overpasses The reconstruction of the Second Ring Road 二环路 with an elevated expressway / bus lane has caused dust, pollution, and hideous traffic congestion for about a year. The mammoth project is now complete; visually, it’s not a success, since what was once a wide thoroughfare is now jumble of concrete posts beneath a gray concrete canopy. Crossing the road on foot now feels like entering another country. Still, I couldn’t resist the urge to spend a rare free day circling the entire city on the new express bus system, occupying its own dedicated lanes on the upper level of the Ring Road. escalator to the bus stop platform The trip took about an hour and 20 minutes. The experience of the city from the upper level, I must say, was panoramic. The limited-access roadway functions to move traffic quickly around and through the city, and to ride a city bus without having to sit behind traffic, stop for traffic signals, or dodge pedestrians was a change for the better. That’s a little too high. At times the trip is like a roller-coaster ride, especially when the bus lane zooms up to a dizzying height somewhere in the northwest corner of the city. In every direction were high-rise apartments and construction cranes. When passing through my old neighborhood near UESTC, where I taught for three years, the area was unrecognizable. The small shops and neighborhood restaurants that I knew have all disappeared, and my old apartment
Sunday morning
The day after the earthquake, everything seems back to normal in Chengdu… dumplings seller fruit stand Tweet This Post
earthquake April 20, 2012
A 6.6 earthquake struck Sichuan at 8:02 this morning, centered in the Lushan area near Yaan, which is 90 minutes by car from Chengdu. epicenter My 15th-floor apartment started shaking just after 8 AM this morning – the dog panicked when the tremors grew stronger. I was just getting ready to go out, but instead we escaped the apartment and walked all the way down using the stairs. I saw other people crowding into the elevators and thought – what idiots, that’s the last place you want to be in an earthquake. People stood around outside, in the streets and on sidewalks, for about an hour, until the fear of strong aftershocks subsided. I watched a TV mounted outside the gate to an apartment complex, to find out where the quake happened; it was initially reported as 7.0. There were no live pictures on the TV news after I got home, so I went to my IELTS job to mark writing exams for a couple of hours. As of now, 56 are confirmed dead, and there’s extensive damage in the quake zone. You can read more here: http://www.itv.com/news/story/2013-04-20/deadly-earthquake-in-china/#devastation-after-deadly-earthquake-hits-china_192036 earthquake damage Tweet This Post
on a clear day
shadows from above A recent morning was so clear and beautiful after an overnight rain that it was like waking up in a new city. When I went for an early-morning walk with the dog, the sky was such a deep blue and the air so cool and fresh, I was reminded of Tibet. One forgets that the mountains that rise to the Tibetan plateau begin west of the city. My brain took such a hit of oxygen that I became dizzy and light-headed. I took some photos from my 15th-floor window to celebrate the occasion. Tweet This Post
build a tower
I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while; as usual, however, life got in the way and it was delayed. I’ve now done this team-building activity with two different classes, and it proved to be a lot of fun. The Marshmallow Challenge was created by Tom Wujec, and he describes the activity in a TED2010 Talk [click photo above to view video]. The object of the activity is to enhance group and cooperative learning skills through creativity, planning, trial & error, and problem-solving as a part of a team. It involves building a tower using dry spaghetti, tape, string, and marshmallows. As a bonus, the extra marshmallows provided snacks for instant energy. Here are some of the photos from my English for Academic Purposes class as they constructed their towers. As it turned out, the students fell in love with the red clothesline string I provided, and used way too much of it. Oh well, I’m not one for strictly following instructions anyway. A few of the students also chose to snack on the spaghetti (uncooked) afterwards, which I didn’t recommend. After the towers were completed, a committee of judges used a tape measure to determine which one was tallest. Prizes were awarded for height and creativity – one tower was shaped like the Burj Al Arab Hotel in Dubai. During the activity I played a mixture of pop, disco, and 70s R&B music for inspiration. If you try this
