Yesterday on the 'Ranch'
Hi Yanko
I hope you had a great Easter. Did you eat the chocolate you received or did you give it to your kids?! Although I didn’t do anything specific to celebrate Easter, I went out for the day with my family and some friends. We visited a place that is in the suburbs of Beijing, in the countryside and it took us about an hour to get there by mini-bus from where we live. The place we visited is called a ‘ranch’ but in reality it’s is worlds away from a real American ranch. It is supposed to be a countryside retreat for families with facilities to stay overnight and outdoor activities. We had a great day out because the weather was lovely (sun-burnt noses and foreheads all round) but the place did not live up to our expectations and we were a tad disappointed with it.
Does this match up with your idea of a ranch?
We arrived about 11am and had drinks on the outdoor patio, Teah and my friends’ son ran around and investigated the area! At noon, there was a buffet lunch with freshly barbequed lamb, fish and sausages with salads, rice, fries and soup. It was nice to have lunch outdoors for the first time in 2008 and the food was decent. We then decided to go to the stables so the children could look at the horses. There were only 2 horses and 2 ponies and they all looked like they had seen better days. I rode one of the horses hoping for a steady trot along the horse trail but it decided to gallop all the way and I had a sore rump afterwards!!By the way, it was my first horse ride as I’ve only been on the back of a donkey before!
Tally-ho! Just finished my horse riding!!
Then we went to do some archery which was fun. Although Robin Hood makes it look like a piece of cake, for novices like us it was difficult! Most of our arrows hit the fences and stuck in the ground, missing the targets completely! Then we followed our map to the shooting range only to discover it didn’t exist (they plan to build one in the future apparently). Then we went to check out the outdoor swimming pool, it was a grey concrete square hole in the ground devoid of water. We then scouted out the karting circuit which was, by far, the coolest activity at the ranch and I’d go back there again just to whizz round the circuit a few more times.
Here is a picture of my husband flying round the track!
Moving onto the kids indoor activity centre, it was filthy and dilapidated so we gave it a miss. The bowling alley was dimly-lit and in need of repair and was busy with other bowlers at the time we went there. There was a river nearby and although we felt like a bit of fishing, couldn’t find any designated areas or fishing equipment so we had to give up on that idea too.
Finally about 4pm, we got the bus home and all slept on the journey home, kids included! We all agreed it had been nice to escape the city and get to the outskirts for a day in the great outdoors but calling that place a ‘family ranch with many facilities’ was stretching the imagination a little.
Yanko, I really liked all the photos from your last blog and it was interesting to get a glimpse into your typical daily routine. I liked the information about the ‘van stop’ and it’s in this paragraph I’d like to point out a few errors. My changes are in italics:
‘Near the van, I introduce you to Sales. This man is responsible for organizing the van queue. He advises the passengers about who the next driver is and traffic problems. He’s very nice and polite and he says, “I wish everyone a good journey”.’
What are your plans for this week Yanko? Mine consist of work, study and looking after Teah as usual, nothing special lined up for this week as yet.
Thanks for the loan words and the links!! Does that mean that cashew nuts originate from Brazil as well as Brazil nuts?
Trudi
Vocabulary
ranch (n) A large farm on which a particular crop or kind of animal is raised
world away from totally different to
retreat (n) A place giving peace, quiet, privacy or privacy, usually outside the city
a tad a bit
decent (adj) quite good
stables (n) a building that houses horses
gallop (v) a fast run of a horse
rump (n) buttocks !
a piece of cake very easy
novice (n) a beginner
devoid (adj) empty
scout out search and find
dilapidated (adj) disrepair or deterioration through neglect; broken-down and shabby.
designated (adj) specified
Comments
Hi trudi, many thanks for your always interesting blog and style of writing. This new Iranian year (started five days ago), is my "Year of English" . But to keep up with your teaching, I assume I should start running, because walking would not keep me in place. There are so many words and expressions that are quite new to me... By the way, trudi, can I ask how Teah is pronounced and what the meaning is? Thanks again for all your efforts, H.
hello ,trudi nice to meet you first time . it's my first time to come this cite and wanna to improve my english . when reading your blog ,i had a problem about the gerund and present participle . "I rode one of the horses hoping for a steady trot along the horse trail " i wanna know "HOPING" ,is it a gerund or present participle , because i'm very confused in this topic thank you
Hi Trudi, congratulations for your first ride. I did not eat chocolate yesterday. I have a question for you. Do you know which is the origin of the word Easter in English, for our Pascua, italian Pasqua, etc.? I cannot understand it. Has it anything to do with the East as in Eastern countries like the one you live?
Hi Trudi!The ranch which you visited seems to me a litte sad.But,because there are not so many people,the place seems to be very calm and suitable to relax on the weekend.Is it popular in Beijin to visit ranch on the weekend?What is the most popular thing in Beijin to do on the weekend?Have a nice day!
Hi, Trudi! Nice to hear you again and before Easter is ended. Sorry, I cannot show off about my holiday too much. In my opinion, Easter in Ireland is bored and too long. It is home (or domestic?) celebration like Christmas: everybody is sitting at home except poor foreigners. They loaf around a few open shops and tried to while away days before Wednesday, when everybody have finished such a long celebration. Two day ago a girl from my computer course (which I am attending along with my English class), who originally is from America and haven’t too much friends here, wanted to go with me to the gymnasium. It was closed! So we loafed around the shops too, although we have had to wait until they opened for one hour. The weather in Ireland is too cold to go out for a walk on the open air. So the shops were the only alternative to the gymnasium. We were going for a walk around the shops – it is like a gym too. Hoping the consequence of your attempt to gallop on the horse will be disappeared soon. I understand what it is because had it myself a long time ago.
Dear Trudi, Certainly one’s expectation plays great role how people perceive it. Although you enjoyed, a little bit, your trip to ranch, but it failed to fulfill your expectation. At least one day outdoor enjoyment may help to recharge your battery for your daily routine life work. The way you explained about retreat facilities available in so called ranch, give us a glimpse of Chinese ranch.
Hi Trudi, I liked your pictures. It didn't seem you had the day of your life but at least you spent some outdoor time and had a "change of air" (I don't know if this expression exists in English). You've got a lovely child and I was wondering, as you mentioned that you were British, what nationality your parents were. You and your daughter look like more Russian than British. Were your husband born in England too? Hope you have a nice week. Bye for now, Cris
Hello Trudi. Well, I think you had a nice Easter. We usually stay at home in this holiday or we have lunch at my granny´s house :-). Best wishes, Ana Paula.
Hello Trudi, It is a nice place near Beijing. Here in Rio de Janeiro, there are two popular places called Teresopolis and Petropolis. Sometime I travel for one of this cities and I usually have lunch there and buy casual clothes. In this cities, casual clothes is cheaper than Rio de Janeiro. There are good places for the kids play and lot of place for walk and relax. The people can rent a horse to ride or get a little travel around the city made by carriage pulled by a horse. The cashew nuts is native to northeastern Brazil, you can see more on this links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew. Is a delicious fruit and there is a C Vitamin. The seed, well-know cashew nuts, you can by at Supermarket. Sometime, the cashew nuts is very expensive. I’m thinking what is the next Blog. Bye
A response from a netizen in Finland; Trudi it was good to read your entries, sorry to hear that you have limited access to Internet, despite the difficulties it was good to read your entries. My Easter was spend without a chocolate eggs also, instead we spent the Easter weekend skiing. All the best to everyone…
Hi,trudi It sounds you and your friend’s family had a ball on the ranch even though you got a tad disappointed with the pool and missing the chance of fishing. I ate too much chocolate during the Easter holiday and have put on weight. Anyway. Our family went to ice skating on last Sunday. We were all completely novices at the sport and we all had butterflies in our stomach. But we put on a brave face and got on the skating rink. We started cling onto the side of the skating rink and learning how to walk and slide. As the time went by I was getting more and more confidence and managed to show my son how to let go of his hands and slide on the ice. To my surprise I hadn’t fallen down at all while my son and my husband had been falling down many times. But a disaster stuck and I had a really big fall and my rump landed on the ground with a big bang. While I was nursing my leg and bottom and hobbling away my son and my husband couldn’t help laughing. It wasn’t piece of cake but it was a good fun. Have a good day!xx
Dear Trudi, Thank you for sharing your experience in chinese ranch with us, which was sounds great, but it was a tad disappointed for you, because the retreat did not live up to your expectations such as swimming, fishing and bowling. I would like share my experience in bowling with you,once I went to bowling with my children,at that time we all were novices. I could not belive my second attempt, without any training I knock out everything at one shot. After that many times I knock out everything at one shot.
Hi Madam, Thanks for teaching me how travelling story should be written. Periodically, everyfamily must ranch to defuse the stresses, mental tensions of modern life, keep children & makes family bond more strong. Lack of bathroom, toilet facilty is a common feature of developing countries especially in rural areas. Most people are not used to keep their surroungs neat and clean so harbour mosquito and other creatures. Litter here and there. It seems, they are yet to understand the benefits of hygenic surroundings. Though govt. doing his best to educate these people. Hope,with the passage of time, education will improve things.
china is very good,i like china!gogo!
Thanks for all your contributions. This blog has now closed and can no longer accept new comments.
