Fwd: Recordings

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mitchell Bolen <bolenmitch@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 1:59 AM
Subject: Recordings
To: dpbolen@gmail.com, bounousb@gmail.com


Howdy Y'all,

So, today in music class we brought our microphone. We had the class sing the song they sang at the performance so we could record it without a noisy crowd. Also, we taught them Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in four parts. We recorded that as well. Not too bad considering they started learning it 20 minutes before we recorded it.

Enjoy,

Mitch and Ev

(Note from sysadmin : Still working on imbeding audio files. Will add to post if possible.)

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Dr. Barry Bounous
bounousb@gmail.com

Teaching Days Two and Three!

I think that our lessons are going well. We had a lot of fun last Thursday teaching the children about colors, shapes and sizes. We actually hit upon a topic that they didn't already know! They didn't know the names of shapes! Who knew SQUARE was so tricky to say? During music class we let them listen to the Disney song called "The Spectrum Song" and they tried to count how many times he said "Red". With our help we counted 18 times! In one song! Sheesh!

Today we talked about different ways to describe people other than by saying what they like to do. Then Mitch and I put up pictures of our families and described them to the class. I used a wedding photo and I better warn Tyndall that there are some sixteen year old boys here who are very much in danger of falling in love with an American. When we told them that she was only sixteen their jaws hit the floor! They thought Ayja and Tyndall were very beautiful (they know that word well).

We taught them Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with a four part harmony that Mitch came up with. It was very fun to divide into sections and teach them the parts. They actually picked it up quite well. I would say that the part that was hardest for them was saying the words ". But we worked on it and even began to work in some dynamics! We also got them to sing us the song that we heard them sing at the opera. Mitch recorded both of them with his fancy microphone. They quite enjoyed the seriousness of recording.

We have begun giving the kids english names because their Mongolian names are very long and complicated. So far we have a Crystal, Sarina, Archie, Henry and Alan. Only like forty more to go!

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On Our Own!

Nova has gone away!  She's on vacation for the next week or so and that means bum ba bum!!  We have to fend for ourselves!  And I must say that we are doing splendidly!  We've already made two trips to the supermarket down the street, had lunch (that we were able to eat most of) at a local restaurant and miraculously enough found burnable DVDs in the first store we tried.  It was a music store and I'm not really sure that they normally sell them but Mitch just has a way with people!

Fortunately Nova can still be reached by text which is good.  She sent us a text this morning warning us not to look at the sun today as there was going to be a partial solar eclipse.  I have never seen Mitch get out of bed faster!  We picked up a golf scope at the store and sat out on the front steps of the school.  We had a steady crowd of people looking at the little shadows on the box and it was fun to try and communicate with them.

It's only been a day since she's been gone but it's nice to know that we are beginning to learn how the city works and that we won't shrivel up and die when we're left on our own!

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Our First Day of Teaching!!

I figured that I should probably write about our first day of teaching before the second one arrives. For the next few weeks we will only be teaching two days a week but if the first day is any indication we will be kept on our toes and completely wiped out by the end of it!

So the day started with a field trip to a hotel with a public swimming pool. We crammed fifty people onto an already full bus! Mitch loved it. I was just hoping not to cause a domino effect. I did notice one interesting thing as we drove along—as each car or biker or pedestrian demands their right-of-way the bus tends to have the last word in the matter. You don't mess with the bus.

Once at the pool we all donned the required and oh-so-attractive swimming caps and we all leaped happily into the water! Or some of us did. Turns out the kids don't know how to swim and somehow Mitch and I became the designated swim teachers of 45 freezing and somewhat frantic Chinese children. It was fun but rather tiring. Going to the swimming pool in China is a little different than in America because of many things but I think the thing the surprisingly affected us the most was that they pay for a certain block of time to get to swim. So despite the fact that all of the kids were shivering their heads off the leaders wanted to get their moneys worth. Now the kids were still having fun regardless of the fact that they were turning blue but Mitch and I had to call it quits when our hands went numb from the cold.

Afterwards we had a return bus trip that was much like the first only this time the fifty extra people crammed onto the bus were all slightly damp.

We rushed home, took showers, attempted to eat some lunch and then headed to the class room.

We started them with basic introductions which they knew the words of but just needed practice conversing. So far that seems to be the main point. Their vocabulary and grammar are actually fairly good but they haven't had much practice speaking it.

After an hour and a half of English we began teaching them music. Basically we seem to be putting English words with concepts that they already know as well as teaching them actual English songs. It may be a bit of a challenge to keep them entertained but I think we are up to the challenge. Our plan for the second lesson is looking great!

By the end of class at 6 we were exhausted but we decided to go to a fancy restaurant for dinner. We wanted to celebrate the success of our first day of teaching and a little something we like to call our 2 month anniversary! So we went to our favorite and most expensive restaurant in Huhehaote! That's right! Pizza Hut! Ahhh, hawaiian pineapple pizza! We even splurged and ordered a chocolate cake to share! (I know, how sweet!)

All in all it was a great day and we look forward to the next time we get to teach!

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potter pics

Our First Trip to the Cinema1

After a slow start to the day yesterday we ended it with a bang!  Nova took us to the International Cinema!  We got to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!  Before we left for China I was quite worried about the fact that the movie didn't come out until we were in another country and despite everyones assurances that the dvd should be fairly easily acquired I really wanted to see it on the big screen.  I mean come on!  It is definitely one for the theaters right?  Turns out we got to see it the first day out, in fantastic seats with a Chinese audience that laughed just before we did because of the subtitles.  I thought it rocked!  Now I know I'm not really hard to please but it was all around enjoyable for me.  I didn't quite pull Mitchs' arm off during the intense parts either which I'm sure he considers to be quite the bonus!  So if you're a Harry Potter fan like me I'm sure you will enjoy it too!

lots of love

Ev and Mitch

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Boating.

Not sure we could water ski until Mitch bulks up a bit.....

Jenny"s Store

American food!

Let's try this out!

So apparently China doesn't allow internet access to websites like facebook, youtube or blogs so I will have to email updates to my blog!  Hopefully I can figure out how to put pictures and video on as well!

On Saturday we went out to a park that has paddle boats.  The water was pretty gross but it was fun to be out instead of stuck in our apartment.  We also went to a bookstore and I found english books.  They mostly just had classics and I've read a lot of those but I decided to try Gone With the Wind (I'd already finished the books that I brought with me) but when I got it out to read it yesterday I realized that it was part 2!!!  It started at chapter 31!  Sheesh.

We also found what will probably be my favorite place to eat here.  Pizza Hut!!!  We had a salad bar, criss-cross french fries and an honest-to-goodness Hawaiian pizza!!  Talk about comfort food!  I know I haven't been here that long or anything but it made me realize what it is that's so different about the food here. It's not really the actual food.  They have beef and chicken and green beans and rice which are quite acceptable foods but it's the flavors in them that are so different.  So to taste something with American flavoring was very nice.  A little later the Mongolian teacher took us to an international food store.  It was called Jenny's store!  We bought things like frosted flakes, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce and kraft parmesan cheese (Mitch was really excited).  It's pretty expensive so we will still eat plenty of native Chinese food though.

Right now the children are having sort of end of term tests and then they will get a short break.  Classes will resume on the twentieth and that is when we will get to start teaching!  It sounds like they want an english class, english songs, music appreciation and a music history class.  We got to sit in on one of their tests this morning.  It was for sight-singing. They use Russian solfege.  Most of it familiar to me but la is with a Russian L and Ti is Si.  I would say that they were as good as first year music students at BYU.

So until then we are getting to do some sight-seeing and adjusting to the time change (I actually slept in today until 8:20! I'm usually bright-eyed by 5:30 or so.). I'm hoping to get to go see the Harry Potter movie when it comes out and Nova said that this is the season for festivals here so we should be able to go see a lot of performances!

Hope you all are well!

Lots of love

Ev

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Hello from the blue city

Ni Hao laizi Huhehaote—Hello from the Blue City!

It’s been a crazy past couple of days and if I wait too long I will have too much to say. The Fourth of July weekend was full of packing with a quick jaunt to Utah Lake where I got to test out my water skills. I haven’t been out on the boat since the car accident and I was a bit nervous. It felt great though! I didn’t try to ski but I did surf and I got up fairly easily! I did almost lose my swimsuit bottom which hasn’t happened to me before. I guess I still haven’t worked my booty back up ;)

We left for the airport at five in the morning on Monday, flew to San Francisco then from there boarded a plane that would be our home for the next 12 hours. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. They had Disney Channel shows! Ah Hannah Montana. Good times. Beijing was grey and humid and hot but Nova and her boyfriend, who met us at the airport, were happy and helpful. They helped us lug our massive amounts of luggage around the city as we stared and tried not to fall asleep. We left the luggage in a locker at the train station and then went to have dinner. Our first authentic Chinese meal! I didn’t eat much ;) Actually the pork and rice were fine. The chicken and beef had red peppers in them and while they tasted ok I’m such a spice wuss that a taste was all I had. After we went to Tienamen Square to watch the lowering of the Chinese flag. We didn’t see much because there were so many Chinese tourists and frankly a lot of them seemed more interested in us than the flag. Only one group of teenagers had the guts to ask us to pose with them everyone else just snapped candid shots of us. I was pretty tired but I tried to keep a smile on my face. I was pretty grateful to head back to the train station though. Before I got on the train we took a potty stop and I experienced my first squatting toilet. I’m surprisingly good at it but I won’t explain any further—gross! We mostly just slept on the train and arrived in Huhehaote around 7:30 AM Wednesday morning (where did Tuesday go?). We met the director of the children’s choir that we’d be working with and they brought us to our home. It’s nicer than I thought it would be in some ways and nicely ghetto in others. Mitch was a little appalled at the lack of outlets. Only four in the whole place! And with a fridge, washer and rice pot that doesn’t leave much for our many electronics. Somehow we will survive.

There are two American restaurants here: KFC and of course McDonalds. KFC was a bit weird but good ole Mickey D’s is going to be a nice comfort when I’m missing American food. Besides food, the biggest difference that I’ve been able to pinpoint in the feel of the cities is the flow of people. Mitch and I were both feeling disoriented as we wandered the cities which is to be expected but I couldn’t figure out why. It really is similar in a lot of ways to big cities in America but there was something majorly different. Ok so granted the signs are all in Chinese which is different but still there was something else. There are also as many bikers on the road as cars but I was expecting that. It took a few scary taxi rides and a lot of walking before it hit me. In New York City there is a flow to cars and people that you can actually relax into and let it sweep you along but here the cars, bikes and pedestrians are all on a different path. When those paths cross it’s like they are rudely being forced to recognize one another and each has the right of way. It’s interesting to see cars forced around massive amounts of pedestrians and people stopping just inches to the side of an oncoming bus. The taxis live in a completely different world than anyone else. I bet they have to get their horns replaced much more often than their brakes. The horn seems to be much more useful to them. I’m not much of a horn translator but I think it says something like, “Hey! Here I am whether you like it or not! So move over!!” As you can imagine Mitch and I LOVE taxi rides.
We were able to meet the kids that first night. We were pretty tired (although it was only 9 PM) but really wanted to meet them. They were in a class that we just took over for forty minutes while each of them stood and introduced themselves. Apparently they had been working hard on those introductions and it showed. Mitch and I were really impressed. They are very cute! They are all around fifteen years old but don’t look older than ten! They seemed to quite like us and are eager to teach us Mongolian—I’m having a hard enough time with Chinese!
The next morning we had to go to the health clinic and get physicals. Our first stop was to get blood drawn and it was all we could do to keep Mitch in his chair. Fortunately the hospitals here are clean and very professional and that phlebotomist rocked! And I should know. I think my favorite part was the ultrasound. She went straight for the kidneys so I quickly told Nova to tell her that she might not be able to find one of them because of the car accident. Fortunately the gigantic scar on my belly had already tipped them off and no one seemed too surprised. She did say that there is only a bit of the left kidney left—the rest has been absorbed by my body—and that the bit looks fine. Good news from China! Looks like they won’t be trying to cut me open to get it out! Wahoo!
Later that night we got to go to a Chinese show at the Opera House because the children were the opening act. Mitch and I were quite impressed. They had a nice clear tone, their harmonies were distinct and clean and they actually looked like they were having fun! I had assumed that we’d be seeing an opera at the Opera House but I was wrong. It was actually a dramatic dance retelling the story of Chinese orphans being sent to live with Mongolian families. It was well televised and because the cameramen seemed to find us almost as interesting as the show it was a little difficult to pay attention with the bright lights of the tv cameras shining in our faces. But for dignity’s sake we kept our heads up and eyes open even though it was past our bedtime.
As predicted we are having a lot of adventures halfway around the world. We miss you and love you all!

Evablog phase II

You all may have thought this blogfaded but Ev's life has entered a new phase. In addition to getting married (now EvaLynn Bolen), she and new hubby are, as I post this, getting on a plane to China. The plan is to stay there 6-12 months, teach English & music at a university in the capital city of the provence of Inner Mongolia. I'll let them fill you in. I've persuaded her and Mitch to do some blogging while there. Dad would have greatly preferred a one month tourist thing but is really impressed with their courage and sense of adventure. Buckle your seat belts!!

Love,

Dad