Ping Pong in the Park

That there are only 12 days left of my China Care internship boggles my mind. I have much to share since my last entry ... Meaning I could probably write a 10-page paper and still have lots to say. But instead, I'll try my best to focus on the highlights.

One thing that's weighing pretty heavy on my heart right now are the farewells I gave the toddlers in the children's home this morning. In a two-hour meeting with our boss yesterday, we learned that we can no longer visit the home as of August 1st. I unfortunately can't go into as much detail as I'd like about the reasons why because when under the watchful eye of a certain government you can never be too careful about what you say or don't. In a nutshell, there've been disputes between our boss and officials about letting China Care remain in the new building, and in the light of these exchanges it's best not to have foreigners walking in and out of somewhere they don't want the organization to be in the first place.

Brent had briefly mentioned we could no longer visit after a certain time but I guess we'd forgotten because the seven of us were in shock yesterday. I needed to go back this morning knowing that it was the last time I'd see them. It was a very good last hour, too. The babies were awake and lively, and my four favourites were all around. I haven't yet posted pictures of all of them (one of my favourites just recently made it to my list of Top 5 Toddlers) but I took some nice ones today that I'll share soon. When it was time to leave, I couldn't extend my farewell as long as I would normally do because I would've risked taking them all with me. Unfortunately babies are too squirmy and bulky to fit in a carry-on...

That's certainly the biggest up-to-date news... but moving on before my emotions get the best of me.

You might ask why the title of my entry is what it is. Babies playing ping pong in the park?! If that ever happens I'd like to be there to take a picture. hahaa... The other day 6 of us went exploring in the small market area down our street. I'd been inside one of the grocers' before but hadn't seen much beyond it. OH was I ever missing out! I discovered the biggest fruit and vegetable markets I've seen in China yet that had me floored. Raw veggies and abundance of fresh fruit are two of the things I miss most here. I bought 2 oranges (the first I've eaten in a month and a half), bananas, a mangostene, plums, and a monster apple. HEAVENLY. But! I digress. Back to the ping pong. While I was rolling in fruit, Tim and John Speed went and bought ping pong rackets and six bright orange ping pong balls. We decided to put them to use right away and walked over to the park where they have three tables. They were all taken - ping pong being China's national sport, of course! - so we waited our turn. When we realized no one was going to leave anytime soon, John Speed approached one of the tables and asked the kids if we could play the winner. They agreed! And so our round robin match began. Even I played, and got absolutely destroyed! When the ping pong table in our basement started being used for a Second Cup Christmas basket production line, I quickly lost the chance to prepare myself for this day. These 10 year-old boys (and their grandpa who was quick on his feet and a pretty good ping pong player) reminded me of Forrest Gump. Maybe not quite as good but they had skill, oh yes. John Speed held his own against the kids but also got beaten in a flash by an older boy. We attracted some attention and promised to come back.

We spent the past weekend visiting Olympic sites, quizzing Olympic volunteers on their spoken English just for kicks, exploring hutongs, discovering the infamous Houhai (a hip destination raved about in guide books) and not being too impressed, haha!, getting foolishly ripped off by a toothless man selling kites, and climbing up to the Pagoda of a beautiful park. The gatherings that happen in parks around the city are one of the things that I deem characteristically Chinese. The opera is held dear in the hearts of many elders here, and in honour of this tradition, park gatherings often consist of a large group Chinese people assembled around a man or woman with a microphone, singing along to tinny clasical music blaring from an amp. This park, called Jingshan gongyuan was host to countless of these mini festivals, allowing voices and song to be heard for miles around if it weren't for its surrounding fortifying red walls. Tim, John Speed and I then journeyed to the top of the hill that sits in the middle of the gongyuan til we reached the pagoda at the summit. If not for the smog the view would've been spectacular. We looked out past the balustrade and could see the entire Forbidden City spread out before us, with its golden roofs blanketed in eerie clouds only caused by pollution. Sad, yet hauntingly beautiful. Tim put his new kite together and we tried to catch the wind until a security guard came and told us "kite flying wasn't allowed". He must've been about 16, which I found hysterical, but we'd like to avoid messy run-ins with Chinese authorities as much as possible. As Tim tried to catch the breeze, a woman came up and started chatting with me, explaining that we weren't standing in a good enough location. I told her the story of the man getting far too much from us for what these kites are worth and she laughed - Oh the fate of foreigners comes to play once again!

Our night ended with a second trip to Wangfujing night market where we shared a plate of delicious jiaozi (fried dumplings), then walked over the bookstore to buy maps of the city. We made it back home and hit the hay, absolutely exhausted from all the walking and intense heat of the day.

I'm actually running late for our movie. On Thursdays we screen an film for the kids to give them a break from their summer classes. My little buddy Tian Tian said it's his favourite class. Tonight our roommates and I are hosting a little party for Ysabelle and Joan's goodbye (they both leave on Monday, a week before the rest of us d0), and tomorrow we'll host a goodbye party for the kids we've taught classes to, as most of them are taking off on vacation before they plan to start school in September. There'll be watermelon, mangos, and lots of merriment.

Take good care family & friends, much love to you all!

a bientot,
-lb.