AVisitFromTheTofu

Ok, this is the fourth entry this week, so I hope that satisfies all of you that have been bitching at me for not posting. I will probably post one more this week( featuring some other interesting things that happened over the break. maybe the crazy lio stories) then, if I go back to work next week( still not sure if i am , that's China ), I will probably post about once or twice a week.

So another significant event that recently occured was the visit from Jessica. This should be put in context. Around the beginning of Jan, our relationship hit some very serious troubles. This was due to distance and not seeing each other, but also largely because I am an ass. For reasons that I am unsure of, i began to slip into some old behaviour: drinking to much, not doing anything productive, hanging around unsavory characters (crazy lio) and doing stupid things. Not to the extent that i once did, but still, i was just starting to head in that direction. This sort of thing caused some very serious problems, ones that i am not going to detail, but lets just say that she was essentially right and i was essentially wrong. These problems, compounded with long term issues such as my age and place in the world( which would not be very attractive to her parents-- approval from the parents is a very serious issue for most Chinese people, even one as independent and free thinking as Yipin)led to what i most did not want to happen. Essentially, we broke up. I of course, was completely devastated but had no one but myself to blame. Of course, i could not give up on her, even if i understood and respected her position; we maintained communication. I have never loved anyone as much as i love her, and this was a difficult time for me. However, in a way, it was a positive thing. I realized that i was slipping down a old path that i did not want to follow. If i don't push my self toward some goal, i tend to slide backwards. so now, i am trying to set small goals for myself so i can keep moving forward.

Well, anyway, towards the end of January, i started to have a strange feeling. Even though it seemed very unlikely, i began to suspect that she was planning to visit me. She was still somewhat cold to me, but still actively communicating to me everyday. She asked me for my house address, which she does not need to mail things to me as I receive my mail through the office. Yipin is also famous for "surprising", which is the term that she uses for when she shows up when i don't expect her and am the least prepared for her visit I kept on having this nagging feeling that she was coming; I even began to clean my apartment so that she would not bitch at me for it being dirty! Well, it turns out that she was planning on surprising me, but had to call me a few days before to help her with a traveling problem. That was good, as it gave me time to fully prepare for her visit.

Now, before i get into the visit, i know this is very strange. We broke up and then she comes from New Zealand to visit me. Yes, we are a strange couple! Even now, she says that we broken up. However, that seems to be a classification, i am not concerned with it. We still talk to each other everyday, and are a couple in all ways except her classification. I am happy with how are relation hip actually is, not what we call it. right now, despite her name for it, we are doing probably better than we have ever done. Having a Chinese girlfriend is a strange experience!

So anyway, lets leave all of that crap behind. While she was here, we acted as boyfriend and girlfriend. We were together the entire time( i had the week off, thankfully),we did everything together, we fought about once a day, but we made up everyday also! She drove me nuts, but it was my best week in China so far! It was so great to have my chinese girlfriend in China. She showed me many things( even though Dalian is not her city, she knows infinitely more about anywhere is China than I do) and it was a fun and enriching experience. Anyway, so what did we do when she visited. well:

Monday-- She flew in from New Zealand and W. and I went to the airport to pick her up. Me being me, i was afraid that I would not recognize her( i am really paranoid in strange ways) and she would belt me one! But of course I did. I was so happy to see her , and she was as beautiful as ever. so Monday, we pretty much got settled in. She took over the apartment essentially, even moving around where i had kept my food and trash buckets! It's strange to have a person living with you when you are used to being alone for 39 years( well, you know what i mean) but i liked it. We both have some adjusting to do in that area, but all in all, I really loved having her in the apartment. Most of the changes that she made were good and I kept them. Not all, but most. The place is a bit more homey and comfortable now. Anyhoo, we went grocery shopping at Youhome, and she showed me new foods that i could buy. She also showed me places to get things cheaper, which is cool. She bought these little snacks, made of duck liver. They smell like hell but are actually very good( like beef jerky) if you chew on them for awhile. Many Chinese snacks are like that. Yeah, they have candy and cookies and such( usually not as sweet though, but some are) but the also like to snack on some things we would consider weird. Yipin is continually eating some sort of fish jerky. We have been offered things that seemed to be candy but turned out to be some sort of weird fruit, vegetable, or seafood ( think squid candy) product. Anyhoo, then we had dinner with Winston near my apartment. Yipin loves seafood, and Dalain has much, so she ordered some of that kind of thing and we also got Kung Pow chicken for Winston( he eats it every time we go out). Then we came home. Yipin was pretty tired due to New Zealand being 5 hours ahead of China.

Tuesday--- Tuesday was our first full day together. We went to downtown Dalain. Under the main part of the city is a huge underground mall, Victory Square-- every big public place is usually translated has Square, which seems to imply park or plaza. it has about 6 floors that are all each very massive. it has many different types of stores and shops, but seems to cater to younger women, as many malls do. Its a pretty impressive place; i get lost there very often! It has exits all over downtown, so i often come out and wonder where the hell I am! We had a pretty good time there. After we ate, she wanted to see a movie, so we went to a close by theatre. We couldn't find an English showing, so we just went to a Chinese movie that she wanted to see. Even though it was all in Chinese, it was a zany comedy-- which generally make use of familiar plots, expressions and film language, so i understood and enjoyed it. It was sort of a romantic comedy, but the comedy was more important than the romance and the female lead was a real bitch so it was enjoyable to me! It was pretty good. The theatre was smaller than American ones, the room was small and the seats were like padded booths made for two people. It was much more comfortable than an American theatre, the seat had lots of room, didn't kill your ass and didn't put your neighbor right touching next to you. This is kind of strange to me because almost everything else in china crowds many people into a small place right on top of each other, buses, schools, ect. However, I don't know if it was just this one theatre that is like that or all of them. However, it was a pleasant change of pace. After the movie, we went shopping at another grocery store and then came home and went to bad, as the girl was starting to get crabby.

Wed-- She decided that we should check out the marine park at Tiger Beach. We had a really good time there, as you can see from the picture posted and linked to below. W. went with us and he is a really good person to take places to. He enjoys everything and has a positive attitude about everything( which can counter my sometimes negative attitude!) Since it was winter and during the holiday season, we got in for about half price, and all of it was worth it! The park is next to the sea, has alot of land and exhibits, and is very modern and well kept. All of the animals seemed to be well taken care of. They had alot of animals; many types of fish, sharks and marine mammals. There was a dolphin show and a bird park also. It was really great. The funniest part , i think, was when we went in, we saw this little beat up looking dog. Well, whenever we went outside, and we were inside alot, we would see him cruising along. He seemed to be on his own holiday, enjoying the park( although he went into the seal house and the chinese dudes chased him out, maybe because he didn't have a ticket!). When we left, we saw him walking towards the gates; his day was also over. W had diner at a place that W. and i call the spot, its cheap and everyone knows us there. Yipin was freaked out when the entire staff came and watched us eat, but i told her that they always do that. It happens when you are an American in China sometimes( although not all that often). When we went home, My landlord was there fixing the toilet. Yipin and her had spoke together on the phone before and Cindy made plans to take show us the city the next evening. I have a really nice landlord, which i am told is uncommon.

Thur-- We had some errands to run, as yipin has been accepted to a post graduate school in Australia( ranked 54th in the world!) and is scrambling to get her Visa situation settled. She is working very hard and i hope that it works out for her. We screwed around downtown again, visiting victory and other shopping areas. We went to one of those very Asian photo booths and took pictures. We went to a very high end mall, new mart and a korean place( that we almost got ripped off at, but luckily did not buy anything). We got into a fight at new mart because lio called ( more about that some other time) and then went home. Cindy, the landlord came at six and we went to a more high end area of the city and saw a nice park and a higher end mall. Cindy bought dinner for us as the chinese like to do. I had curry and winston had kung pow chicken! It was a nice day. I help cindy with her English, but she is really shy about speaking it so Yipin mostly translated. Winston always fights with the Chinese about paying, but i don't like to insult anybody's customs!

Friday: during the day we just walked around the neighborhood. we had a stupid fight about crabs( the food) and then went out with ed and sarah. We had hot pots, which is where they give you a little boling pot of soup and then you add whatever food you like and cook it. It was very good. Winston had Kung Pow chicken. Ed and Sarah are really great people and Yipin got along with them fine.

Saturday: I was exhausted. the plan was to head out to big black mountain because they have temples and such out there. Dalain is pretty modern and I wanted to see something that was connected to ancient china. As detailed in the photobucket pictures, Winston had other ideas, make me climb a huge ass mountain which was difficult and beyond exhausting and almost got thrown off the mountain several times! However, i am very glad i did it, it was an amazing experience. The temples where beautiful they are part of the mountain. While i am not into any religion, you can really see the beauty of creation there... To think the ammount of human toil that went into it is amazing. It was wonderful. After ward we went back ( a long walk, a bus, lightrail, bus) and went to resturant near my house, Yipin had seafood, Winston had Kung pow chicken....

Sunday: Her plane was scheduled to leave at 1 or so, we left at 10 for the airport. She had some trouble with customs( she always, always overpacks), but then got on the airplane. Afterwards, I tool a bus to the english corner and she called me to tell me she got to her parents home fine( they live in Tian Jin, which is only about a hour away by air). When i got home, the apt. seemed empty and quiet. Its strange how someone can transform a place in such a short time. I miss her still; she is a great girl. She is intelligent , loving, stubborn, open minded, .... i can never explain her well. you just have to meet her , and even then, there's always more to learn. mytrying to dexcribe her is like going into a huge mulit floor builindg and trying to explain it room by room. she is simply the greatest person i have ever met. It was a wonderful week

Anyhoo, one more entry this week, maybe, and then hopefully one or two a week afterwards.

ChineseNewYear--BlowingShitUp!!!

This is the year of the OX

a traditional Nian, bringer of bad luck and the kind of guy that usually pisses on your toilet seat

a non-traditional, but awesome, representation of the dreaded Nian..

" Last year, my wife left me, i lost my job, my prostate fell out, and some bastard pissed all over my toilet seat last new years eve! I'm not taking any chances this year; I bought 200 boxes of firesworks and 50 fire cracker chains. I am blowing shit up... ! Fuck you, Nian and bad luck!!!!


Happy new year--good luck, come in here! These things are pretty much on every door you can imagine...

{note-i have posted three new posts this week, so check out all three if you have not yet!]


"Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is often called the Lunar New Year, especially by people in mainland China and Taiwan. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Chúxī. It literally means "Year-pass Eve".
According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nian or "Year" in Chinese. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, the Nian never came to the village again. The Nian was eventually captured by Hongjun Laozu, an ancient Taoist monk. The Nian became Hongjun Laozu's mount.
The period around Chinese New Year is also the time of the largest human migration, when migrant workers in China, as well as overseas Chinese around the world travel home to have reunion dinners with their families on Chinese New Year's eve. More interurban trips are taken in mainland China in this 40-day period than the total population of China. This period is called Chunyun (春運 or 春运).
On the days before the New Year celebration Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. There is a Cantonese saying "Wash away the dirt on ninyabaat" (年廿八，洗邋遢), but the practice is not usually restricted on nin'ya'baat (年廿八, the 28th day of month 12). It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck. Brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and window-frames a new coat of red paint. Homes are often decorated with paper cutouts of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets. Purchasing new clothing, shoes and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start
The biggest event of any Chinese New Year's Eve is the dinner every family will have. A dish consisting of fish will appear on the tables of Chinese families. It is for display for the New Year's Eve dinner. This meal is comparable to Christmas dinner in the West. In northern China, it is customary to make dumplings (jiaozi 饺子) after dinner and have it around midnight. Dumplings symbolize wealth because their shape is like a Chinese tael. By contrast, in the South, it is customary to make a new year cake (Niangao, 年糕) after dinner and send pieces of it as gifts to relatives and friends in the coming days of the new year. Niangao literally means increasingly prosperous year in year out. After the dinner, some families go to local temples, hours before the new year begins to pray for a prosperous new year; however in modern practice, many households hold parties and even hold a countdown to the new lunar year. Beginning in the 1980s, the CCTV New Year's Gala was broadcast four hours before the start of the New Year.


Bamboo stems filled with gunpowder that were burnt to create small explosions were once used in ancient China to drive away evil spirits. In modern times, this method has eventually evolved into the use of firecrackers during the festive season. Firecrackers are usually strung on a long fused string so it can be hung down. Each firecracker is rolled up in red papers, as red is auspicious, with gunpowder in its core. Once ignited, the firecracker lets out a loud popping noise and, as they are usually strung together by the hundreds, the firecrackers are known for their deafening explosions that are thought to scare away evil spirits. See also Myths above. The burning of firecrackers also signifies a joyful time of year and has become an integral aspect of Chinese New Year celebrations.[6]" Wiki wiki wiki...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year



So thats alot of information! Chinese New Year is a huge deal here; as big as Christmas is back home. It lasts forever and the Chinese really go all out. This year is the Year of the Ox( fairy's year!); last year was the year of the pig! You can see little oxxes ( stuffed animals, pictures) pretty much everywhere. I thought the Myth of the Nian was pretty intersting; especially when you consider that Nian mean year. Yes, the Chinese travel all over the damn place during this time of year; the busses, trains and planes are packed! I actually did the spring cleaning thing: for new years, I had extra time, and Yipin was coming so i had to clean as anti being bitched at insurance! It took about three days! The guy who lived here before me must have never cleaned, so i kept finding grime and crap on everything. It was exhausting!
Yeah, the color Red is big here! People whose zodiac sign is ox are supposed to wear red pretty much all year( i don't think that they do). Also, it is important to change your hair style and wear new clothes on the new year( W. said that he went down to the office when they all came back from holiday and all the girls had new hair styles!) Its a great time to be in China; I hope to come and visit every Chinese New Year!


So School ended in late Dec/ early Jan and i was exhausted. I had never tuaght before and to say it was a learning expereince is a understatement. Still, i learned alot and was a better teacher by the end of it, but I was very tired... I have been off since the first week of Jan., but not totally. The company has given me tutoring jobs; just a few kids who i taught in the YouHome building, which is about 10 minutes from my apartment. So it's been alot of work, break, work, break.... But i finally feel relaxed and normal. This time has given my the chance to see much more of the city and just take it easy. I am off this week; i start again next week or the week after that( the company is not that great with giving you time to prepare, but i am pretty much ready at this point) the spring semester. I feel that i will be a much better teacher and will be able to handle new challenges.

So, while many people have chosen to travel( which is a great thing to do and i plan on doing it before i leave), I chose to stay in Dalian. This was not only due to economic reasons and the desire to rest, but also to see this city. Dalian is really a wonderful city and i love it more everyday. Becuase I was not travelling, I was alone for most of it( winston has been travelling to inner Monglolia to see his wonderful girlfriend Maria). I had heard of spring festival but was not sure what to expect. The week before it really started was a little spring festival<>. On that day, i noticed alot of candy being sold on the street. This, i was told, was candy for the ancestors and would give you good luck( luck is a big thing in this culture). By night, however, the candy was gone, and was replaced with big tables selling fireworks. For about 3 weeks, there were tons of fireworks "shops"everywhere. you think rednecks like fireworks, they have nothing on the Chinese. Everyone buys them and sets them off. They set them off from their apartment windows, on the street, from roofs, everywhere. Its complete anarchy. it also dangerous, but luckily I did not witness anyone getting hurt. I am sure people do. They were lighting off fireworks all night. I thought it was pretty awesome; little did i know what was to come. So it died down a little bit that week. People were getting ready for the Holiday; buying food or leaving for wherever home was. Fairy had invited me to her house for New Years eve; I wanted to see how the Chinese actually celebrated. So the big day came; and there where a good bit of fireworks going off. Fairy is the 11 year old english prodigy who i made friends with from the English corner. I went to her house; her family was very nice to me ( many Chinese are honored to have an American guess; they make you feel like a rock star. I was honored to be their guest.)
Fairy's family didn't speak much english( here father did speak a little, but only after he was fairly drunk). Fairy acted as an iterpreter and did a very good job. She is so young but her english is excellent. Her fathers parents( traditionally, the fothre's paretents are the ones you are closer with, but there are many exsceptions to this in modern China) were there also. they offered me tea and soon we had dinner. Dinner was crazy;they had all kinds of food, mostly sea food. Fairy's family is fairly well off; they have an extemely nice apartment. It was only the 2nd time that i had been in a chinese living place; I had been in crazy lio's families house. they are poor and live in very very small aprtment. they are good people; despite lio being a shit head-- but thats a story for another time). Anyhoo, the dinner was great. many chinese dishes, lobster, snails( yes i ate them, not bad), sea cucumber( a rare and exspensive delicecy here, but meh... and crab legs. The father was intent on getting me to drink and i ended up drinking beer and Baiju( chinese "wine"but more like moonshine in taste!) We went out to the patio type area and drank and smoked. He did speak some english, but mostly we kind of fumbled through converstaion. Outside the chinese where really starting to get into it and we saw many great firworks. He shot some bottle rockets out of the window, which is not uncommon here! It was a pretty good time. then the mother, who is very cute and quiet started to make dumplings, which is traditonal new years food. The father had a bit too much to drink and passed out; Fairy was Pissed, but i guess this is another new years tradition! We watched a bit of the New years teleiviosn broadcast, which is also a tradtion, albiet a more modern one. It was ok, i cod follow much of it, but was lost sometimes. Then around 10, i started getting tired. Itold fairy i was going home, she was a bit upset. it turns out that the chinese stay up all night on this night, but she had not told me. I felt bad for dissapointig her, but i was very tired, having spring cleaned that day. So i felt bad, but left. it was still a very cool experience.

The cab ride on the way home was exciting, as the chinese were blowing shit up! Everywhere we went, there were fireworks in the sky and chains blowing up on the sidewalks! it was one of the coolest cab rides i have ever had. We get back to Ba yi lu and shit was going nuts. I waited until about 11: 30 and then went out to check things out. it was spectacular. people were lighting ghost fires, chains going off everywhere, and boxes and bottle rockets everywere. They buy these boxes and you just light them and run! they can set off a display that rivals anything we have in america! They don't usually have all the shapes and fancy effects, but just gorgeous standard high in the sky fireworks( well sometimes they pop off a few feet over your head!); about ten boxes rivals the displays you see in most american small towns during the 4th of july. It was kind of like being in a war zone! at midnight, the entire sky was full of color; the ground was thick with smoke. I stayed in a one block radious and seen the greatest firework display i have ever seen in my life! The chinese just come out of woodwork with boxes and chains( which are really loud and bright and cool). I saw them light them on the yellow line of Ba Yi lu with traffic going right next to about ten shooting boxes. You really have to see it to believe it! It was one of the best experiences of my life! I watched it until about 1:30 and then somehow passed out, despite the fact the the city was blowing up outside my window. The fireworks continued, at a lesser level, pretty much for two weeks, until lantern festival. And then that night, they were pretty intense again, with fireworks going off everywhere and people lighting some in the middle of the street. The tradition is that the fireworks scare off bad luck and the Nian, and the chinese do not fuck around when it comes to bad luck! Picture a city bigger than Pittsburgh where everyone is lighting off boxes that contain form 10 to 30 big blooms! its simply amazing. thats what it was like during the big nights.

All in all, the Spring festival was amazing and alone was worth coming to china. I enjoyed every asspect of it. During this time, Yipin came to visit. that will be the subject of my next post, which should be up in a day or two so check back soon!

Finallysomephotos

Hello Everyone,

You know the drill. Sorry i have not posted...blah blah blah... been busy... blah... goats and sheep...blah

Lots going on lately. lots

But its late and i am exhuasted. The big thing is that I have pictures up on the internet. Jessica visited last week, and i finally had use of a bad ass camera! I went a little crazy with the pictures, actually. But, people have asked about photos; i know its better to see some of the things i am talking about...

My photobucket page is here; the general albulm has some old crap in it. For those of you who don't know how to access the albulms from the home page, I have provided links for each individual one that you can access from here... but scroll down here first to see how to get to the new pictures...

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v494/anjelfk/

I divided up the pictures that i took last week and commented on some of them. Each first photo in each album essentially gives a brief overview of the album, so make sure to click on the first photo and read the comments. Many photos have titles and comments, read them if you wish. The album below contians pictures from when we climbed a chinese mountain, big black mountain(translated). Very cool pictures; many of nature and mountains and such.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v494/anjelfk/Big%20Black%20Mountain%20China%20Feb%202009/

The next album is just pictures of Dalin. these can give you and idea of what its like in a modern chinese city.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v494/anjelfk/General%20Dalian%20China%202008/

WE went to this kick ass marine park. lots of pictures of fish and such things.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v494/anjelfk/Marine%20Park%20Dalian%20China%202009/

Some people are curious about my street and apartment. here are photos of that!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v494/anjelfk/My%20apartment%20and%20street%20Ba%20yi%20lu%20Feb%202009%20China/

Finally, i wanted pictures of something unique to most of you. In big black mountain, there are many temples. its really very cool and very chinese( well, there are other historical influences, but you know what i mean". This place is incredible and i hope that i did it justice.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v494/anjelfk/TEmples%20on%20Big%20Black%20Chjna%20Feb%202009/?start=0

I know that there are alot of photos and you might not have time to check them out. i understand. these are all just here if you want to see them...

I am def. going to write in this more this week. i have to talk about jessica's visit, chinese new years and much more. so please check back in a few days....

Patrick

EmailfromJessica

Even the cold blooded love Winston!

"Dalian is famous for its seafood"and we had enough of it!

Kum pow Chicken.......

[remember that you can click on individual pictures to see them in a much larger and clearer form]

Yes, it's been awhile. Trying to catch up. So much has been going on... Chinese New Year( Fucking awesome), Climbing a huge ass chinese mountain, Jessica visitied, plus much more. I am still trying to get cuaght up on other things, but jessica sent a group email out about her trip to visit me and i thought it would be a good idea to print it out to give her perspective on her trip here( I will write more about my perspective of it. I still love being here by the way. anyhoo, here she is ( please note. jessica is chinese. while her English is very good, there are a few things that she might say that might sound strange to us. Her command of the language is excellent, but still, there are nauances in English that might be missed. She says that we made fun of winston all of the time, but that comes out harsh. we made jokes, but they were nice jokes, we love him! She says he speaks very slow and its hilarious, well, the chinese are very blunt, she is not moking him, just making an observation. she says I have a big nose and talk super loud-- well , she means that! she is a sweet kid; it takes some exposure to the chinese for americans to understand their bluntness is not meant to hurt our feelings. oh, and she is wrong, W loves chinese buses. my hatred of them is legendary, however...):

Hello!!!~~
everyone:

Hope you all well!!

This is Jessica. I'm currently in China for visiting. Before arrived at home I went to visit a friend in Dalian. I met Patrick in US when I was studying in Oswego. He's in linguistic major graduated last year and decided to go to China to teach. He labels himself as a writer, but the last time he updated his blog was in November, 2008 which was long time ago !! anyway, He ended up in Dalian. So, I visited him on the way back home. Dalian is in up north of china, and it's about 50 mins by plane from my hometown.

Blow is a brief description of the trip. the things I remembered and found interesting and worth to jot down and to share with.

It begins with the weather.................~~~~~

China is colder than NZ ! Not too cold per Se, it is actually very warm this year. Normally it would be around 0 degree at this time of the year, but yesterday it was so warm as 12 degree!!

I arrived at home on Sunday the 8th, since been going here and there since then. My parents picked me up from the airport so it was a lot easier for me instead of taking public transport for myself with two luggage. It would be a nightmare. The airport is in the middle of TangGu (district where I live) and TianJin (city where airbus goes).There's no direct bus, and so i would have to transfer in TianJin. TJ is further away from TG than from the airport. Anyway, sitting in a car is more comfy and quicker than bus!

I went to visit both my grandparents and uncles and aunts and cusions and a niece. In total, it's 9.5+13.5=23 people. the .5s are one is still not born yet, and the other is the dog my grandma has. It's a big surprise for them as none of them i came back. My parents knew it on the day the 8th before I departed from Dalian.

The trip to Dalian was great. I met some new people, patrick's friends who also are from US and teach Eng here. Sara and Ed are a couple who have been in China longer and speak good amount of Mandarin. They are fun people to be with and have good heart. Winston is the one we hang out a lot with. They live pretty much next door to each other. Patrick calls him the black jesus! because he's black and is extremely nice. He's liked by everyone, even by fish which is cold blooded! The story behind this was that we went to a theme park together, there is a aquarium where people can pay for feeding gold fish by holding food in a palm and putting the fist into water. And fish smells the food and swim to you to kiss you. So, me and winston did it together as it was a big fish tank. The thing was that most of the fish swam to Winston and didn't come to me, considering we had same amount of food and was doing exactly the same thing!! It was very funny that there was hardly any fish near me and lots of fish near winston! We concluded that He's even attractive to the cold blooded!! It was very fun!

Another highlight was the food. We had tight budget but we had many interesting stuff. cheap ones and good too. At one breakfast, we had deep fried noodle which was very crispy and won ton which was tasty, and a couple of pancakes like mooncake, if you know what mooncakes are, that has filling in the middle.

Dalian is on the coast, and so has rich resource and easy access to seafood. There are good and fresh seafood! People like to cook seafood when it's still alive to keep the freshness. Unlike NZ, fish are eaten as whole, including bones and head. In fact, everything except guts. Hundreds of kinds of fish. I also had steamed crabs and seafood with shells. And I had this seafood that looks like hedgehog which has lots of protective coverings all around. It's a red round thing as big as palm. People halve it and eat the soft thing inside raw. It's like fish egg. I had it cooked as I was concerned with the freshness of it. It's soft texture.

Dalian is a relatively clean and nice city but dry. There is this famous square next to the ocean is modern and beautifully constructed for Creation purpose used to be a garbage field where the city garbage were uploaded there. But then, the city council cleared all the garbage and expanded the land by filling the ocean. Now, it's the financial center and tourism site. impressive!

People I came cross in Dalian are honest and friendly. Patrick's landlord cindy is a lovely woman. I talked to her a few times when I was in New Zealand to help Pat translating. She knew I came, and took us out to see the night of Dalian and shouted us for dinner. Winston were with us too. There are other people I met randomly were nice to us too.

We made fun of Winston all the time! He speaks slowly and has a distinctive and hilarious accent. He's from Arizona. He found a dish in China which he eats everyday. He's in mad love with this dish (and as well as his gf! )! Every time we went out to order, he didn't need to look at the menu (besides the fact he can't read in Chinese), he just ordered this dish. We happened once had to look for a restaurant that has this dish in their menu before decided to dine there! The dish is a simple dish which I believe is from Muslim ethnicity, Com Pond chicken (Gong Bao Ji Ding). We haven't yet figure out why Winston only likes this dish! but, we will!! And, we believe that in near future, he will publish a book, the name of the book will be "Winston and Com Pond Chicken in China"!!! And he's going to open a Com Pond Chicken restaurant in America or club!! Dont' forget to support him!!

We were starred at by people very often when in public. Winston is pretty black so he's easily spotted different. Patrick is very tall and has a big nose and white skin and always speaks super loudly is also easy to notice. He also looks scary to some people (I get used to it already!! haha..). and Me as being a perfectly normal Chinese from appearance becomes 'abnormal' as I speak fluent English with these two folks comfortably. I enjoy the privilege. I'm a good interpreter. I provided comprehensive service as a interpreter! I have good grasp of both cultures which was very handy.

Oh, another interesting thing was that Patrick and Winston absolutely dislike the crowded buses in Dalian. Unfortunately, the buses in Dalian are always packed with people. Because it's very convenient and cheap. I think W and P don't get used to such close physical intimacy with people. People on bus are too aggressive for them. They get pushed away in discomfortable positions, and they don't push back just because they don't. They sometimes wait for a few buses pass before got on because they don't want to be pushed. For me, the bus isn't too crowded, but for them it is. It is true that America doesn't have 13 billion people live next to one another. I understand. But it's funny.

There are also many funny things happened during the trip, but i wanted to stop here.

all the best and love from J~

Halloweeeeeennpartduex----

a note: i know my grammar and spellling suck on this thing, basically becuase i am lazy. I can wrtie like a motherfucker, but I don't have the time or patience to self edit. plus, i think its kind of charming. of course, some people won't get this, but the great thing about being me is that i don't have to give a crap. this is my little corner of the internet and i think the way i write this is pretty honest and representative of me.... If one doubts my abilty to write, consider that I never recieved anything except A's on my college papers( with the excpetion of a few Bruce papers, which involved techinical linguistic shit that i fucked up) anyway, being defensive, but the entry is pretty light toned, so read on, mistakes and all...Ok, so my Halloween week at school was pretty interesting. I did some cultural crap about the history of the holiday and told the story of Jack O'lantern. We then pretended that they were going to go trick or treating, and what costumes they would wear and such. I showed them a book with pictures of kid's dressing up. I think it blew their minds! They have nothing like that. Some girls screamed at the pictures; Chinese girls can be quite dramatic! Then i made them leave the class and knock on the door. and say trick or treat. Each of my students got one piece of candy, which added up to a hell of a lot of candy ( i have around 700students!). Some of their "costumes"where inventive: Toilets, the universe, and me! most were cats and other animals. but it was fun and i can say that i let around 700 Chinese kids celebrate Halloween, something they may never do again in their lives. not that it makes me a saint or anything, but it was fun. of course, now, the little bastards expect candy every week! I will write more about this later, but i am starting to get very attached to my students. They are not always good for me, but they have such personalities! I just feel such a bond with all of them, i am not sure why... My primaries and some of my 11th graders even dressed up. the sixth graders are poor and made little paper masks( although one kid wrapped toilet paper around himself and could barely walk!). it was fun. Two of my favorite students at sunshine, Rachel and Cecila, wore plastic mask. As a whole, the Chinese don't really know what Halloween is, so their wasn't many things around. The younger generation is taught english, so they have a bit more of a clue. Our culture is slowly seeping into theirs, but it will probably take a while to make a huge impact( although many of my kids LOVE the NBA and know more about it than i do).Halloween itself was fun. Since their is a small amount of foreigners in Dalian( most who drink like fish, it seems), a couple of the bars had Halloween parties. I wore a cheap mask ( which fucking broke about five minutes in). The Bar was JD's and it was mostly full of Chinese, some who wore masks and costumes, which was nice. They had a open bar deal, which was quite cheap( 30 rmb, which is almost nothing in American) and we actually had a few bottles. Needless to say, We got very fucking drunk, but it was fun. At the clubs, i always see two of my sunshine students, Russian girls. One is one of my best students! The Russians are a bit darker than the Chinese students, smart, interesting, but somewhat more... I am not sure of the right term. they certainly like to drink. There is no drinking age in China, so They can get into clubs and such... Thats another thing, in the clubs, i have no clue how old some of the Chinese are! Unitl a certain age, its very hard to tell! Anyway, Halloween night was drunken but fun...
My birthday was on November 3rd. I received many greetings and such electronically and they were very appreciated! I turned 39, a weird stupid age ( like all of them) which just seems to be the retarded herald of 40, but i can still cling to my thirties. I don't feel almost 40, and my natural immaturity keeps my seemingly young. It just seems like everything has happened so fast. But I thought about my past, quite a bit of it dubious and infamous, and contrary to prior confessions, i don't regret a god damned thing. I did say and so some stupid things that i probably shouldn't , but i also did quite alot of good things. I think i have lived alot, and have much more to live. I always felt things would change quite a bit around 40, and that seems to be true. The main thing, to me, is that I am living life; I am dong things and trying to take advantage of this unique experience. And a bonus, the way i live my life pretty much pisses all the right people off! I received a nice pen from Fairy and a cake from one of my teachers, Mrs. Su. It was a quiet birthday, but it was nice. I talked to jessica; my only regret about that day was not spending it with her. Its hard to be away from everyone that you love, but it would be foolish to not take advantage of the fact that i am in china and enjoy my birthday just simply being here...
The next day was election day. I am pretty apolitical right now and generally feel that entire system needs to be restructuring. too much corruption, too much bullshit. That being said, I felt that out of the choices, America made the right one. Only time will tell, but hopefully things will improve. at the very least, America has broken out of its tradition of only electing old white men. I hope that Obama will be a good president. America is a great country with many great people, it doesn't deserve to go out being bled dry by greedy old men who already have more than they can deal with. Of course, there is no guarantee that will not still happen, but we can hope. Overall, I thought it was a positive thing. I did not vote, which i usually do not. Americans always say that if you don't vote you can't bitch. the great thing about being an American is that you can bitch whenever you want, and i will probably not break that tradition....
that next Sunday, i did a lot of little things around the apartment and then went to English corner. It was cold in Dalian! You would think coming from snow,ice, freezing oswego that i would be pretty immune to the cold, but no..... In china, the government controls the heat, which is a very strange concept for us Americans. on Nov. 15th, they turned on the gas to everyone and have heat now. but at that time it wasbearable but cold in my apartment. its a strange thing, but it was only for a small period... anyhoo, English corner was fun, but cold. Fairy was there, being fairy. I seem to have attracted a following of kids, mostly girls. the adults can't really get to talk to me because the kids dominate the show. but the adults talk to the other English teachers, so i guess i am the kid guy, which is really ok with me, they are interesting and fun. Some talk very much, some just stand there, afraid to talk, some stick their tongues out at me or try to steal my stuff( as a joke). the we encountered Grandma, which is the subject of the next entry!

Intermission---mydaytoday...Letter to Steve

( i wish i could add music to this thing, Intermission always makes think of some old lady kind of serenly jamming on an organ( intsrumnet, for my chinese and also my more perverted friends)

This is part of an email i wrote to my brother today. It contains much interesting( i think) information and i thought that if i added some stuff, it would make a good post. The rest of the Halloween stuff and such is coming, some of it is already written, but i noticed that i was turning what should have been a short, almost business like email into a post, so I went with it. My bother helped me out a little bit on may way over here, so I westerned unioned him some money. Others helped me out, and as soon as i am able, i will also pay them back.... anyway, i just thought someone might like to read it( except for the semi-political rant, a bad habit of mine that i think is just part of being an American.... god or whatever help me)

Steve ( iam turning this into a blog entry, besides the more sensitive personal crap, like your pimply ass and such)

today, April and i went to the post office. What a cluster fuck that was. The Chinese really fuck anything up that is even slightly bureaucratic in nature? forms over forms, poor April and i spend about 2 hours in that place( hell maybe about an hour and a half). it didn't help that we seemed to come at time when a ton of people who fucked shit up where ahead of us( MY CURSE IN ANY COUNTRY). Wherever i go, i tend to get behind the guy who has a super-complicated order or is just a douche, or the lady who fights with the sales clerk over the price of lettuce( surprisingly, this has actually happened in both China and America). And the Chinese, god bless their hearts, suck at lines. I don't know why, but they will just jump ahead of people and crowd around the window or whatever. Even though they are generally better behaved at the grocery store, i have had people just cut in front of me, or try to angle their carts in some obvious but strange angle ( which is also how they drive, as I have mentioned). Anyhoo, poor April got jumped ( line jumped that is, you pervert ) at least once. and the chinese do love to debate with company's. I think it may because haggling is part of the culture, and still is fairly huge, but you don't haggle with big companies such as western union, Mcdonalds and such. In most official type stores, you can't haggle, as in the grocery stores, malls( well most of them), restaurants, and most stores, but on the street and in booths ( and certain types of stores, less official i guess) you can and it is expected. The thing i have learned about the Chinese is that they don't just jack up the price, they really jack of the price! I also think that us foreigners get a special anti-discount because they think that all Americans are rich ( which is of course not true) and that all foreigners are clueless about their prices ( which is unfortunately very true of some of us!) So you may haggle with them and get them to cut it down by half, but find out later that you still payed 3 or four times the price a normal Chinese person would. And the Chinese are born with the ability to find a good deal, they thrive on it. It one of their strengths and weaknesses; sometimes they just seem very smart and frugal, other times, they seem damned cheap and stingy. Of course, it is probably ingrained in them due to the massive population, limited resources, historical poverty and having lived through some very though times. Even though China is ( or at least was) a socialist society, as Jessica has said ( to paraphrase my love), "in china, you watch your money, work hard, and don't waste things because if you get in trouble, no one will help you." the Government does help them out sometimes, but it seems to be fairly limited. In America, despite all of the shit people say, we are lucky that there are safety nets ( well, with some holes in them).Back to the point! Which at this point, i must admit that i have completly forget.

Oh, so anyway, after forever, everything cleared up and we got your money out. Since everything was in Chinese, i hope that their were no massive fuck ups. i hope you got the agreed upon am ount and that you receive it. All in all it was another strange, but thought provoking experience in China...

love,
you smarter, handsomer brother,

Patrick

ok, next up, Halloween part II( yes, i know, i am pat evon right)

FromHalloweenuntilnow part I

hello!
I have been pretty busy, but i think the main reason that i have not written on this thing that much is because I have really hit a big adjustment period. Teaching, the language, the culture, all of it can be a bit overwhelming. i still love it here, but i think i just hit a period where i needed to be.. somewhat inert, to catch up with everything. Anyway, i hope to get alot more done starting this week, including blogging at least once or a few times a week. The school week does kick my ass, but I can find some time to get things done if i put effort into it. Life requires effort.

So, lots of little things have happened, but the biggest things have been in the last two weeks or so! Halloween weekend was interesting. The Wednesday before Halloween is a "ghost day"in China. there is some debate about this actually. Some Chinese say there is only one ghost day, which is the traditional festival on the 15Th day of the seventh month. Some say there are only two; some say four. It seems that this interpretation problem may be due to different traditions; I am not sure. What I do know is that the Chinese were building little bonfires on sides of the road all over the place this night. needless to say, It looked cool as hell! I noticed that the street vendorswere selling this gold stuff and fake money, but i was not sure what it was. I thought it might be for a festival or some ritual , but in China, one never knows what the hell is going on. Later, I was with Winston, and we say the fires. At first we thought it might me burning off produce leaves ( since fall really hit, big old dump trucks full of some sort of lettuce and cabbage have been everywhere,; it seems they just sell them off the truck and the Chinese FUCKING love it!) but then i began to make the connection with the unusual stuff I was being sold earl er. We ran into a student of Winston and his father and Winston tried to ask them what was going on. The kid was just a student, so he really could not explain what was going on, but luckily, there was a guy with very good English burning some crap next to us. He was happy to explain that ghost days occur once every three months, and they burned fake money and clothes to appease the ancestors, who would in turn give them good luck. I have looked this up and it seems to be a very ancient ritual. The idea is that the heavens and earth line up at this time so that there can be some kind of communication between the realms of the dead and the living. I guess the smoke is reformed in the heavens. of course, like anything religious, there seem to be many different takes on what is going on. It seemed weird to me that this was happening to two days before Halloween. I had prepared a lesson for Halloween( more on this later in the week and had reviewed the history of Halloween. Of course , some things struck me. The fact that in ancient Samhain( Halloween) food was given to appease the dead spirits, who cam back this night. And one can think of the Egyptians. The concept of bridging the realms seem to be a human and ancient one. Maybe it is something us. Or perhaps, all of these rituals come from one very ancient, pre history ritual. who knows? But it is also interesting to notice that in the east, the dead are fairly benevolent, while in the west they are feared. It very interesting to think about.

Another point of interest is the fact that the Chinese seem to be reclaiming their past. not to be political, but it is no secret that the after revolution government discouraged ( and perhaps that is being diplomatic) any sort of religion or ritual. Now, i don't know for sure, but it seems that the government seems to be mellowing out a bit, the people are naturally reclaiming some of their rituals. While some may argue that this is bad, that humans should move away from religion and ritual ( and i generally agree) it also seems that these rituals are very much part of human, maybe on a subconscious level. In the west, we generally do not believe in evil spirits coming back ( well, many do, but culturally I would say not at this point) but we still keep the rituals associated with it, ie Halloween. I think, and of course this is mere conjecture, that maybe as the Chinese move forward, part of that process is to reclaim the past. Generally, i think this sort of thing is silly, but i think that if kept in check, it may be a good thing. ritual without religion is pretty harmless. but it has a way of getting out of control. only time will tell, i guess. Personally, one of the things i like about the Chinese is that they are generally atheists.

so, anyway, coming soon the rest of this crap....

messagetokarrieaboutcomingtochina

My friend karry (whose name i am mispelling in a variety of ways) is interested in coming to China, so i sent her this message. I figured that it would be a good thing to post here as it contains general information concerening my life here and the company and teaching.
sorry for not posting for a while. i hope to put up a post soon explaining my life here right now, which while good, is very busy and tiring...
here's the message to kerri---
OK, i hope that i remember everything. warning, i may post most of this on my blog, as it is good information.first, I think the most difficult part of all of this was getting here. If you are in contact with the company, they will tell you what you need. Personally, considering your grades and your major, i am 100 percent sure that they will accept you with no problem. They will have an application which i think has a short essay, but its no problem. I think they ask for two letters of recommendation. I would use Bruce and Jean and accentuate your TESOL training and such, but of course ,that is up to you. I am sure they will accept you. The difficult part is getting here. You have to be able to pay for your airfare here ( they will reimburse most , if not all of this of, it at the end of your contract). They told me to bring at least 500 to live on, but i would bring as much as you can; things are cheap in china, but it adds up and its nice to have the extra money. Plus it may be a month and a half before you get paid. Also, it would be wise to keep a bank account open in the states with American money in it, for expenses you have to pay in the states( i did not do this of course). When you arrive in the China, you may have the option at the airport to convert money. I would convert as much as possible ( i only converted 100 dollars and it was a pain in the ass). American money is really not used here at all.( many Chinese are gleeful about the dropping dollar and the rising yuan!) The Atms will accept major debit cards, but you will get the money in Chinese.
Another major concern is the visa and such. They will ask you for alot of paper work as the process goes on, such as health things and such. If you have a doctor, get them to send your records, but they Will give you a exam while you are here that is very basic and Will cover visa requirements. Try to get your visa as soon as possible, but even if it is at the last moment, as mine was, there should be no problem. its a bit of a pain in the ass, but should clear. keep your recipts, as the company will reimburse this later. Aslo, if you have any fight resceduling due to weather or the company, keep reciepts of that. Anyhoo, the government shouldn't give you much problem about your visa. if you can't get to the embassy in New York, you can usean interent company, i found Visa Express to be very reliable. But remember, China wants Native English teachers! Any questions, if you do this; make sure to stay in contact with me and i will tell you my opinion.Now, the question is, do you want to come here?Well, i love china!
its not always easy, some days its extremely frustrating, but others are amazing. I don''t know if you took Chinese, but if you did, that would be a plus. I don't know any Chinese and i get along ok, although occasionaly it is an issue'( as when i got in a cab and ended up an hour away from where i wanted to go!). if i was you, try to insist early on that you stay in Dalian, not hou jou (sp). Believer me, you are a lot better off here! trust me on this one. its an amazing experience, being here. like i said, it has its frustrations, but it beats oswego!
Good points-- the company pays your rent. getting to school is easy because of china's cheap buses( although they are crowded). The people are generally very friendly and there is much to do and see in the city. much cheap shopping. great food ( although some of it is scary). you get your own apartment. its great experience for TESOL teaching and is relatively easy to do( esp . with your training). there are many things that is great about being here.Things you should know about. Dalian is very modern and in some ways its like living in America, but there are many differences also( besides all of the Chinese people!) The language thing can be a barrier, although the company is pretty good with helping us do things. Your apartment will be set up for you, as well as bills and utilities. If you have a mobile phone, bring it as well as a laptop( you really want to have a computer here). Things are done different, and many things will be confusing. However, the company does do its best to help us./ the teaching training is minimal, but that should be OK with you. If i am here, i can be a help in many ways.another thing to consider is that the teaching schedule is intense. I teach 27 classes a week( usually with an average of 50 students) and up to 800 students. Most of our classes are supplemental, we are to provide a fun and unique enviroment for our students to speak and hear English. also while the pay is ok, considering the hours and such, it could be a bit more, but that is business i guess. Everything in china costs money, although everything is much cheaper than in the us. If you come here, plan on working alot, but also it being a interesting experience. The school system is different than the us. and may take some while to understand. however, i think that you will enjoy it if you come here. If you any any questions or anything at anytime about anything, please contact me. also, if anyone else expresses interest, tell them to contact me. ok, there is all i can think of for now. contact ed. ed is very honest, responsible, and speaks english! remember to mention that you are my friend. also mention that you are a tesol major and any other relevant educational experience. i hope it works out for you. stay in contact!pat

oh, the pay is not bad, it could be better. The best way to look at it is that you are being payed to stay a year in a country that you probably could not afford to visit long on your own, thats my viewpoint. the experience is the real pay ( as cheesy as that sounds). also there are many adjustments to living in a foreign culture. be prepared to have an adventure. expect the unexpected and be open to things that you might not be in the us and you will be fine...

Mydayandsomethoughtsonteaching

Today was the first day back to school after a over a week break. The school that I taught at today was one that I had not been to in 3 weeks or so due to the holiday and also they were out on military exercises ( all public schools do this it seems, i am not sure what it entails although the kids seem to like it). It is also one of my favorite schools in that all of the kids are well behaved and enthusiastic. I had fun. I am very new to teaching, had no education on how to teach, and was only trained for a few hours on how. Sometimes it can be intimidating and frustrating; however, it can also be very illuminating and fun. As Winston says, "I get paid to play with kids all day; its the easiest job i have ever had ( I am actually paraphrasing him here)" Exactly. I look at this way, i spent somewhere around ten years working in bars and such, busting my ass and getting no respect. This is great compared to it. I do teach alot: i have 27 classes and teach around 300 kids. This seems like alot and it is; it can be very draining. But I actually work around 23-24 hours a week ( although the lesson planning can be time consuming), there is not physical labor, i get to talk alot, and i usually laugh my ass of at the kids. I teach a few different level. the youngest are primary 6; i just started with these kids and they seem cute and enthusiastic, but they're English level is very low. I was told that they have moved from the country because their parents have found shitty jobs in the city; they are poor. However, they seem great. I also teach middle school 7 (the school i taught today). These kids are better at English, although their levels very greatly. These kids are fairly shy. I teach grade 8 in another school,; they are less shy, higher level, and somewhat harder to control. They are also pretty funny sometime. I have been doing a waste basketball game with the younger kids and one kid( who speaks alot, but it s usually in Chinese to me!) was really into it. He got to shoot early( they had to construct a sentence in English using already, just or yet) and i had moved on... I get back to his area, and he is sitting in the next seat( behind his) with a jacket and sunglasses on; He was in disguise to shoot again! I told him to get back to his seat, but it was pretty funny. Another funny phenomena about the students at this age. It is not unusual for a boy to say something stupid and get whacked hard in the head by some girl sitting next to him. I have seen it many, many times. I have seen boys get smacked so hard that spit comes out of their mouth! But they seem to like it. I think it may be some form of flirting, and i generally ignore it because it doesn't seem harmful and i doubt that i could stop it. also, it amuses the hell out of me!
I also teach at a very expensive private school--the sunshine( ashsun) school. These kids are rich, lazier (generally), and have worse attitudes than the public school kids. I teach seniors ( grade 11 and 12). I have 12 classes a week here, and it takes much more lesson planning and real teaching. My 11th graders are difficult, although i have been making progress. The 12th graders are better; they are lazy but we get along. I like this school and most of the kids; But i have to really teach here and they can be more challenging( some are jerks). However, I am getting better at this, I believe. In the public schools, I only see them once a week and the classes are huge( 35-56 kids a class). My job there is to play games and get the kids to speak. Chinese schools are strict and brutal; the kids are expected to work very hard. All of the American teachers try to show the kids that English can be fun. At Sunshine, my job is to actually teach the little jerks! I like both types, but the younger kids are easier...

Today was good, though. A few stories. One, i made what i thought was a great discovery. In Dalian, you see motorcycle (real motorcycles, not with the carts) guys on their bikes just hanging out on the sidewalks. They are usually very friendly. I often thought about what they might be doing; I assumed that they were just hanging out, looking cool, maybe trying to pick up chicks. Well, they might be doing that as lo, but today at lunch, I walked down the massive hill to go to the store. I saw students riding up the hill on on the back of motorcycles( the kids wear uniforms with their schools on them, so their is no mistaking them). It turns out, the motorcycle dudes hang out at the bottom of hills and will ride you up them for 2 yaun ( very cheap). I thought that this was pretty cool; those hills suck. I may just have to take advantage of this! People in China are very good at thinking of ways to make money, although, i think this way is pretty fun and awesome.

I was wrapping up class today and went to get my phone. It was in my hoody pocket and when I grabbed my Hoody, it slid out into a full bucket of water. Chinese classrooms always have containers of water everywhere ( wash the board and such-- also, kids in china actually have to wash down their classrooms and halls, sometimes on their knees, sweeping and washing down stairs, everything. Could you imagine if they tried that in America!) and I have had run ins with these things before, ball in water, foot in water, spilling water. I grabbed my phone a few seconds in, but it was already sinking! The kids let out a collective sucking air sound that echoed the panic i felt. I picked it up and continued with class. It acted a bit goofy for a hour, but it has been working fine since then! I still have it under watch, but it seems good.And it was a cheap ass phone ( about 50 american)! so that could have been very bad.

Well, that's enough for today. I will continue with teaching soon. And hopefully, I will tell my best story so far, Granny panty's!

Fairy

you can click on any of the images on this blog to get a better view. These one's were taken by Winston.

The Little girl in the pictures is Fairy ( her self given English name). Fairy was the first person to talk to me at the English corner. We have sort of bonded since then. Fairy has about the best English I have ever heard from a Chinese person and she is 11! She also speaks Japanese! She plays four instruments. She has just returned from Beijing where she competed in a English competition and came in 2nd place in her age group ( out of the whole country!) She is not my student, but we talk every sunday at the corner( i did help her tidy up her speach for the competition, but she had very few errors). I am very fond of her and amazed at intelligence! She is also very much a regular kid. Sometimes, at the corner ( which is really zhong shan square), Chinese people think that she is not chinese because she speaks English so well.

It's starting to get cold here, so the English corner was a bit lame today. However, i had fun as always. Two weeks ago, i was still sweating, and now my hoody is kind of not enough for the weather.

Good bus example today. I got on the five after the English corner. Downtown has the stop where the five ends/begins and is one of the few places where the Chinese line up. So i get in line, which is massive. I dread this ride because the five tends to be extra crowded. Two fives come and I think that it won't be that bad. There is a Small metal frame that forms the Que line. Now, for some reason, many chinese won't break that line. They will break any other line, usually. They will jump in front of you at McDonald's. They will break traffic. but many of them will not break a line that has the metal que thing. If they do, they will only do it when the line stops( the non- que breakers will stop when the seats are full, which is ridiculous to me because they will pack a totally full bus any other time. So i get on the first bus, and get one of the last seats, although there was some lady racing on my hip trying to push me out of the way to get a seat, she got one, i don't know why they do that--old ladies and men really like to push people out of the way here. So the querers stop soon, and then people who don't care about the line will come on. Well, i was pretty lucky to get a seat. The next bus won't board until the first one leaves. Well, people just kept coming on. It was crazy; about the fullest bus I have ever been on; not a inch of wasted space, people pressed up against the door. The thing that i found insane is that was a totally empty bus behind us that would board as soon as ours left! I don't understand why all those people did not just wait! The only thing i can think of is that they are just very impatient. Oh well, Chinese buses...

Back to school tommorrow. Will write about teaching soon