“The Hermit Kingdom”

Is North Korea like

the China

of 40 years ago?

with Royden Smith

~ Next meeting: 15 March ~

The full pdf of this newsletter is available at: NZCFSNelsonMarch2013.pdf

Looking for somewhere new and interesting to visit that could be easily accessible from Beijing, Royden visited North Korea for 16 days in September, 2012, and had a peek behind its fortified curtain.

He found a fascinating and often beautiful country, almost completely cut off from the rest of the world and hence full of myths and enigmas. The charming and friendly people, very proud of their country and what they see as its achievements, say that they live in a “workers’ paradise” but does that reflect reality?

Come back through a virtual time warp and see for yourself: from huge statues to high mountains, talented pre-schoolers to busy libraries, immense hotels to empty roads and singing waitresses to mass dancing.

Don’t miss this chance to have a little look inside the “Hermit Kingdom” and see why travellers might consider it the safest country on earth…

Friday 15 March .. Hearing House .. 5:30 pm

To arrange catering, please ring:

 Barbara Markland ph. 544 4712

by Tuesday 12 March

or e-mail: [email protected]

As usual, we will begin with a brief general meeting at 5.30 p.m. and then enjoy our buffet meal, costing $12, from the Nelson Oriental, including vegetarian options, at 6 p.m..

Our speaker will begin about 7 p.m. Friends and visitors are most welcome but please notify Barbara when you ring so that we have accurate numbers for the meal.

CHINESE NEW YEAR BANQUET: We celebrated Chinese New Year at the Eastern Cuisine on 10 February with the restaurant filled with more than 70 members and visitors. A group from Garin College, and ten teachers from Beijing, helped to make this a memorable evening. Office holders from the past, including two of our Life Members, and visitors from Christchurch and Australia were also welcomed. The Marklands had the largest family party there with 14 family and friends.

We began the evening with our AGM and the election of officers. Sadly, our Immediate Past President, June Clark, has retired from the Executive and our Vice President, Kathy Beatson, has stood down from that role. Tributes were paid to both for their faithful service. We welcomed Bill Findlater as a new member of the Committee, with his special interests in economic opportunities and great enthusiasm for Huangshi.

After the AGM, we were entertained by the visitors from Beijing, with ocarina music, a group item, and a bass solo from Peking Opera getting us in the mood. The banquet was delicious as usual, and when we sang a bilingual version of Auld Lang Syne, we felt we had set off with great promise into the Year of the Snake.

President Christine Ward’s report to the AGM is available on our website at:

https://nzchinasociety.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/PresidentsReport2012.pdf

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2013: The role of Vice President was left open at the AGM as no nominations were received. At the next meeting of your Executive Committee on 27 February, Lori Brudvik Lindner offered to fill this role for the present, and was duly appointed. So the 2013 officers are:

President: Christine Ward                       Vice President: Lori Brudvik Lindner

Secretary: Barbara Markland                Treasurer: Royden Smith

Immediate Past President: June Clark

Committee: Kathy Beatson, Bruce Ward, Sally Warren, June Wild, Super Zhang, Lillian Li, Yuan Wang and Bill Findlater.

2013 SUBSCRIPTIONS: It was agreed at the AGM that our subscriptions should remain unchanged and these are now due. Please make sure you let us know if any of your details have changed when you return the sub form (Page 4) so that we can keep our records up to date. Thanks to those who have already paid.

Single   $15           Couple   $25           School   $25           Corporate   $30

The subscription form can be downloaded here: NZCFSNelsonSubForm2013.pdf

2013 BRANCH MEETINGS: A reminder to mark these dates on your calendar and keep them free for our Branch Meetings during 2013 – all Friday evenings at 5:30 p.m. as usual:

15 March                3 May  (3 weeks before National Conference)

28 June                  16 August                 11 October                22 November

NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2013: The theme of the 2013 National Conference and AGM, hosted by Christchurch Branch, is “Chinese Culture”. There will be an exhibition of paintings from Beijing, a tour of the amazing Chinese collection at the Canterbury Museum, as well as calligraphy, tai chi, paper cuts, mahjong, and musical performances – with as much hands-on involvement by delegates as possible. Several interesting speakers have been confirmed, including the Christchurch Consul-General, Mme Tan Xiutian. With this year’s Conference just a drive away, it would be great to see an excellent contingent from our Branch at the University of Canterbury venue from 24-26 May. Registration forms will be out soon.

MEMBER NEWS: It is great to hear that Jim Roxburgh is recovering well after his visits to Christchurch for treatment. We look forward to seeing Jim and Alison back at our meetings soon.

We wish Sally Warren all the very best for her trip to China with the NZCFS Explore China: The South-East Tour, departing on 5 April, and look forward to hearing all about it on her return. It is looking very likely that she will be joined by another Nelson couple who heard about the tour at our New Year banquet.

DELEGATION TO HUANGSHI: There are still a couple of places available on the ‘Friendship Delegation’ that will be visiting our Sister City, Huangshi, in October, 2013. This will be for 5 nights and during the school holidays so that Cathy Ewing, Principal of Nelson College of Girls, can be there.

While accommodation, meals and transport for the time in Huangshi will be met by the Huangshi Municipal Government, and a contribution towards your airfare may be available, most delegates are combining this visit with other travel in and around China. If you are interested in visiting Huangshi, please contact Barbara Markland (ph 544 4712 or email [email protected]) or speak to her at our next Branch meeting.

NZCFS TOURS: The NZCFS Projects, Nature, Culture & History China Tour, another exciting new tour in the highly recommended “Projects” series, led by Dave Bromwich, is being offered this October. It combines a visit to a NZCFS project, where you will meet our project partners and visit rural communities, with a comprehensive itinerary traversing diverse natural, cultural and historical sites. Suitable for reasonably fit people looking for a total China travel experience not normally available on other tours, the tour traverses from Yanan, Shaanxi Province, in the North to Guilin, Guangxi Province, in the South. For a look at some of the highlights, contact Dave at [email protected] to express your interest or see: nzcfs-projects-nature-culture-history-china-tour-october-2013

John Hodgson, President of Tauranga Branch, is organising and leading an NZCFS Taster Tour To China for Prospective Teachers of English from 20 April – 4 May, 2013. This tour is for people interested in finding out what it is really like to teach English in China and will visit at least six different institutions, universities, colleges or other schools around Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, and provide opportunities to talk with students and school staff. The tour will also provide a taste of culture and history in China with visits to Xi’an and the Terracotta Army and to Beijing and The Great Wall, all priced at only $4,400 twin share.

 For more information contact John Hodgson on ph 07 577 0583, at [email protected] or see: nzcfs-taster-tour-to-china-for-prospective-teachers-of-english/

Many of you will have been on NZCFS tours before and know what great value they are. Even if you are unable to enjoy these particular tours yourself, remember that we are very dependent on our members spreading the good word – please advertise them to all your family, friends and colleagues and persuade everyone you know to go and explore China some more with the NZCFS!

RACE UNITY DAY – Sunday 17 March from 11am – Victory Square: We are running a stall to promote our Society on this special Nelson occasion. We will be next to the Chinese food stall, operated by the Nelson Oriental Restaurant. Our plan is to serve Chinese teas, talk to people about our organisation, and to have a sales table of Chinese artefacts to raise funds for the He Ming Qing nursing scholarship.

We invite members to join a roster for serving tea between 11am and 3pm (call Kathy Beatson 547 9940) or helping with sales (call Christine Ward 538 0344).

We would also appreciate your donation of any Chinese treasures that could be sold for this worthy cause. You could bring donations to our 15 March meeting or call the Wards for a pick-up.

PHILIPPA REYNOLD’S BOOKS: After Philippa died in August last year, her family gave us a box of books and a collection of Chinese brush painting equipment. The books, which are mainly connected with the art of Chinese painting, will make handsome additions to our library and will be catalogued and available for borrowing at our March meeting. We are open to suggestions about the boxes of brushes and painting equipment.

We are very grateful to Philippa’s family for this kind donation, which will serve as a lovely memory of her time in Nelson, and her lively interest in Chinese art.

WANG LIDAN’S DRAGON BOY: Linda reports from Beijing that, “Life with a new born baby is fully occupied but absolutely with joy. It takes us a long time to find a Chinese name for him. Finally, I made the decision that we will call him Yunchuang Liu. Yun is the word for sunlight and Chuang means big river. Attached please find recent photos of us. Thinking of you and beautiful Nelson!”

BRAIN-FRIENDLY TEACHERS IN NELSON AGAIN: From January 30th to February 16th, a group of ten Chinese educators were here for a course with Christine Ward on brain-friendly teaching. Seven were classroom teachers from middle or primary schools, one was a Vice-Principal from Yanqing Vocational Middle School, and two were editors of an educational management magazine.

This was the fourth time Christine’s course has been held in Nelson, after 8 years of regular courses in Christchurch, associated with the Rewi Alley Academy.

In Nelson, we establish a friendly group atmosphere with home-hosting by members of the NZCFS, and group activities in the weekends.

This time we were very fortunate to spend a Saturday morning at Marilyn and Colin Gibb’s farm, have an evening at the Brudvik Linder’s Hardy Street home, enjoy a dumpling party with Jifang and John Black in Atawhai on Chinese New Year’s Eve, and finish with a farewell party with Sue Truman on Panorama Drive.

We spent Waitangi Day at the Wakatu Marae and Founders Park, with a good introduction to New Zealand history and culture in its various forms. Classes were held during the week at English Language Partners in Bridge Street and the St Barnabas Church Hall in Stoke. Although the timing of this tour was not very suitable for school visits, we were grateful, once again, to have a look at Nelson Central School with Principal Paul Potaka and Nelson Intermediate with Principal Hugh Gully.

This lovely group of visitors made a special contribution to our Chinese New Year celebrations, and thoroughly enjoyed their time in Nelson – especially their homestay experiences with Liz Chinnery and Chris Bowyer, Sue Truman, Susan Wang and Weimin Jiang, and Bruce and Christine Ward. Many thanks to all who helped make this programme such a great success.

– Christine Ward