Our Trip to Mengzi

A few weeks ago we joined a trip to Mengzi in the Yunnan province on an English teaching mission.  Clifford developed a professional relationship with some education leaders in Mengzi, a small town in Southeast Yunnan province.  Through the Cultural Exchange Institute he was able to set up a teaching opportunity where English speakers would come to Mengzi and lead a summer camp for 4 days for the English teachers of Mengzi and surrounding counties.  We signed up not having ever met Clifford or any of our other teammates, but we were excited to see how the Lord would use us.

We flew into Kunming on a Tuesday afternoon.  Kunming is a large city.  Approximately 7 million people live in a town that is prepared to handle only about 3 million.  Traffic is a nightmare and taxis are scarce, but the weather is great.  We checked into a nice hotel, met the team, and went to dinner with a local Kunming man who was a friend of Clifford’s.  He took us to a local “hole-in-the-wall” type restaurant where we were served dishes that we had to politely ask, “这是什么?” (what is this?)  

Before we were invited to dig into our dinner of unfamiliar vegetables and fish with head and bones still present, a cockroach decides to crawl across my napkin.  I was not real sure if it was proper etiquette to kill a cockroach on the table when we are the guests.  Of course I did not want to offend our host.  I missed my opportunity to rid our table of the unwelcomed guest, and so did our host.  The cockroach decided to mockingly play hide-and-seek with my wife for the remainder of the meal-showing its ugly head only long enough to remind Chyloe of how disgusting it was before retreating with an almost audible laugh to the safe haven underneath the lazy suzan.  Needless to say, Chyloe ate no dinner that night.  On the walk back to the hotel we passed a child defecating on the sidewalk through his split pants and a man smoking some strange tobacco in an even stranger pipe.  As the smell from the gutter embraced our senses with all the warmth of a starving lion I looked back to see Chyloe with eyes watering trying with all she had to swallow what was trying to escape the wrong way from her stomach.  She successfully swallowed it, but it was a bad start to our first adventure outside Beijing.  The mouse/rat she saw in our hotel room the next morning did not help ease her mind as we began the week.

The next day we drove to Mengzi.  After taking two hours to get out of Kunming (a distance I could have walked in about 30 minutes), we drove for another 4 hours and finally arrived.  Mengzi is a beautiful town nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains with a quaint lake in the middle of town that serves as a pleasant gathering place for young and old at all hours of the day.  It is also the governmental seat of the Honghe prefecture and the home of an Air Force base that launches jet planes at the rate of about 1 every 10 minutes.  

The opening ceremonies attracted all of the important people.  Officials traveled from all over the Yunnan province to be there.  They rolled out the red carpet for us and in return we taught them to sing, “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”  

The attendees of the camp were 45 Middle School English teachers.  You would think, and rightfully so, that since these were English teachers they would have very good English language skills.  Not really.  In Mengzi there is very little opportunity to interact with the language so their English is classroom English - their vocabulary is extensive but their understanding and speaking is laborious.  They were, for the most part, eager to learn and to practice with real English speakers.  

The plan of the program was that we would spend half of the lessons teaching them cultural tidbits about the USA (Thanksgiving, travel, restaurant etiquette, etc.), and half of the time teaching them how to be better teachers.  We would also have small group breakout sessions scattered throughout the week.  The main purpose from their side was to be exposed to native English speakers and to able to practice speaking and listening.  The main purpose from our side was to build relationships with them and to share with them love and grace.  Both were accomplished.  I taught lessons on personality types, learning styles, and how to be a good teacher beyond the curriculum.  

For me it was fun and fulfilling being back in a teaching role, something I haven’t done for 5 months.  It was also fun to see a new part of China.  Mengzi is the birthplace of Over the Bridge Rice Noodles.  Piping hot water has a layer of oil on top of it.  All sorts of raw meat and vegetables are brought out separately and then added to the water/oil.  The oil keeps the water extremely hot and it cooks the meat.  Noodles are then added and then you wait for the meat to cook and the broth to cool down to a bearable temperature.  

As happened multiple times throughout the week I was invited to sit at the important table while Chyloe and the kids were left to sit with everyone else who did not hold an important government position.  The noodles were great.  The pig ears and chicken feet were not great.  As I was sitting there enjoying my noodles the General Secretary of the Communist Party in Mengzi was encouraging me to eat a pig’s ear - how could I say no to that.  Then the Vice-President for the Honghe prefecture (11 counties) told me that I must eat one of the remaining chicken’s feet.  Of course I had to try so I nibbled on the skin a bit and realized that there is not much to eat on a chicken’s foot - just skin and bone.  After some unsuccessful nibbling I hid the almost complete chicken’s foot behind my large bowl.  She continued to insist that I try a chicken foot.  After I told her that I already had one her response was, “well you can’t walk on just one foot.”  I laughed but I had to draw the line there.  Chyloe was thankful that she was stuck at the kiddie table for this meal.

At the end of the week the Vice-President offered me a job to teach English at the University in Mengzi.  She cited the cooler weather and cheaper living as reasons why I should take the job.  It was tempting.  On the way back we spent a night at a 5 star hotel in Kunming before heading back to Beijing.  They had a nice swimming pool and English TV channels.  We deserved it.