The O's Odyssey to China: Who Knew The Party Lasted 15 Days!!!

All made out of Flowers, just like the Rose Parade

Hello Everyone. I hope this week's blog finds everyone healthy and happy. I know that at home you had a bit of snow this week. Still can't say I miss it, except for the sunny days skiing at Badger. Is it possible to get the good white stuff only at night and then have spring like temperatures during the day. Well, probably not, but I can wish can't I? It has been about 72 degrees here everyday. Hard to like snow when you are enjoying an extended spring.
Anyway, this week found us back at school and then on our first adventure since Paul went home. Paul will enjoy this one, because we went to a place that he had been wanting to go for some time. So here we go.

More Flowers

SCHOOL: I know you probably are getting tired of me putting on here that I was not in school, but those of you back home can give me a hard time while I am teaching through June and into July. This week I reported back to school on Monday and to my surprise I only had two students. The school neglected to tell me that most of my 10th graders would not be returning until Thursday. My freshmen were not returning until Friday. So, I spent the week going to class and swapping stories with the kids about what we had done during the break. Talk about a nice way to ease into the second semester. The only real bummer about the week was that we had to teach on Saturday. The reason we had to teach on Saturday was because the end of Chinese New Year finished on Monday. This meant that we had to work Saturday to make up for missing Monday. So if we were to take the Chinese way of scheduling and apply it back home, this is how would work; when the Memorial Day weekend comes in the spring, you must work the previous week from Monday through Sunday and then you can have the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off the following week. Haven't quite figured out this logic, but can't complain since I only had two classes on Saturday.
Finally, a good laugh for many of you. We have been asked to stay for next year. We have told them that we cannot stay and will be going home in July. The funny part is that one of the directors wants me to stay and fill a new position. The new position would be Western Principal for the International School. LOL, LOL. Alright, that's enough laughing from everyone. Just because I was laughing doesn't mean you have to keep laughing at me. You are supposed to laugh with me. I was flattered, but just don't see myself in that position. I said you can stop laughing now!!!!!

Now that is one Giant Lantern!!!

ADVENTURES: This week started out with a small adventure for Cecelia and I. We went on a date. Now that is not to say that every date is an adventure, but they usually are pretty spectacular. Get your minds out of the gutter, we just went to the movie and had coffee together. The reason this is such a cool adventure is because of another favorite thing we love about China. We went and saw the new Tom Cruise movie called "One Shot". If you haven't seen it yet, it is very good. Anyway, the reason that this was such a great date was because we had coffee, popcorn, water and bought two movie tickets for, wait for it, wait for it, the sum total of about $20. Not only did we not spend very much, the theaters here are really cool. They are all stadium seating and when you buy your ticket you get to pick your seats in the theater The tickets themselves only cost $10.

Chinese Opera on the Street

Now I know that some of you don't remember when movie tickets were that cheap, but I think the last time I spent that much on going to the movies was in the mid 80's and that was with my friend Michael Jilke. We went to the midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at a second rate movie theater on Corona Del Mar. Of course this was our fifth time seeing it and the stale popcorn was for throwing at the screen, along with other miscellaneous items like toast. It's perfectly fine for many of you to have a nostalgic moment with me. Alright everyone back to the present.
The weekend brought us to the end of the 15 day Chinese New Year party. We decided to spend it in Guangzhou. Some friends told us that to commemorate the end of the holiday, Yuexiu Park had a lantern festival that was spectacular.

Cecelia's neck hurt, just looking at this guy.

We woke up early Sunday morning and made our way to church. Church was very pleasant and the priest talked about where home is for all of us. He discussed how we have different homes in which we are very comfortable. Cecelia and I were talking about our many different homes and we started thinking about our top five. So, here are mine. My first home is wherever Jesus resides. My second home is where my family parks themselves, currently of course in China. My third home is in California, either at our place in Oakhurst or at Mom and Dad Kieffers, My fourth home is of course on the golf course and finally, my family said my last home is at Starbucks. Can't say I could disagree with them.
After church we decided to wander around Guangzhou at a leisurely pace. We had some time to kill before we went to the lantern festival in the early evening. So, we went to lunch, the book store and then to Starbucks. (My family's idea, not mine).

We then decided to get out from being underground in the metro and being inside the mall so we decided to walk most of the way to the lantern festival. There is something really freeing about walking the streets of a big city and exploring the sites and sounds. You also get a feeling of what the city's heartbeat is like. Guangzhou's heartbeat is joyful and festive. We saw, flower festivals, singers, street musicians, actors and acrobats. The weather was great, so it made the environment on the street very alive and active.
After spending the afternoon exploring the city, we made our way to the Lantern Festival.

The Lantern Festival wasn't anything like I expected. I thought we would see hundreds of Chinese lanterns in all shapes and sizes. To my surprise the lanterns were shaped like fish, dragons, people and Chinese zodiac signs. There was every shape and vibrant color imaginable. It reminded us a little like going to the Christmas lights on Van Ness in Fresno.
We then made our way to a hotel and spent the rest of the evening reading and relaxing. Of course I forgot to mention there were two fireworks shows that we saw from our hotel room on the 21st floor. I can honestly say, I never tire of experiencing the sites, sounds and smells of fireworks.

Pandas for Paul and Jess

The next morning dawned grey with a June gloom like overcast. This is typical for where we live, because the Guangzhou area is an enormous river delta. The cool water from the China sea moves inland and mixes with the warm air to create the cloud cover. In the afternoons, it tends to burn off most of the clouds.
To put into perspective how big this delta is, image the bay area river delta extending five times as wide and inland all the way to the foothills of the Sierras. Fresno would be a major shipping port in that delta.
After having breakfast at Starbucks, my family's idea again, not mine. We packed up and headed out to the Chen Clan Family Temple. The Chen Clan Temple is one part of four parts to the family's holdings in the area during the Qing dynasty. If Paul were still here he would give you more of a history lesson in detail, but basically the Chen family ruled this particular part of China during the Qing dynasty. The place we visited was the main hall that was used for worship and holding judgement when people had disagreements with one another.

Chen Clan Academy

I guess you could say it was the courthouse and Buddhist temple all in one. Currently it has been restored and is used as an art gallery that showcases all of the talents from the local artisans. The black lacquered columns, along with the brick work and carved wood on the underside of the ceiling made for a living, breathing art history lesson. On top of that, it was very peaceful with the sitting areas and the flower gardens intertwined among the walkways.

We have wondered many times about some of the relief wood carvings, brick carving and ceramic work that adorns the tops of the buildings in this part of the Guangdong Province. This place answered all those questions and more. Not only is the art work unique to this area, some of the finest jade and ivory carving ever done comes from here as well. This particular place reminded me of an oriental version of the Getty Museum in LA. I have included pictures this week to give you some idea of the impressive work that has been done in the past.