.  I bought one of them so I could try it out.  It was really quite good.  None of their desserts are as sweet as in the US.  If fact the Chinese people have a hard time taking more than a couple of bites of US desserts. I ate my moon cake and Skyped with my family to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival. 

 I did not stay up to see the moon come up.  There are too many tall buildings around me. I figured I wouldn't be able to see it until two or three in the morning.  When I woke up at six, I was surprised to see the moon still showing in my bedroom window.  A great finale to a very nice holiday.

Story of the Mid-Autumn Festival

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, usually in October in Gregorian calendar.

The festival has a long history. In ancient China, emperors followed the rite of offering sacrifices to the sun in spring and to the moon in autumn. Historical books of the Zhou Dynasty had had the word "Mid-Autumn". Later aristocrats and literary figures helped expand the ceremony to common people. They enjoyed the full, bright moon on that day, worshipped it and expressed their thoughts and feelings under it. By the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Mid-Autumn Festival had been fixed, which became even grander in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, it grew to be a major festival of China.

Folklore about the origin of the festival go like this: In remote antiquity, there were ten suns rising in the sky, which scorched all crops and drove people into dire poverty. A hero named Hou Yi was much worried about this, he ascended to the top of the Kunlun Mountain and, directing his superhuman strength to full extent, drew his extraordinary bow and shot down the nine superfluous suns one after another. He also ordered the last sun to rise and set according to time. For this reason, he was respected and loved by the people and lots of people of ideals and integrity came to him to learn martial arts from him. A person named Peng Meng lurked in them.

Hou Yi had a beautiful and kindhearted wife named Chang E. One day on his way to the Kunlun Mountain to call on friends, he ran upon the Empress of Heaven Wangmu who was passing by. Empress Wangmu presented to him a parcel of elixir, by taking which, it was said, one would ascend immediately to heaven and become a celestial being. Hou Yi, however, hated to part with his wife. So he gave the elixir to Chang E to treasure for the time being. Chang E hid the parcel in a treasure box at her dressing table when, unexpectedly, it was seen by Peng Meng.

One day when Hou Yi led his disciples to go hunting, Peng Meng, sword in hand, rushed into the inner chamber and forced Chang E to hand over the elixir. Aware that she was unable to defeat Peng Meng, Chang E made a prompt decision at that critical moment. She turned round to open her treasure box, took up the elixir and swallowed it in one gulp. As soon as she swallowed the elixir her body floated off the ground, dashed out of the window and flew towards heaven. Peng Meng escaped.

When Hou Yi returned home at dark, he knew from the maidservants what had happened. Overcome with grief, Hou Yi looked up into the night sky and called out the name of his beloved wife when, to his surprise, he found that the moon was especially clear and bight and on it there was a swaying shadow that was exactly like his wife. He tried his best to chase after the moon. But as he ran, the moon retreated; as he withdrew, the moon came back. He could not get to the moon at all.

Thinking of his wife day and night, Hou Yi then had an incense table arranged in the back garden that Chang E loved. Putting on the table sweetmeats and fresh fruits Chang E enjoyed most, Hou Yi held at a distance a memorial ceremony for Chang E who was sentimentally attached to him in the palace of the moon.

When people heard of the story that Chang E had turned into a celestial being, they arranged the incense table in the moonlight one after another and prayed kindhearted Chang E for good fortune and peace. From then on the custom of worshiping the moon spread among the people.

People in different places follow various customs, but all show their love and longing for a better life. Today people will enjoy the full moon and eat moon cakes on that day.

The moon looks extremely round, big and bright on the 15th day of each lunar month. People selected the August 15 to celebrate because it is a season when crops and fruits are all ripe and weather pleasant. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, all family members or friends meet outside, putting food on tables and looking up at the sky while talking about life. How splendid a moment it is!

This information can be found on the following site on the Internet: http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Festivals/78311.htm