J+283 Elders university

Today as planned, I met my 80-year old friend, at the park. 

He took me to the elder's university. 

Such an amazing place! I was amazed by the number of elders who decide to study all sorts of subjects!
I attended the English class, the level is astonishing! We played a game, I was on the stage, we dialogued : they in English, I in Chinese.
It was such an interesting experience.
I have always particularly enjoyed communicating with older people, I believe we all have so much to learn from them. 



These are the works from the drawing lesson:




English classroom: 




They were all very curious about "what European retirees  are up to"
Hahah... The conversation got interesting.
They didn't understand how come, European retirees don't dance in the street every night.. This is outrageous to them!
" And they don't sing in the street?!"
They can't imagine the way young generations in Europe would judge them if they were doing their moves on a public square..

The other night I took a walk.. And my attention got caught by a familiar club song. By Akon and David guetta (French DJ) ~ ok, the name of the song tells a lot : "Sexy bitch"
I was walking in the street when I heard it.. I must admit it got me quite intrigued ! I followed the sound back to the source. And when I got to it, I almost fainted. 60 elders twisting and shaking " everything they've got" to the rhythm.. Completely ignorant of the meaning  of those lyrics..

J+282 After the class

我和Lisa 在一起

My teacher and I after class



Tomorrow I will go to meet a group of elders in a park, they have decided to learn English together and warmly invited me tocome and see their lesson! I will take some photos and give you details ! 

J+280 Our little school breaks...

It is hot to die! 

People from different grades gather together to play basket ball. It's the most popular sport here , without a doubt.
And some students "cutely attempt" to order cold drinks from outside, and discreetly get them delivered through the fence.. But they get caught every time, it's quite amusing.

J+274 Short weekend break in Shanghai

I took a short trip to shanghai, a weekend break. It was more like an "escape plan" for my school mate..

Shanghai has changed a lot since the last time I was there, 7 years ago !

We went to the Shanghai Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, and stroked a few poses with the stars, since the weather was unfortunately really bad.. Heavy rain!

Here we go: Yao Ming, Einstein, Monroe, Poutine, Chaplin... 

We took the fast train from Nanjing to Shanghai, and stayed in a small hotel in Nanjing road. (Central place)

J+231 In desperate need of nature...

India and myself met up again, to search an empty far away place... Calm..

 

J+222 清明节 ~ Qingming festival (tomb sweeping day)

This festival is devoted to the memory of the ancestors. It's a traditional Chinese holiday , usually occurring around April 5th of the Gregorian calendar. Chinese people visit the graves or burial grounds of their ancestors, bring some fruits, dishes, clothes and shoes (made of paper), wine, and burn the gifts, with some fake money and golden paper.

On Qingming people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing, and dance. Qingming is also the time when young couples start courting. A popular  thing to do is to fly kites in the shapes of animals or characters from Beijing Opera.

Another common practice is to carry flowers instead of burning paper, incense or firecrackers.

Some paintings illustrate the qingming festival, such as "Alongtheriver QingMing"

Luckily, I have some photos to show you of a typical ceremony :

 

 

 

 

J+220 Relax afternoon with India

I saw India a few hours after school today. We both needed a friend to talk to, we just took the subway and randomly picked an empty, far away station... We were both people sick.
The crowd gets at people sometimes, I'm totally ok with it, but India gets panic attacks..

 

We bought some street food , and then sat on the grass, chatted until it got dark.