From August 26th September 16th, I experienced how global the Waldorf community is. Located in what many call the "Silicon Valley" of China, Shenzhen is a new city across the border from Hong Kong in southern China. The school is about an hour from the airport, at a dead end in a compound with several tech startups, including big companies like DJI. Only ten years old, this Waldorf school is one of the first in China. Because it is fairly new and small, there is a kindergarten and an elementary school, but no middle or high school.
When I arrived, the Vice Principal welcomed me. I was given a large room with couches and tables and two bedrooms attached. School wasn't in session yet, so everyone was busy with preparations, but the faculty and staff were very accommodating. This first week, someone made sure that I knew that the food was ready every meal, and we all ate together in the kitchen or in the cafeteria. Whenever they had free time, they would accompany me to the small downtown area to eat or take me sightseeing.
On my first day, one of the school faculty, Bob, was going into town to run a few errands and asked if I wanted to come. After we scouted out a few apartments for him so that he could move off of the school grounds and into his own place, he got a haircut and we ate lunch. It quickly became apparent that he is quite a character; although we had to communicate through his limited English and my beginner Mandarin, his slight awkwardness and child-like enthusiasm made me laugh. I now realize, that like many people all over the world who work in Waldorf, Bob is unique. He took me to Shenzhen Bay Park. A storm was brewing, so thick mounds of white clouds were gathering in the sky and covering the horizon, but we could still make out the tall high rise buildings of Hong Kong across the water. While we were on the rocky beach, Bob suddenly wanted to cross a stream to the other side of the beach to climb on bigger rocks. Even though there was a bridge that was right next to us that could've gotten us across, he was so excited about walking through the rushing current, that I took off my flip flops, rolled up my pants, and stepped into the water. In the beginning, it was easy. The water was ankle deep, and the sand was comfortable. But as we neared the middle, the rocks became increasingly slippery and the current stronger, and our clothes were getting soaked. People were staring at us and taking pictures as we floundered our way to the middle of the stream, and after Bob fell and emerged, sputtering, from the water, we decided to turn back. It started pouring, so in the end it didn't matter that we had gotten wet, because we ended up dripping anyway.
Bob also took me to Lianhuashan Park to go hiking. Along with the ceramics and games teacher (that was the best translation we could come up with, since they didn't know the English word and I couldn't fully understand what he taught, even after several conversations about it), we took the bus and metro into the city. We got lost in the park; Bob would get distracted and walk to whatever had caught his attention, and the other teacher and I would follow. At first, we didn't understand why he wanted to join the ping pong tournament, or watch a group of elderly women dance, but after a while we accepted that this was just simply who Bob was. Because of him, we watched Chinese yo-yoers, an orchestra performance by the lake, and belly dancers. By the time we actually found the mountain we had planned on climbing, I felt like we'd already gone hiking. However, the view from the top was worth it.
We also visited the Guan Shanyue Art Museum. The main exhibit was focused on traditional Chinese art, which I found really interesting and the inked landscapes beautiful, but Bob plopped down in a chair and took a nap.
Although Dafen Oil Painting Village is a tourist trap, I still enjoyed seeing the street art, the plethora of art supply stores and the coffee shops packed in the pastel alleyways. The area is devoted entirely to famous international works and various styles of oil paintings, so many stores sell the same paintings. However, I was also able to find stores that sold postcards, photographs, and antiques.
Shenzhen was the only city in Mainland China that I visited. I left with having experienced Waldorf as a global phenomenon and had just begun to get to know the city. Overall, the city felt very new, so I'd be interested in visiting places in China with more history. Hopefully Shenzhen was just an introduction.