Back in Norway

09.06.09
For thoose of you who have visited the blog frequently you have probably noticed that we have not updated our blog in a long time now. The reason for this is that Blogspot was blocked so we could not open, or update it the last weeks we were in Ningxia. We are sorry for this.
So now we will write about some of the things we did the last weeks we had in the Middle Kingdom.

In the beginning of May we held exams at the schools we worked. The last month in Ningxia we also spent time preparing for the follow up work that we have now started in Norway.
The last period in China we went on a couple of trips in the Ningxia area. In the May holiday we visited Sha Hu (Sand Lake), a beautiful site outside Yinchuan, where the desert is right next to a big lake. It was cool to see desert and water this close. It makes you think about the closeness of fjord and mountain in Norway and why it is so extraordinary. Along with Sand Lake we also visited the famous Helan Mountain rock carvings.

The 18th we got to go with the Red Cross to visit a school they help to run in the Tongxin district in Ningxia. The school is situated in one of the poorer areas in Ningxia, where water is scarce. It was an interesting visit for us to the school, and for the pupils, who probably hadn't seen to many foreigners around, it also seemed interesting for them to have us there. The Ningxia Red Cross is giving away different materials to help supplying the school in Tongxin.

The 17th of May (Norway's national holiday) we celebrated with both Norwegians (Tom and Karen from Norway) and Chinese, and we made pancakes in the evening.

The last week in China, we said goodbye to everybody at work and that we knew. We attended some farewell banquets with our Chinese class, and with The Foreign Affaris Office at Ningxia University. We also bought our last gifts and finished our packing.

We came back to Norway in the end of May, and the temperature was about 20 degrees lower than we have gotten used to this spring. In that way (one of a few:)), we knew we had arrived back home. The rain also helped to convince us we had arrived back home.

It is good to be back, with all the things we have missed while in China. The food, our families and friends and the chilly weather.
But we cannot guaranty that we woun't miss China, Ningxia, the people we meet there and the travelling in the future. We had a fantastic time in the Middle Kingdom, a year we will most likely never forget.

Now we are in Flekke working on our follow up work. We want to send a great thanks to all who made this year possible, to Fredskorpset, Red Cross Nordic United World College, Ningxia University and the Ningxia Red Cross. Also we want to thank those at home and thoose who have followed us.

Chris and Tom

The 5th FK China Network meeting

Last weekend (25th-27th of April) we attended FK China's network meeting in Kunming, a beautiful city in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. Saturday we had a social trip that involved former and new network members, and Sunday we had meetings where both FK partners and participants attended.

On Saturday we visited Jiu Xiang – some awesome caves south west of Kunming. These caves are on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The caves had underground rivers and waterfalls and the walk through them was fascinating.

After that we visited Shi Lin (The Stone Forest). In addition to enjoying the scenery all the participants had a meeting where we talked about what we had been working on since the last FK meeting in Beijing.

On Sunday we had meetings and discussions with all the partners. It was nice to meet the people we met on the last meeting, and to meet new participants and partners.

We had a great weekend in Yunnan. When we came Friday we visited a café that had western food, and we decided to try it. The pizza was good, but we especially liked the menu they had there.

Yunnan is known for its many minority groups, and beautiful clothing. These nicely dressed women we encountered at Jiu Xiang. We also saw people walking in Kunming city with colourful dresses.

It was a very interesting city, and the surroundings, with red iron-rich soil, rice patties, and water buffaloes was quite different from what we are used to from the northern part of China. Getting to know other FK people and exploring different areas of China are things we really will miss when we leave for home within a month.

The networks homepage;

http://www.fkchinanetwork.org

FK Network Meeting in Beijing

Last Saturday we went to Beijing on the night train. 19 hours and hard sleepers again, but it's always fun so we didn't mind much. We travelled through the desert lands of Inner Mongolia, through Shanxi and Hebei, saw a lot of beautiful scenery, until we finally arrived at Beijing Railway station.

In Beijing we had two free days before the show (network meeting) started. We decided to be crazy tourists and went to the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Jade Factory, Tea House, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Beihai Park and Jingshan Park. All this in just two days. Imagine how tired we were of all the walking. Especially the day we ran to the top of the Wall. But it was definitely worth it. We got to see a lot of China in two days, and had a lot of fun.

But after the fun started the work. The reason for travelling to Beijing was that we were to attend an FK Network Meeting for FK China. It lasted for one and a half day, but it turned out that it wasn't half bad after all. We discussed and shared experiences and from the looks of it it was rather successful. One of the best, some people said. So with a satisfied smile on our faces we flew back to Yinchuan on Thursday to plan Friday's teaching. It was a hasty but fun week in Beijing. Looking forward to going back there some day.

Link to Fredskorpset's coverage of the meeting (in Norwegian):
http://www.fredskorpset.no/no/Fredskorpset/Media/NyheterPressemeldinger/Nettverksmote-i-Beijing/