China's Backcountry

The Li River in Yangshuo

 As mentioned previously, I took a trip with some of my students to Yangshuo, China to do some backpacking. A wonderful company, Terratribes (http://www.terratribes.com/), was our guide around Yangshuo and into the surrounding "backcountry". At their shop we loaded our packs with sleeping bags, cooking supplies, food, tents, pads, a bucket, and a shovel. Once the weight reached 15 kg, we were ready to go.



Proof I was there.

 


Foraging with babes.

 


Our view







Peach blossoms

Campsite, Day 1

 

Farm equipment

At a crossroads: left to one town, right to another

Sharing our campsite, Day 2

Campsite, Day 2 - the view from



Kids and cows sharing space



Day 3 - Foggy morning



Mrs. B on a rock!



It has taken me 35 minutes to post this

Wednesday I leave for my first ever backpacking trip. 3 days in Yangshuo, China, hiking backcountry with 8 teenagers who haven't done anything like this either. Well, at least I've slept on the ground before. Under a tarp. In the rain.

PB got sick on Saturday, me on Sunday, HD today, and hubby...I hope it waits until I return on Saturday next. Wicked cold with body aches. Hello Spring!

Mosquitoes are back.

There are only 9 weeks until I will have finished my first year of teaching. I'm thinking about throwing a party. The question is, last day of school or first day back in the States? Maybe both. And more. (Almost there, Abby! Keep going! - Thanks, inner voice.)

Want to see some pictures? Ask China Telecom to add another cable to our complex so it doesn't take hours. I think a letter-writing campaign is in order. Eh, no time. Pictures in a week.

I'm going to paradise! I'm going to paradise! (Imagine I'm next to you repeating this in the most annoying, bragging voice of an 8-year-old, because) I'm going to paradise!

My Reading Soapbox

I have always been a voracious reader. Okay, only since I learned to read, but really...

When I graduated from picture books to chapter books, there was Charlotte's Web, A Wrinkle in Time, and Phantom Tollbooth. Moving past those it was time for a brief stint with The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Babysitter's Club, but then, "adult" fiction was all that was left. Alas, at 12 years of age, I was looking at my parent's bookshelf for reading material - Tom Robbins, Ernest Hemingway, Tom Clancy, and their likes. There was no "young adult" section in bookstores. Just "children's" and "adult".

Now a teacher, I am fascinated by all that is available to that middle-of-the-road reader. The 12-17-year-olds who aren't ready for the sofisticated humor of adult fiction, or the lengthy metaphors loved by the uber-essayist. And as I mentioned, I am a voracious reader, so the books that find their way to my classroom also find their way into my hands. I have been reading all that my students read, or that is available to them to read.

However, I am dismayed by the amount of series being written. Even those books now classified as "young adult" from my time (not that long ago, I know) were mostly series. It was fun for the first couple, but then it ended. There was never a clear end. The time seemed to stand still in ageless characters. And now it continues. All the most popular books are but parts of a series. Maybe it's the age. Maybe this is something I don't know about the students I teach, that they crave a continuation of enjoyable events ---- aha! How writing can bring enlightenment!

But of course! What teenager wants the happy moments to end? Why were we late for curfew? Why did a marathon of our favorite tv show outweigh the math homework? Why did we play that song over and over and over again?

Mystery solved.

Diatribe almost over.

As fun as it is to read all these books, the adult in me has had enough. I am done with series. I want closure, or at least an end to the story. When our book club read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, I ended the book thinking, "But I don't want it to end", in my whiniest thought voice. Another book? No. The more time that passes, the more I appreciate that the author(s) ended where she(they) did.  

And now that I'm almost done here, I realize I will get one comment about how many other books there were that were perfect for my 12-year-old brain that were not series. However, clearly they were not memorable enough for me to know them now and write about them.

I remembered the series though.

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The Making of "My Reading Soapbox"

Me: Would you italicize or put quotation marks around a book title?

Hubby: I would do quotation marks.

Me: Really?

Hubby: I don't know. Italicize.

Me: Really?

Hubby: Actually, I would underline it.

Me: Really?

Hubby: Yeah, that looks good (Charlotte's Web). No, I would bold it, italicize and underline.

Me: And put quotes around it?

Hubby: Yeah.

Signs of Spring and Renewal

Running last week I finally witnessed some sure signs that Spring and a time of renewal are here:

- A formerly quiet street is now buzzing with cicadas. They have awoken! I had forgotten how loud they are and hadn't realized how quiet it had been without them.

- I smelled flowers! Sure, I had already seen flowers, but to smell them? Amazing! This city is not known for its fresh air, and to have but 200 meters of freshness in the air was enough to energize the 2nd half of my run.

- My head touched the tree branches! A few possibilities went through my scraped head with this one:

      1. I've grown - not likely. Haven't done that since middle school.
      2. The trees have grown lower branches. Also not likely as it would've had to occur in a week's time.
      3. The new sidewalk has put me up higher. Of course! All the sidewalks in the neighborhood have been
          getting a make-over, but instead of ripping up the old tile and replacing it, new bricks have been put
          on top. This has made our sidewalks (and curbs to car owners' dismay) about 8 inches taller. Hence,
          the head-branch collision.

And this week, entering our holiday weekend (kind of a "Spring Break"), a final sign that it is Spring - a cold snap.

Oh well, still wearing sandals...