Four More Steeles Runnin' Through China . . . (Oct. 2017)

Dec 15

Dec 15 Four More Steeles Runnin' Through China . . . (Oct. 2017)

Brigg and Janet

Friday, October 13: Brian, Pilar, Leo, and Mia arrive in China! Yay! Sixteen days of fun and travel, including Pilar's stellar performance in the Great Wall Marathon! The marathon was "run" (mostly "climbed") at the Ancient Badaling Wall. Pilar rode the marathon bus (along with our fellow BYU China Teacher, Todd) early in the morning, while the rest of us rode up with our hired van and driver to join them later in the day. As luck would have it, we arrived at the base of the wall just as Pilar and Todd were making one of their laps, and we were able to see them and take a few pictures before they continued on their way. In the first picture, you can see Pilar waving goodbye before charging back up toward the tower (Todd's in the blue jacket). While they were completing the race, we were able to do some pretty serious climbing of our own. Look for Leo and Mia (Mia's in the purple jacket) climbing to the white stone marker. After we reached the marker, Leo ran back down to join Papa and Brian while Mia and I continued up and over the mountain. In Mia's words, "We're walking right into the clouds!" Congratulations, Pilar, for taking first place in the half-marathon in your age division!

Although we have been to other sections of the Great Wall, we had never been to this ancient section of the Badaling Wall before. It is clearly less renovated than other sections, and we had a lot of fun poking around. I was quite excited when we happened upon this historical spot:

As we reviewed the rules, especially number 2, I guess I was grateful that the air was a little bit chilly that day . . .

While Brigg and I taught our classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Brian, Pilar, Leo, and Mia explored Beijing on their own. We did find some time, however, to join them on excursions to BeiHai Park, the Summer Palace, the Drum and Bell Towers, and the grounds of PKU. We also attended the Chaoyang Acrobat show one evening!

They all even managed to pop in on one of my classes! We enjoyed a nice dinner afterwards with a couple of my students. Oh, and did I mention that it was Brian's birthday? Shengri kuaile!!

Thursday, October 19: We flew to Shanghai, where we spent the next two days strolling the Bund, zipping to the top of Shanghai Tower, and exploring Shanghai Disneyland. And as you can see, Leo and Mia managed to make friends wherever we went . . .

We thought it would be nice to enjoy a little picnic on the Bund, so we grabbed some baguettes and croissants from a French bakery across the street and sat down to eat. It wasn't long, however, before people began lining up to take pictures with Mia (as happened EVERYWHERE we went!) She was a pretty good sport about it, but as you can imagine, after a while our weary star decided it was best to travel incognito.

Thursday, October 26: Brigg's 64th birthday!! As part of our celebration, we hopped a bullet train to Xi'an. While there, we visited the Terra Cotta Warriors, rode bikes around the old city wall, and let the fish nibble on our feet a bit at the Muslim Market (remember that, Jack, Mitch, and Reagan??) We even met Mr. Yang, the farmer who discovered the Terra Cotta Warriors while digging a well.

Our hotel in Xi'an was right across the street from the ancient Bell Tower, which made for some fun walkin' around during the daytime and at night! It also provided an excellent view of the Xi'an marathon on Saturday morning -- yes, another marathon! "If ONLY I had known . . . " Pilar sighed.

Coming back from the Muslim Market with all our stuff! Wonderful two weeks . . . wonderful memories!

And by the way . . . we weren't the only ones who were sad to see the Orem Steeles leave Beijing -- Thomas's mother, Xiaomeng, is an administrator at PKU, and I tutor Thomas in English once a week. He was excited to meet some American playmates and came over several times while Leo and Mia were here. They taught him how to play "Sorry," which they brought with them from the U.S. It's Thomas's new favorite game! He was very sad to see them leave and still points to their pictures on the wall when he comes for lessons: "I like Leo and Mimi!"

We’re Back!!

I can’t believe it, but at the invitation of PKU and with the encouragement of BYU, we returned to Beijing for the 2018-2019 teaching year.

Brigg continues to teach some of the most popular classes on campus — this, at least, according to many of my students who are hooked into PKU social media during registration time. It seems that there is continuous chatter about how to get into one of Mr. Steele’s Business English classes. The students have an allotment of “points” they can use to “bid” for priority in registration, and many students report using ALL of their points just to get into one of Brigg’s classes! He teaches these Business English classes on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and again on Wednesdays at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

I continue to teach four sections of Critical Thinking/Academic Writing — Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and again on Wednesdays at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Both Brigg and I teach a section of Oral English for English Majors on Tuesday mornings at 8 a.m. We enjoy teaching the same course, although in different buildings, and have even switched things up on occasion, sharing our “expertise” with each other’s classes.

We were asked this year if we would teach an additional children’s oral English class, available only to those affiliated with PKU. We were told that this was a request from parents who wanted to enroll their children, but only if we were going to be the teachers. I know! Flattering! How could we refuse?? So we’re teaching the same Grade 2 class we taught last year (with a few new faces) on Wednesday evenings, but we’re also teaching a group of “beginners” (mostly 6-year-olds) on Monday evenings. We’ve had a lot of fun sharing American culture with them, including the carving of Halloween jack-o-lanterns in October and the decorating of various holiday-themed treats.

I continue to tutor my 9-year-old Thomas as well, sometimes twice a week. He loves to come to our apartment even when not having a formal lesson just to play games or read stories. Brigg has to hide his treats, though, because Thomas eats EVERYTHING he can find!

We love our continuing relationships with our former students and friends, especially our BYU China Teacher colleagues, who are our “family” while we’re so far from home!

Hi.