I know what you did last Summer Camp

Photos

This week saw the demise of my bike, Guava I. She finally broke when I was too far from home to walk her back, and it was too late at night to find someone to fix her. I feel like a bad mother, I had to leave her where she fell, so to speak. It was very sad.

But I do need a bike in Beijing and had already been looking for a new one since Guava started to break down. I had to complete my journey home on foot nearly had a dozen time in the last few weeks so I had already decided that despite the advice to the contrary that good bikes just get stolen, I want to get a really good one. One that doesn't have that flimsy look about it, that if it falls over it'll break. I've been on the lookout for good one secondhand but they are rare to find and you have to be fast.

But remembering that I saw a bike shop on my way to Chinese class, I looked it up and found that yes, they should sell secondhand bikes there. Making the trek on foot in the searing heat, I found that sadly the shop was smaller than I remembered and when I asked if they sold secondhand bikes they said no. They didn't have the good brands and I didn't want to buy a bike of the kind that they had in that shop, as they are cheap but aren't build to last "Forever" as their are optimistically branded (my favourite Chinese irony so far) but sensing I didn't want to walk all the way back in the heat to where ever I had some from, this woman had my number. She immediately pulled out a cute shiny pink and silver bicycle and my normal shopping look of disinterest obviously slipped. She had me and she knew it! We negotiated a price (I still paid too much) and I insisted she give me two locks, not just one, to their great amusement. A good bike thief can make short work of both locks in 3 seconds flat but it makes me feel better to have two. So I pushed off home with it and it was like riding a cloud. I didn't realise how stiff and grinding my old bike was until I got on this one; it was like driving a sportscar after having a clunky old Datsun 120Y.

So, I love Guava II but am still on the lookout for a really good secondhand one, so hopefully I find one. Oh, and the punchline? I rode to class again the other week past the bike shop I bought Guava II from only to find the actual bike shop I had originally seen and was looking for only 50m further down. It is twice the size with the good brands I am looking for. I did think the first shop was a little smaller than I remember... I will stop by there one afternoon and ask them if THEY have secondhand bikes, so maybe I will tell a tale of Guava III in the near future.

On the weekend I went to my first work excursion. I was all excited, thinking I was getting out of Beijing but it was actually only 3 hours outside of the city (which means not far due to the traffic). It was beautiful actually, the Summer Camp was conducted at an Education Centre at the beginning of a walking trail that winds it's way along a creek and between these beautiful steep green hills. The trail acutally goes for a couple of hours into the North East, almost to the Hebei, the next province over. The weekend was marred slightly by the fact I was not very well, but it was nice to actually finally be involved in some real work and to see what my NGO does.

The Summer Camp was for kids from a few local schools that are involved in a project where kids design and submit their own projects for making their schools and communities more sustainable. Some of the projects are awarded a small amount of funding, and at the end of the year there is an award ceremony for the best projects. So quite a cool little programme, but it is sponsored by SHELL, of all people. I was looking at the room full of students, teachers, volunteers and staff who were all decked out in their hats, bags and bandanas and it was just a sea of the SHELL symbol (forgive the pun). Odd dilemna, accepting funding from a company in an industry that has argueably the worst effect on the environment. Should we allow ourselves to be walking advertising for them for their (relatively tiny) donation? Is it good enough that they are trying to do something good for the environment? Or is it really nothing when you look at the big picture? And on those grounds, should we actually refuse their money? I think probably not, but still, an odd dilemna that I ruminated on for awhile.

So, I didn't actually have much to do, other than constently ask "What are we doing now? What are we talking about?" But I was given a job in the main activity, the Treasure Hunt. In groups, the kids have to walk along the trail, doing activities, to receive coloured sticks which they have to bring to me at the very end. I sat in a pagoda for 3 hours waiting for them to come. Not the most exciting time of my life, but at least I couldn't complain about the scenery. Other notable activities included learning to make jiaozi (steamed dumplings) which we then had for lunch, and painting little felt pouches with "nature" themes. Mine were woeful but everyone was very sweet saying how pretty they were. We all had to have a "Nature Name" while we where there and I chose Goldfish, so I (tried) to paint one. Not very successful.

But possibly the best part that made it all worth it (even the fist-sized mosquitoes) was the the night walk because it was the first time I had seen fireflies) They were so beautiful, everyone just fell completely silent when they came out after we turned our torches off. It was a lovely moment, it was really great to see the kids really enjoying nature and having a moment that I know they will remember for the rest of their lives.