Some Seasonal Differences

As Whitefish, MT, my home in the States, prays for snow to bless Big Mountain ski area, the weather in Kunming has shifted to its traditionally grey coolness. While daytime highs can range from the low-forties to the mid-fifties, the normally overcast sky and the lack of central heating in any building creates a situation where there is literally no place to escape the damp, coolness. Each of our classrooms does have an upright heating/air-conditioning unit, but this usually dries out the air so much that it almost always gives me sore throat. So I do not use that very much. Therefore, my classroom, during the day, usually settles into a shivery nineteen degrees Celsius.

Because of this, some students who struggle to keep warm have plan ahead to stay warm in class. In this photo, Caleb (Korean-American) takes his vocabulary test wearing his North Face down parka. While even he said that he did not necessarily need that much insulation, he also agreed that he was not too warm, but just comfortable. I can usually get by with a long-sleeve dress shirt and a vest (pants are a given), but some days I will put on a jacket to go outside during our lunch hour. For some students and more staff, this constant chill causes an inflammation of the hands and feet with a condition known as chilblains. I personally have never experienced them, and they usually afflict our female teachers more than our males, but evidently they cause the hands and feet to itch and burn, as well as swell. But enough of that.

One major seasonal difference between Kunming and the States is our sports seasons. In most states, soccer is an autumn sport, where as in Kunming it is a winter/spring activity. Likewise, basketball, traditionally a winter sport in the states, is an autumn/early winter event. Our boys and girls basketball squads completed their seasons with the annual Kunming City tournament held during our Thanksgiving break. In preparation for the tournament, we held a pep-rally for both teams. In the photo below, Sion (Korean) and Rachel (American, obscured by the paper), our team captains, burst through a sign as the teams are introduced to the rest of the student body.
The boys team finished up the tournament as the best team KIA has ever fielded. In the initial rounds, they won two games to admit them into the medal round where they eventually took sixth place. Previously, no KIA team had ever won a game at the tournament. While our boys have some decent skills, the coaching of the team really showed the difference between our boys and the Chinese teams. When a broken arm lead to our team only having one person on the bench, coach Erickson displayed how using timeouts and shifting formations could keep his boys in the game against very quick and athletic teams who had little team concept. Sadly Mr. Erickson will not be back next year, and we are once again looking for a new coach.

As for the girls, they struggled. Athletics are just now starting to become a feature at our school, and with so many students growing up in places that do not encourage athletics, we have many students who love to play, but who have no background in the sport. Our girls suffered from a lack of athleticism, height, and experience. The positive, neither the boys nor the girls teams have anyone graduating. Therefore, they should be given the opportunity to build on this year's results. Just pray for good coaches.

As part of our pep rally, we held a staff versus athletes tug-of-war. The staff, behind the strength and size of a few six-footers took an early lead. However, when six-foot assistant boys basketball coach, Kenny Stubblefield, and Zhuang Yuan, one of our guards who is built like a fire hydrant (he can be seen in the lower right of the above picture) decided to help the athletes, the staff started to lose ground. Then six-footer, Curt Andreassen, our office manager started tugging for the students as well, and it was all over. Of course the students thought they had won, but we know the way the wind was blowing before they received some helping hands.
The tug-of-war was followed by some pies-in-the-face chosen by the students by way of an "Applause-o-Meter." Mr. Erickson (with the cap on backward), Miss LaPorte (in the pink) and Mr. Johnson (not pictured) received whipped cream pies from the students. Caleb, our MC gets the crowd riled up as the pies reach their respective targets.

Another difference about our seasons is that very few of our alumni are available for Homecoming during a traditional American time slot in the autumn. Therefore, our Homecoming is actually the weekend of the beginning of Christmas break. That is when all the college students come back to Kunming to be with their respective families. Our homecoming consists of another pep rally, a staff vs. students volleyball game, and an annual bowling tournament, pitting each of the high school classes, the staff, and an alumni team versus one another. Our bowling tournament will be held on 18 Dec. this year. Last year, my homeroom (juniors then, and seniors now) called themselves "Team 300". However, after last years bowling debacle, we might have to amend our name to "Team 90 Average". While we did not come in last, we certainly struggled. But we had fun and look forward to this year's event.

Lastly, I thought I would just leave you with an interesting idea. I teach students from all over the world. As an example, the above photo shows Kevin (left, a Canadian born to Chinese-turned-Canadian parents), Daniel (center, Australian), and Valentin (right, Austrian). These students, in many ways, cannot be compared with their counterparts in their home countries, simply because of the vastness of their life experiences. These students often speak two, three, and four languages, and while they struggle to identify a "home culture", they do create somewhat of their own culture. Therefore, to see them playing "Apples to Apples" seems a bit ironic, because comparing these students to other is often like comparing apples to oranges. The thing I like is that they are still youths, and this means that some things never change. Even when the seasons do.