Really? It’s only been a week? Well just a little more… Time has stood still, it has sped up incredibly and it has also just plodded along at it’s usual pace.
Robert Louis Stevenson said, ” There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” How true!  After a week  of  trying to learn and absorb, there is still so much to become accustomed to, new sounds and smells, and yes the smells do take some getting used to! As does the noise – there is constant hustle and bustle – signs of a vibrant and bustling city! 
Some reflections on the past week:
– Domestic  – things take a lot longer here. I can’t just get in the car and go to Zehrs! I can’t even read the labels in the stores. I don’t know if I’m buying toilet cleaner or fish sauce. I don’t recognize most vegetables, and the cows hooves are not at all like a leg of lamb at home – the toenails are far too long! (See attached photos).
 Finding good wine is difficult. And then of course, we have to haul everything up 5 flights of stairs! Thank God Howard is a willing and  reliable Sherpa! There is a large store called Metro, similar to Costco about a 20 minute cab drive away. Problem is, it’s all in bulk, and I really don’t need 50 rolls of toilet paper! But everything is available, so I’m grateful!
Water – Today we got a new washing machine – can’t wait to try it out!  There are no clothes dryers – only wash lines. We have 2 small bathrooms, what we did not know was that one  of them is solar powered, so if the sun is shining, we have hot water! Yay!  The other one is heated electrically, and even has a bathtub which I look at longingly, but won’t use it on the advice of Adrienne Clarkson (former GG) who at a party in Toronto several weeks before we left said to me “Maggie, woman to woman, do NOT have a bath in China – just shower!” So probably singing in the shower with an open mouth is out as well!  In fact we can’t use the tap water to brush our teeth. But we do have drinking water, so no problem.
Taxis – wow , it’s tough to get one, even though there are many of them, and they are very inexpensive (a 20 minute ride is about $3.00). Of course there’s NO language communication, so it can be interesting. I do have this wonderful app on my ipad,  I type the name of where we’re going, and it translates it into Mandarin for me, and I just show it to the cab driver!  It certainly worked this morning. Last night, it took us 45 minutes to hail a cab from the Kunming Theater where we went for a concert. Had a great driver last night who sang as he drove, but also periodically hurled large amounts of spit out the window. I was glad there was no wind!

Kunming Symphony Orchestra did a concert last night – unusual programming  of 2 viola concertos – by William Walton and Bela Bartok respectively. Both violists were from Beijing and were fantastic.
But the big , very pleasant surprise was the orchestra!  They are fabulous! Not recognizable from 1999. So, needless to say, Howard is very excited to be working with them in May. We met a few of the players later – most of them are new from when we were last here, but there were a few who remembered Howard, They were so warm and friendly. Howard will be writing more about the music I’m sure in his blog, so if you want to check it out, go to www.howarddyck.com 

Yunnan Arts University – located in this new planned city of Cheng Gong, and one hour away. We go out on Tuesdays and Thursdays  right now. We leave the house at 2, try to get one of those elusive taxis, and have about a 10 minute ride to where we get the bus that takes us to the campus. Howard has now had a rehearsal with both the choir and the orchestra. He has his work cut out for him. The choir shows a lot of promise, and will do very well. The orchestra which is newly formed, is going to be a challenge. Not exactly a silk purse yet – more like burlap! However the kids are keen and seem to love working on the Beethoven Symphony # 1.
These rehearsals begin at 4:40 pm, and go till 6:15 pm  -no breaks. And the choir stands the whole time! They are so keen, it’s a joy to observe. We’re usually home by about 8 pm, ready for a late dinner.

It looks as though my role at the university  will be more  expanded from what I originally thought. I will be spending time with post graduate students during the times Howard rehearses, and engaging in conversational English. That’s what  they are primarily interested in, so I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Today  was/is a beautiful sunny day again. As I sit here at my computer  in our bright living room listening to one of my favorite operas, Parsifal,(it is Saturday afternoon after all) I am  grateful  for this experience, but overwhelmed by the sensory overload of this place. It is both exhilarating and exhausting!  I still feel I have only taken one small step of the thousands left to take! 
Till next time,

Maggie