I was invited by my friends Andy and Lucy to visit the Kindergarten that they have set up in Bo'ai village in Yunnan Province. Having the day off I jumped at the chance to see more of the country. Left school on the back of Andy's motor scooter and headed to the bus station only to find that the bus had just left.....but never fear Andy rings Lucy who gets the bus driver to stop and wait for us!!!! Well Andy then thrashed the motor scooter, with me hanging on for grim death,to the outskirts of the city and sure enough there is this little old bus waiting for us. Naturally all the locals looked on with awe as this "foreigner" got on their local bus!!

Went through Pingxu and Liuyang counties in Guangxi before crossing the border into Yunnan Province. The scenery was magnificent and as we were climbing higher into the mountains the mist just added another dimension to the view. Not far into Yunnan, in Baikang county, we headed off the highway (which was a great road that we would be happy to have in Aus) and onto this rocky road up to the village. I had been told that the villagers were very poor so I was surprised to find nice new brick houses....then I found out that the Government had built them the new village after drowning their previous homes!!!!! On a good day you can apparently see some of the roofs of the taller buildings in the new lake!

Chinese Whispers took on a whole new meaning for me. We had just arrived in the village when the Principal of the Junior and Middle Schools came down and invited us out to lunch.....it was already being prepared!! I thought "how nice" and then was asked would I mind visiting their school after lunch so the children could talk English to a foreign teacher......guess it was a bit like singing for my supper but i was happy to do so.

Off to lunch to a local restaurant where we were met by the Principal and other senior people from the school and were led to a private room where a fabulous feast was set out before us. Went through the seating ritual and then the Principal smiled at me saying something in Chinese. I smiled back(being polite) not knowing that he had just asked if I drank and was delighted when told by Andy that I did.....oh dear...not a good idea at lunchtime when you know you are heading off to talk to small children for the afternoon. At least it was only beer and not baijui.....but we still had many "Gambei's" which they take literally so it was "bottoms up" with each cheer!!!

Where do I start with lunch....hmmm....perhaps with the fried bees!!! YES you have read right and the Principal decided that as the honoured guest I should have plenty to eat. Have to say they were quite interesting - cant describe the taste, just they were crunchy. I still draw the line at eating fish head, chicken head and feet so figured I'd just gladly accept the bees. Anyway it was a fantastic lunch and I was then driven to the school.

Well Chinese Whispers were working overtime.....by the time I arrived the teachers had assembled all the "Middle School" students in the auditorium to be formally introduced by the Principal. They clapped and cheered like I was a star and sat there mesmerised by hearing English spoken by an English-speaking person!! I found it hilarious and just rabbited on about where I was from and then went around and chatted to some students so they could show me how good their English was!! Thank goodness I can just talk and keep talking (see Matt it is useful sometimes!!) They said godbye and headed back to their classrooms. I was then shown around some of the school and had to admire the view and then it was back to the auditorium to go through the process with the "Junior School" with the same outcome. Although the little ones did ask if they could touch my hair and said they didn't know you could get "coloured hair". So funny to think they have only ever seen black hair I truly wonder what they would think if they saw someone with various colours in their hair! Finally did the "posed" photos with selected school staff and headed back to the Kindergarten.

Played games with the little ones until it was time to head "home". Well little did I know that was going to be an adventure in itself....we were picked up by this little cart and driven along a VERY rough track barely wide enough for the cart to the highway. No bus stop to be seen but I am assured by Andy that if we just wait the bus will come along and pick us up....just wasn't sure when! Good old China time.......waited about 20 minutes and sure enough along came the bus and we headed back to Baise. Retreived Andy's scooter from where we had parked it earlier in the day and headed back to school. I was totally exhausted by this time.....


A totally unexpected day but one that I will treasure.....the joys of living in a different country.
Bye for now. xx