HongKongPartIII

Wai Chi Ferry( 0ne of my favorite parts of the trip)

that Hong Kong money sure is pretty...

double decker bus( didn't ride one, unfortunately)

Cool, old ass Chinese boat( seen a good many of these, one almost rammed a ferry I was in!)

At night, Hong Kong is simply spectacular, like a city on another planet

busy Hong Kong night

the most beautiful city that i have ever visited..

{ as usual, click on these pictures for bigger, clearer, ect. These are not my pictures, so they are very good; you should click them! I did not have my camera yet when i was in Hong Kong, which was a shame, but thank god for the interweb, huh}

Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south. It has a population of 7 million people but only 1,108 km2 of land, making it one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Beginning as a trading port, Hong Kong became a dependent territory of the United Kingdom in 1842, and remained so until transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997. Along with Macau, Hong Kong is one of the two special administrative regions under the One Country, Two Systems policy.] As a result, Hong Kong is largely self-governing, it has its own currency, legal and political systems, a high degree of autonomy in all of its affairs, with the exception of foreign affairs and defence and is generally not considered a part of mainland China. Renowned for its expansive skyline and natural setting, Hong Kong is one of the world's leading financial capitals, a major business and cultural hub, and maintains a highly developed capitalist economy. Its identity as a cosmopolitan centre where east meets west is reflected in its cuisine, cinema, music and traditions, and although the population is predominantly Chinese, residents and expatriates of other ethnicities form a small but significant segment of society. ---Wiki, wiki wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong

So, if you read the last entry, you know I was dead tired and crashed in a hotel in Hong Kong. I woke up and realised that i was in one of the most famous, beautiful, and diverse cities in the world! I also woke up and realised that I needed to get my ass moving, as the plan was to get my visa and get back to China! I would have a few hours in Hong Kong, which seemed like enough considering that this was a surprise vacation. So I got my paperwork together, took a quick shower and headed out to get something to eat and to also exchange money. Although Frank had said that most places accepted Chinese RMB, the fact was that most places did not. So I hustled out of the hotel and onto the street. I ran into a booth right away that exchanged money; I knew i was taking a chance, but i needed to get going, so I exchanged most of my RMB for Hong Kong Dollars, which are quite flashy and pretty to look at. Luckily, I exchanged money several times in places like this, but did not run into any problems with counterfeiting, which is a concern in China. Anyhoo, I ran back to the hotel, got my bags together, and checked out. This hotel, the Metro, was pretty swanky, but kind of gilded; it looked fancy, but was sort of a dressed up version of a regular hotel: it really was not anything special and not worth the price. I got a discount for now using Hong Kong currency ( which wasn't much- the yuan and the HKDare fairly close in worth- but appreciated since the hotel was fairly expensive). I got out and got a cab, which was the plan as i did not know where i was going. Luckily, all of the cab drivers speak English, so he took me straight to the Consulate. Cabs, like everything in Hong Kong, are expensive, everything is about two to three times as much as they are in Dalian ( the cab ride would have been 8 in Dalian, it was about 22 in hong kong, coke is about 3 in Dalian, its about 9 in Hk). I get to the consulate, and I am not allowed to take luggage, you have to leave it outside unattended, which sucked because i had a bag. I left it there, went in ( no line this time), went through security, went upstairs, filled out some paperwork, and was quickly served. I also was quickly told that I could not get my Visa until Monday( this was Friday). Well, this was not really part of the plan, but what could i do? i left my visa there( i had to get a copy, as you need to show your visa to get a hotel and other things), and made a plan to go to the peninsula, as ed said he had found some cheaper hotels there and some internet cafes. I was a little worried about spending so much time in Hong Kong, but also excited, as i could really get to see and experience this city that I was quickly falling in love with. So i went up and luckily hit the Wa chi fairy station. After getting a token out of a machine, i rode the ferry across the Harbor. The harbor is pretty busy and has a ton of these old looking, but really fun ferry's. I even saw a Ocean party liner docked in the harbor as well as a ton of cool old school Chinese boats( see pictures for these and a picture of the Wai Chi Ferry). The view from the harbor is amazing, as you can see all of the skyscrapers and such. If you ever go to Hong Kong, you must ride the ferry, especially at night. I rode the thing probably about a total of ten times, and enjoyed it each time. You can sit down inside and just enjoy the ride and the view. It was kind of like a cool as amusement park ride, and relatively cheap( about 2 and a half HKD). Since Hong Kong has a few part, the two main ones being the peninsula( which juts down from the border) and the Island, where most of the cool things are and where I spent most of my time, going across the harbor is almost unavoidable. you can take a ferry, bus, or subway across, but the best way is the ferry, no doubt.

So anyway, I get off of the ferry and now in the Peninsula. Since my phone is out, i needed to contact my people in china somehow, so I look for a Internet cafe or a place to buy a phone card. I am immediately harassed by several Indian( Hindu ) tailor shop people. These guys are pretty aggressive, but I just politely told them to fuck off. I see another exchange place, this is a very busy area, and decide since i am staying until Monday, that I should exchange the rest of my money. while I am waiting, i see three American old ladies haggle with the Chinese woman over a suitcase. foreigners are very common in hong kong, I don't think I went more then 10 minutes at any time without seeing someone who was not chinese. I saw mostly British( they are almost a plague in Hk, for logical reasons; Hk is full of the loud honking accents of arrogant British businessmen; not as much honking from cars like in Dalian however) and many, many other types of people. Hong Kong is very multicultural compared to Dalian( which is more multi cultural then many, but not all, Chinese cities). So I exchange my money and also bought a phone card to call china( which i never did get to work). I ask the lady about Internet cafes, and she tells me there is one right upstairs! So i go through an arcade( which was much more bad ass then the ones in Dalian) and into a Internet cafe. I Imed ed, who immediately starts working on hotels( as the one I had stayed at was too expensive for three more nights). We talk for awhile and i get my plans straight, I will check into a hotel for three nights, enjoy Hong Kong, get my visa on Monday, cross the border, and then Call Frank, who will book my flight. I was supposed to teach on Monday, but its hard to teach when you are that far away! Ed talks to Frank, who says he will send more money if i need it for expenses ( which i did need due to HK being so fucking expensive; I really was very frugal there, but Its just a expensive city, compared to other Chinese cities). So I go back to the ferry station, tell the Indians to fuck off again, get on the ferry and go back to the Island. We had found a hotel that was less expensive online, so I tried to find it. The main part of the island is really not that big, but very easy to get lost in ( i am not sure, but I blame the British; they drive on the "wrong" side of the road, and I think that really fucked up my sense of direction--In mainland china, they drive on the "right" side of the road). I spent most of Friday and Saturday lost! But I did get to see the city, so i did not mind that much. it did suck when i was looking for the hotel, because I had my large bag with me. Finally, i just got into a cab and told them the name of the hotel, the south pacific. I got there, checked in for three days( they needed a huge deposit, which i guess is the norm, and checked into my room, on the 23rd floor. The view was crazy and kind of scary( i no likey heights sometimes), but cool. the room was nice enough and air conditioned. I forgot to mention that it was very cold in Dalian( just like at home), but it was in the 80's in Hong Kong. I had to redress when i got to Hong kong and when i got back to Dalain. I crashed awhile in the hotel room as i was very tired. Then i woke, found a map, and went out to see the city. I found a Internet Cafe very close to my hotel room, which was key. You could use the computer if you bought food, and the food was good! They had really good Hot Dogs and club sandwiches( neither of which I have found here; there are Chinese hot dog things, but they suck; and dairy queen hot dogs, which are passable, but taste pretty much like flavored plastic with synthetic ketchup and mustard spread on them) so i ate there often and used the Internet. I then left, to see the city and got very, very lost. I had a map, but i kept going the wrong way. I ended up walking around for most of the day and evening! But I got to see the city. At one point, no matter what i tried, i kept coming back to the same street.

Hong kong is very beautiful. It very busy, but not so crowded like i have heard about cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Its clean and pretty pedestrian friendly ( with many foot bridges and tunnels to cross the busy streets). It has very good public transportation, with a ton of buses, a very clean, safe and thorough subway system( Chinese cities are very safe compared to most other world, including US, cities; Hong Kong, although unusual, seemed to be the same in this regard), ferries out the ass, and an army of taxi's( a hallmark of Chinese cities, it seems). One noticeable difference is that it had many street lights and people seemed to obey traffic laws and cross the streets when they are supposed to( not really what they do in Dalian!). Hong Kong has amazing looking buildings, many cool shops, tons of many different types of restaurants and bars( Western, Chinese, Indian, Irish, blah, blah, blah). I really enjoyed just walking around, even if i was lost! It also has tons of free public park. Its pretty green for a city, and you can go to a zoological park or one of the many sports parks with basketball courts, tracks, and tennis courts. It really is a hybrid of China and the west. I fell in love with it and told Yipin that we would someday live there( she said yes!, but also seems to be in love with the Seoul airport because they gave her lots of free stuff( my tofu loves free things more than anything, I think!). Hong Kong is also the Entertainment capital of China, being the home of Jackie Chen and Bruce lee( although he was born in California, he got his movie start in hong kong). Most chinese movies are made there, as well as it is the center of the Chinese recording industry. Most people in Hong kong can speak English, but since it is in the south, the Chinese is Cantonese, a dialect of Chinese, but north people, who speak what we call mandarin, can't understand it, which means they have subtitles for many movies ( as well as the Japanese, Korean , and American movies, which are all very popular in China). I think i might have seen someone who was famous, I was walking around and seen this little young woman who was surrounded by cameras and very excited teenage chinese; but since i know no Chinese stars, I have no clue who they were. Anyway, I spent most of the day walking around the city(lost) and enjoyed myself. When i got to the hotel room, I was pretty fucking tired, so i read a little and passed out.

Saturday was pretty much the same. I ate at burger king, which i have not done since i was in America and i don't even like but ate there just because there are none in Dalian. they also have about a million seven elevens in Hk, and some even have slushies( which i adore). I got lost again for most of saturday, but seen much of the city. Hk has tons of attractions, from Disney hong kong to a ton of different types of museums( i think the Chinese space museum is right by the ferry dock on the penn.) There are tours to islands, temples and all kind of cultural things. I didn't do any of that, i just kind of walked around, which was cool enough for me. On saturday night, I mapped out a touristy plan for Sunday. it was late, but i walked over to hong kong park, which was free and had some cool attractions. then I went back "home". I walked around there for while, no longer getting lost( finally!). I walked past a bar district, which was full of open air british bars and chinese hooker bars, which seemed to be pretty dicey. Here i saw what i think was my first chinese transvestite; at first I thought she was a witch! I just kept walking past the drunken british bussiness men, the aggressive hookers, and the scary witch tranny as i find all three of these type of people to be annoying. When i went to the cafe for one final check of my email, I was on facebook and recived a message from my friend Sarah Catlain(i hope i spelled it right) from college( oswego). She is teaching English in the city across from Hong kong, and wanted to come over and see me. I said sure, so we sort of made plans on facebook( which is not easy, becuase its not in real time, but it worked out.) So i went back to the hotel, watched some tv in english( dirty jobs, i think), and then passed the fuck out...

I will wrap up the hong kong saga tommorrow or the next day and catch up with being back in

dalian and the first few weeks of teaching....

oh, and one more thing. it is illegal to spit in the street in Hong Kong. That sounds a little crazy, but in China, people are constantly( and i really mean it) making loud hocking noises and spitting. Its an epidemic! So that was nice..

HongKongpartII(thejourneyto)

So, if you read the last post, you have all the details. I had a few drinks at Bo-Bo's, went home, packed enough for a night or two, about two bags( I always overpack!) Winston bought a nice nike bag over. I had a slight hangover. That's something strange about me, I have only flew a few times in my life, but I always have a hangover when i do... I am somewhat afraid of flying, and i guess i subconsciously need to get a bit drunk the night before to deal with it. Anyhoo, I rush out in the morning and head to the office. Ed is there; He is getting tons of good information for me, such as hotels, the address of the Chinese consulate in Hong Kong, locations of Internet cafes, the phone number of the U.S embassy and such. Even though frank assured me that everything would go according to plan,; well, we really weren't sure. I was in China illegally, the government is not known as the most flexible organisation in the world. It was entirely viable at some point that I could be detained. Plus, My phone would not work in Hong Kong; its a network thing, so we were preparing for that. Ed didn't even have to do any of this; he is just a very good guy and my trip would have probably been a huge fucking disaster if it wasn't for him. So anyhoo, we get as much information as possible and then April rushes me off to the airport. before she leaves, she gives me money from the company, as was the deal with frank. Frank also was very cool about this situation and could have been a big dick as some Chinese bosses can be, especially about money. but he was cool. So April insists on taking a bus, even though I would have paid for a cab, because she is "Chinese. The bus takes forever. April was with me in case I ran into any trouble at the airport. At the airport, I check in, pass security without a problem ( well, they took my lighter!), found my gate. Well, the plane was delayed a bit, and I waited about an hour to board. Then we were delayed on the plane for another 40 minutes; not sure why. I read a book of Chinese myths that i had; very brief but fairly interesting. I was a little squished in the seat; but generally good.Finally we took off and I was on my way to Shenghzen.
Th flight was fine; I love flying when i am up the air. I just hate it when I am on the ground.

The flight itself took about 4 hours ( my ass was killing me), but I arrive in shenghzen already behind the scheduled plan. However, I call frank and he tells me that everything will be fine. I get my luggage, and lo and behold, find two men holding a sign saying PATRIC EVON, so I assume that is me.... These two guys, two average looking Chinese working class dudes( who are a bit tough looking despite american stereotypes), don't speak a word of English, but I am used to it. I get a lighter at the airport, we all light up and are soon on our way to the Hong Kong Border, or so i assumed. We drive through heavy chinese traffic( which is fucking insane because there are so many cars and they really don't seem to obey too many traffic laws) for at least an hour. We are in the city of shenghzen at nightfall, and I am exhausted and ready to cross, find my hotel, and crash. Well, we finally stop, but where we stop looks like a shopping area, not a government type building. I tell myself that this is China, what the fuck do I know, but i have my doubts. The one dude leads me on while grabbing a bottle of wine out of the SUV we are in. I am now beggining to really wonder whats going on, but i go along because I have no choice. We go into a restaurant, and up a few floors to a private room. There are seven middle age tough looking chinese dudes in having dinner; My guy gives them a bottle of wine and runs off. They rush me to a seat at the massive table, pour me a glass of wine, give me a cigarette and all stare at me. I , of course, am completely baffled, but having been in China for a while and also being Pat Evon, go with it, as again, i have no choice. The whole scene did sort of remind me of my Decade days...

So, here I am, in a strange city surrounded by Chinese guys that I do not know and don't speak English( and bear in mind my chinese is pretty much nothing), which is not according to any fucking plan that I was told! I have to say, I have had many dinners in China, many high end, but this one was easily to most expensive. Tons of seafood, a huge private room with a Television and a sofa. The dudes kept pouring me wine and giving me cigarettes and talking to me in Chinese. I was sort of pissed at first, but then decided to go with it. The food was pretty exotic, lots of things with eyes and crap, but also obviously very expensive. They drank alot of wine, and the two oldest ones( who reminded me of American mafia types) had a pitcher of Baiju which they pretty much poured shots out of continually( they call baiju wine, but it is more akin to moonshine taste and strength wise) which was pretty fucking impressive. This went on for like a hour and a half! I have to say that despite the language barrier, these guys were amazingly nice to me. It was a really great dinner, but I was pretty confused. Finally, i call ed, ed calls Jonah, Jonah calls Frank, Frank calls Jonah, Jonah calls Ed, Ed calls me( china!). It turns out that this was planned, that I was to cross the border at 9:30! i think i may of slightly insulted my hosts by calling Frank, but I think I would have been more appreciative if someone had would have fucking told me what was going on! Anyhoo, soon after that, two of the guys usher me on with them and we get in a car and part way with the other Chinese greats. They were good guys, I hope they didn't think I was a dick... Anyhoo, So again, driving around the city. This city is more sprawling and less beautiful than Dalian, but to be fair, I did not see much of it. So after about 30 to 45 minutes of driving, we stop again. Well, actually the dude tries to park, but backs into a parked bus! Remember, these guys had a good bit of wine at dinner! He pulls up a bit, some Chinese guy comes out of nowhere and yells at him, he yells back, more yelling, than we pull into a area that i think is Customs and all seems to be forgotten! We go up to yet another middle age Chinese dude ( with a middle age Chinese lady and a younger dude). The driver runs off and I am left there as the other guy i came with speaks Chinese to the new people. Then, after awhile, the driver comes back with a load of cash( god knows this entire operation reeked of shadyness!), gives it to the new people, and my guys dive off. I think we are going into the building, but I am wrong yet again! We get into another SUV! The younger dude drives and doesn't say a word; the middle age dude and his wife talk. She is real rough and doesn't shut up. I think she was berating the middle age dude( I think she was his wife) but who knows. They speak some very basic English to me and we are off through the city again. At this point, I am like fuck it, enjoy the adventure. Being in China, sometimes you really have no choice but to go with the flow and enjoy things for what they are. It seems weird to Americans, but this attitude has often been absolutely fucking necessary. So we drive for about a half hour and arrive at a building that I pray is the border. It is...

Now, we get into the border, the dude leading me. He goes to a office and disappears. A official comes out with him and we go through customs. Then, they take me to a little closed off area,right in the middle of everything, and put me into a little glass room. It says further interrogation, and I worry, but I also have faith it will all work out. I sit there for about 20 minutes( they did give me hot tea in little plastic dixie cups) until a Chinese guy comes and makes me sign a shitload of forms. He informs me that I have violated my Visa and am being fined for 5000 yuan! I freak a little, but again, have faith in Frank( turns out that he did have it covered, the crafty devil). Then, I am free to go, i say goodbye to my dude and go through the border. I get outside and it's a bus tation. Our plans were for me to get out at a place where their would be a train station that would take me right into Hong Kong Island. Of course, Frank's people took me to the OTHER border( which ed and I did not know about). I recognized the name Wan Chai on one of the busses, and after calling Ed, I bought a ticket and got on. We drove for ten minutes and they let us all off! Now, i have now clue what to do but to follow everyone. It turns out, we are at the official Hong Kong border. I get through customs easily( thank you, American passport) an get on another bus. I hope to god that it takes me to where I am supposed to go, because I really have no clue. So we drive for about another 40-60 minutes. finally, we get into the city. I have no clue where the fuck I am. The bus makes a few stops and after awhile, I decide to get off. I get off an look around. It turns out, that I am on hennessy (yes) avenue, right where I wanted to be! This was blind luck! I walk around for awhile and I find one of the hotels that Ed and I had looked at. It looks very upscale, but its the only one that I know of. Its after midnight, the money changing places are all closed( and there are a shitload of them in Hong Kong) so I only have Yaun, and I am beyond exhausted. I take a room ( it was fairly expensive) check into my room, take my first bath in a bout a year( i do shower everyday), and then pass the fuck out...

Tomorrow( or in a few days): Hong kong, i fucking promise...

HongKongpartI(actuallyaprelude)

So, I left off with when my Chinese boss, Frank, called me during the week before we were to start school. I was pretty much planning on resting up during a quiet week and preparing myself to re-enter the whole teaching thing. Well, out of the blue, W. and I were on our way to McDonald's for dinner actually, I get a phone call. Frank, who has never called me is on the other end and saying that he has bad news. I was thinking that I got some sort of crappy school thing or something that would, at most, be an annoying inconvenience. Well, I should have known better. Frank is not the kind of boss to call you at 7pm for something that isn't dire. Well, It turned out that April, who is responsible for our Visas, as well as our daily living arrangements, was cleaning out her files and noticed that my Visa was Expired!!! This is pretty big fucking news! It turns out that there was some sort of mix up: another teacher, who was staying for six months somehow got the Visa that I was supposed to get, for a year. The shitty part is that the visa had been expired for a month before anyone had noticed it! This is bad. I could have been arrested by the cops or God knows what by the Chinese government( I think the worse thing that could have happened is that I would have been deported, but still...). This was a mistake that should not have happened. Someone should have noticed it. However, one can make the argument that i should have noticed it on my visa; in fact, i sort of did. However, I must admit that all of this paperwork crap and government policy shit is mystifying to me. If you ask the office about it, they sort of tell you it's taken care of and you just go about your business of trying to adapt to foreign culture, learn how to teach and so on. But, lesson learned! If you are living in another country, know the Visa policies, the procedures, and how yours fits into that. If people pooh pooh you when you ask them questions, fucking make them explain it to you clearly! Anyhoo, the blame game is unimportant. Mistakes happen and everything worked out in the end( well, I hope it did!) April is a girl I find charming and simple mistakes like this are easy to come by. However, I hope that everyone involved learned an important lesson.

Back to Frank! So, he is telling me that I am illegal and trying to explain the situation. I am shocked, to say the least. I am walking down Ba Yi lu and all of a sudden, I am not sure what I am thinking or feeling. Frank is telling me that I have to go to Hong Kong, which is legally sort of out of the country ( it's pretty complicated, but you need a visa to enter hong kong from "mainland" china, even the Chinese do!). So essentially, I have to leave the country, get a new visa, and then reenter the country in time to teach the following Monday! This is quite different from my plans of sitting around the house, working on this blog and fighting with my girlfriend on the Im! So Frank is trying to calm me down and tells me to come to the office. I have no choice but to say yes; so Winston and I change our plans and get a bus. I call the girl and tell her, and she is much calmer than i am... so that helps. W. and I take the bus, and he is trying to calm me down. Winston is one of those people who will always, always see the bright side of anything. If he went to hell ( which would never happen), He would probably say, well at least it's warm and i know alot of people here! he tells me i finally get to travel and see one of the most famous cities in the world. So, i start to get excited, but I still want to keep my anger. I am worried about money, my safety, and the logistics of it. I am not the best at getting around and I am horrible with time schedules, paperwork, and other official things. Plus, while I am very competent in Dalian, that is because i had people like Ed and April to help me during those difficult first couple of weeks when you don't know anything and have no base knowledge of any thing to build upon. So, at this point, I am excited and terrified at the same time. We get to the office and April is there. She looks like a dog that someone beat... and I feel bad. I wanted to keep my anger, because I needed the company to take responsibility for this and not try to place the blame and responsibility on me ( not an uncommon Chinese trick), but I also have made many stupid little mistakes and do not want her to get in any real trouble. So, anyway, frank takes me to a Korean Sushi place and tells me his plan. The plan is that I will fly out the next (Thursday) morning and arrive in shenghzen ( the neighboring "Chinese" city) in the afternoon, from there, a Friend of Franks, who knows no English, would pick me up and take me to the border and get me threw. I would be on my own from there, but the consolation is that most people in Hong Kong know English. I would find a hotel that evening, rest up, go to the Chinese consulate in the morning, recross the border and fly back Friday night. All of this sounded unrealistic to me, but I know shit about any of this , so i agree. Plus I have little choice. I am illegal in China. My choice is to go to Hong Kong or wait until the government notices and does what they do... So I talk to Ed, who has been to hong kong under similar circumstances, and offers alot of advice. I make sure that frank knows that I am upset, but I pretty much accept the situation and try to gear up for a crazy couple of days. My mind is full of every possible little thing that can go wrong, but, as I said, I have little choice and try to remain positive. So I go down to Bo- Bo's, a little bar in the area, have a few drinks, regroup and then head home. I pack a little and pass out, both eager and terrified of what the next day may bring!
Well, this is actually just the prelude, but I will get into the rest of it tomorrow or Wednesday. i am tired from teaching. Be sure to check back soon, as this was a pretty interesting journey!

[interlude--picturesfromEnglishCorner]

{ click on the photos to see much bigger, clearer, and more detailed version. trust me, its much better }

As we do every Sunday, today Winston and I went to the English Corner. Since I have talked about it quite a bit on here, I thought It would be good to show some photos. Since my Tofu sent me a old camera, I will be posting more pictures on this thing. I am too tired to get into hong kong, but I will in the next few days. The Chinese come here to practice their english and meet people from other cultures. Most of them speak very good English. Here's a good look at some very cool, intelligent Chinese people that I call friends. Hong Kong is next

This is W and Bruno. Bruno actually looks like a Bruno, but is a very nice, intellectually curious man.


This Three year old could say her English name and some short basic sentences ( in English)! Sometimes, the small ones are drawn to me. I don't know why!


This man Jeff is an amazingly kind person who has helped me out with some things. He is a proffessor of Chinese. The boy is LJ, a regular of mine.

Three of My girls ( I can't remember her name but she is very nice, Fairy, and Aimee). I am always surrounded by girls this age, which for the life of me I can't figure out why!

A cool building near Zhongshan square, where we hold the corne

Bulinda( that's how she insists it's spelled--sometimes she's Heidi). This girl is very dramatic and a unique personality...She is also very funny.

Another very small child who could speak some English

The crowds can get quite big sometimes. Can you find Winston?( hint, hes the black guy with the wild 'Fro)

Frank, who has very cool ass gloves!


Mr. Hans and his son, Little Hans. Mr. Hans is one of the coolest, most intelligent men I have ever met. His son is also very smart and nice.

This girl has great english also...

Some of my kids who flock around me at the corner...


Grandma and Aimee. Grandma is sort of the Grandma of the entire corner, she looks out for everyone, especially us American ( she sewed up a hole in my hoody today). She doesn't speak English, but I can usually communicate with her. She is tough as nails but very, very kind.

Micheal, a very kind and good friend of ours who had his first hamburger with W, Miles, and I!

Another shot of Fairy...

Yeah, Belinda is spunky!

Winton 's adorable and nice girlfriend, Maria

The indomitable Bulinda again

Julie, one of my regulars, a 2nd grader who always asks me " do you like banana?" The answer is always yes...

Calmperiodbeforethe"typhoon"

[ note--- I began to write this about 3 and a half weeks ago, the day before I was informed that I would have to go to Hong Kong due to Visa Issues. So I will just post this, and in the next few days catch up with Hong kong and the last few weeks. Just bear in mine that i had no clue what was coming my way when i wrote this. Life is like that...]

Ok, after last weeks five long entries, I will cut down to once or twice a week, a pace which I hopefully will keep up after school starts. Speaking of which, I start back next week on Monday. I am a little nervous, teaching a classroom full of students a language that is foreign to them( and you know very little of their language) can be a bit intimidating. And also, dealing with such things like behaviours, lesson plans, and sometimes homework is difficult enough without the cultural barrier... Also, we teach 26 classes a week, and it really be a bit of a grind. That being said, I like to think of last semester as my student teaching period. The is semester will also be much about learning, but at least I know what I will be getting myself into. I felt sort of pushed in without much support last time, this time; I know how to handle certain situations and am better equipped to do what i think is best for the kids. That being said, teaching is a constant learning experience. I do think it's a great way to get to know a foreign culture, you are part of the society, You learn many of its rules, and you get a good feeling for what the people are like. We are supposed to go get our books and schedules on Thursday, so I can see what i have to plan for. I will continue with my Public school classes, I assume, but I will move from the Private school. That is fine with me, I work better with the younger children and most (although not all) of the Private school kids are difficult to teach and have more behaviour problems ( most of them are spoiled). This means I Will have to re-introduce myself to over half of my classes and that will be both fun and challenging. However, I think i have the public system down somewhat, so I think it will be a easier and more fruitful semester than the last. Yipin also has given me a ton of material related to teaching that I think will help me improve my approach and philosophy. She's a diligent and selfless little researcher!

On Sunday, i did what i did almost every sunday, I went to English corner. I still enjoy this chance to interact with the Chinese very much. Since its been pretty cold here( think what most of the northeast is like and lesson it a little bit-- well, we have had very little snow), we have been conducting the corner in the food court of a huge shopping center called "the New World"."Chinese shopping centers are very similar to those in the US, except some different things. At least I think so, I have at least one American friend who thinks they are very different, but i relay don't see many differences (except they have Chinese targeted products and they are filled with Chinese people, of course!) One thing that is apparent in China, they love brand names. You see Nike , Puma, adidas, everywhere. Of course, there are also many counterfeits everywhere, but some of the counterfeits are so well made that they are as good as the originals.! Anyhoo, I like the New World, but i miss the open air venue of Jongshan Square. Only the hard core English Corner types know about the New world, so you get to know them better. But you miss the random and more varied element that tends to crop in the park, you never know what is going to happen. Hopefully, we can move back there soon.

Since this is my last full week off for a while, I have tried to get out a little more and see this city! On Monday, Winston and I met our former fellow teacher ( and also fellow Mon-Valley Native, if you can believe that, he is from Monongahela Pa!) Miles. Miles has recently changed companies, but we still hang out with him periodically. We did some shopping around downtown Dalian: Winston drug me through what seemed every sports store in China looking for sweat pants. I bought a Cheap MP3 player which will hopefully make my bus rides more bearable. We also went to a arcade in Victory mall. We then headed up to San Ba square to a restaurant which we like very much; Winston Swears they have the best Kung pow chicken in china.

On Tuesday, we took the Light rail train to its last stop. This is something that Winston has been wanting to do and I figured what the hell. So we got on at Downtown, which was crowded. The amazing part of riding the light rail is that you see how big this city is. We rode for almost an hour and still where technically in Dalian. Chinese cities, due to the massive population, are very large( bear in mind that Dalian is also considered a small city here!) All along the light rail track, you can see places where they are building new buildings. In some places, you can actually watch new communities being built and then populated. This city is still growing at a amazing rate. Also you can see some very old buildings and communities and you still see people digging for crabs or washing their clothes in a pond. China really is a mixture of Modern and Traditional at this point. You can see ancient fishing boats made of wood, but cell phones, Ipods and up to date cars are also everywhere. It gives you the impression that china is not without time, but encompasses all times. Anyhoo, we rode the light rail to its last stop. Out there was a very cool looking amusement part and a pretty cool beach. I love the Ocean and love living somewhere so close to the ocean. This beach had very interesting cliffs and rocks and such, and even a little sort of island that you can walk out on( although , when we tried, we got shooed away from some douchebag that I think was trying to harvest clams). Anyway, We stayed out there for awhile, then hopped back on the lightrail to go back home. It was a good day, I like when china presents more of its varied elements to me. I think i dig the fact that china is Moderen, "primitive", ancient, and advanced all at the same time. Let me tell you something; Americans who read a few things on china really have no clue what it is like. Part of its charm is that its a place full or parodoxes. For any one element, there is a conflicting one, and they form a small link in a huge chain of interdependent element. I don't think I will fully be able to understand the complete picture, but I do know you have to be here to have even a inkling of what its really like.

[ then Wednesday, My boss called at at around 7pm and told me I had to fly to hong kong the next day... we will pick up right at this point during the next entry, which should be up in the next day or few]

TheBalladofCrazyLiu

[thankfully I have not photos of crazy liu, as he is not appealing to the eyes]

So... I have been posting tons of stuff to make up for the fact that I did not post for a long time. There are a total of five new entries up, so check them out if you haven't already. And If you are new to this blog, make sure to go back and read the long winded, hard to follow, and mostly inane stuff that I have posted since late August. It turns out that I have another week off ( I am fine with money; I make enough to get by during the break), so I am looking forward to another week of just getting caught up with shit and ready for the coming semester. After this post, I will post once or twice a week. A word of warning, this post is a bit darker then the majority of them.

My experiences in China would not be complete without some Crazy liu stories. We met liu a few months ago while waiting for the bus. He just came up and started talking; his English isn't that bad, but has holes in it. Now, from the moment I met Liu, i had a funny vibe. Given my past, and the sort of characters that I have met in my life, I seem to have developed a "spider sense" when someone may be not good to hang around with. But in China, a foreign culture with people who act in ways you may not fully understand, its hard to know when to follow that sort of impulse. However , i have learned that lesson. Anyway, Liu was very friendly but there did seem to be something off about him,, nothing i could really put my finger on. The fact that two Chinese people came up to us while we talking to him should have been a clue! ?That doesn't happen often! They just came up out of the blue, a middle age teacher and a younger student guy, looked at Liu sideways, and left when we said we ok.But if your American, its very normal for someone to just talking to you on the street. They might be curious or just want to practice their English. The vast majority of them have turned out to be very nice people; well , all but one. Anyhoo, Liu got on the bus we were getting on, the dreaded 501 that I hate so much, and i kind of got sick of talking to him ( he really doesn't listen to everything you say and talks over you, and then says," I don't know your words"while you are still trying to explain something to him). I mentioned to winston that i got a weird vibe off of liu, but Winston's strength and weakness is that he tries to see the good in everyone. i even named liu "crazy liu"" right off, becuase he seemed different than the other chinese, which turned out to be foreshadowig. I now know to trust my "spider sense". I guess I gave Liu my phone number ( this is not uncommon, i have given my phone number to tons of Chinese, most who have never called me), and that was that.

Now, in the following , I am going to get the actual events and days and such confused, I am sure, but the gist of what happened is true. About a week later, liu called me and said he wanted to go to the English corner. I said sure. It turns out he live about two blocks away from me! So we made plans to go, but when the time comes, he doesn't not show up. A few days later, he calls and says he wants to take Winston and me to dinner. Again, this is not uncommon; I have had many dinners with Chinese people who want to befriend and talk to me. So we go to a local place on Ba Yi Lu, cheap but good. Liu orders a good amount of food for W. and I but does not eat. He drinks. i also have a few beers. liu stats to act strange after one beer, which we thought was funny. He starts singing ballads; one of the funniest things about the chinese is that they really love soft rock. So you get a guy who thinks he is manly, but he will be singing richard marx or something like that. Liu kept singing "can you feel the love tonight" the way a redneck will sing Tuesday's gone or some college kid will sing dave matthews. Anyway, he really didn't act like a normal chinese person. Yeah, getting drunk fast is normal, and singing is a bit accepted, but Liu just seemed to stand out. Some real manly middle age guys actually told him to pipe down with the singing (it was starting to get annoying). After about three beers, he was pretty drunk. He was pretend fondling winston as a joke( which was funny), he called Winston a boy because he does not drink and smoke( which actually happens alot; the chinese love winston, but many of them make it their mission to get him to drink). He won't though, and I admire his sticking to his values)he offered to have sex with me for 100 yuan ( a joke, i was hoping!), and told us about his life and such. Essentially, he reminded me of alot of people i knew back home. He feels that he does not fit in with the chinese. He is generally creative and funny. he is smart(BUT NOT AS SMART AS HE THINKS HE IS) but not disciplined enough to get fully educated. He is supposed to be a wiz at chinese( think like english as a subject and not a language) and japanese, but struggles with english. He went to university but dropped out. In short, he was not that different than i was at his age( 24). And he could be really fucking funny. He had a girlfriend, but he said he didn't like her because she was fat and ugly... but she was the only girl who liked him. In other words, he was a lost soul, and since i have been one myself and am fond of many such people, we did bond.
Any after that night, Liu started calling alot. he would usually just want to hang out, but then it would turn into drinking. I was pretty burned out from teaching and maybe the stress of adjusting to a new life, so i would usually go along with him. He lost his job after that night at the restaurant due to his boss getting sick of him being drunk and or hung over. I would resist him in the beginning, but began to hang out wit him more and more. Since he had lost his job, i would offer to pay for dinner and drinks usually. We would go to very small places that had food and beer and usually are very cheap. Although bars are very common here, most chinese prefer to go to restaurant , drink while eating, and then stay and get loaded! It is not uncommon to be in a restaurant and have a table of about four Chinese men that have about 20 to 30 bottles sitting on their table. Winston says that he is always seeing groups of them stumbling out of places in to cabs. its a pretty common thing. And, while i plan to address this in a later post, our image of the average chinese man is wrong. The average middle age dude is fairly big physically, tough looking, and loves to drink and be manly for the ladies! Anyhoo, liu did teach me that its better to drink at restaurants then at bars.
At first, he would put up a fuss about me paying, but as time went on, he began to get braver. It would start out with going to place and saying that he had no money, then he would add things onto the bill without asking me or winston for money. I would get pissed off and bitch at him, and he would say it was a mistake or some shit, but then he would do it again the next time. a few time, i got stuck with his bill from previous occasions. At this point, He was seriously pissing me off. We had been warned about chinese users , but i still feel that liu generally is a good person, but he has serious problems. I began to get the feeling that you get when someone is about to go down real hard, and many of you know enough people that have to understand what i mean. I think i kept hanging around liu becuase, even though he was using me and I knew it, he reminded me so much of myself at certain points in my life. He has a good soul, but no idea how to live. The difference between us is that when i go down, i try my best not to take anyone with me. Liu, on the other hand, will grab as many hands as he can and hold on as he sinks down.

There were many little fucked up instances in a short period of time that i don''t want to get into, but i knew i was going to have to cut him off at some point. he just didn't get that he was going down a bad path. I think having American friends who he thought were rich made him cocky. He was on the path down before he met us, but he got worse as he hung around us. He had many Enemies in the neighborhood ( one of the DvD street vendors hated him becuase he borrowed porn that he never returned!) because he had fucked over someone with money or such. He is a very nice, charming guy, but he doesn't have certain values when it comes to fucking someone over. It was all small shit, but it was alot of small shit. Anyway, He was was always trying to get me to drink and started to ask both of us for money. We met his parents, who are very poor and live in a very small apartment. My apartment is about twice the size of theirs and much nicer. They all sleep in one room, liu sleeps essentially on what is a very big shelf. His parents are very nice and have had hard lives. Liu, i am sure, does not make their life easier. Liu was also obsessed with women and sex. He knew every place that had prostitutes in china and changed my view of this place considerably. Prostitution is highly illegal here, but is also part of the culture. There are many places that you walk past that you would never think had them if you didn't not know, but they could be right next to a legitimate business. Its sort of interwoven with the regular society, if you are not in that world, you just walk right past it. But you can find it everywhere. I had no clue of this until i met liu.

Well this had proven to be liu's downfall. I had decided to cut him off but was having trouble doing so. i didn't not want to get into that dark world. i was curious about it, but had had my fill of dark worlds in pgh. I prefer normal china... Plus, as i said, liu gave me that feeling that you get when someone you know is using heavy drugs; they are going to go down and hard. I told Winston this, but hes so damned nice, he didn't believe me. the drinking and other things had caused serious problems with Yipin that i have already talked about. At the end, i was just yelling at liu and trying to tell him to straighten up and he would agree and then ignore me. Liu has the problem that alot of people do; he just assumes that he is smarter than everyone else. The chinese all think that they are very clever, and they are. Many of them are wicked crafty and cunning. liu really wasn't; he thought he was manipulating us, but we knew he was doing it the entire time. We just let him because we could see his good aspects. However, i was getting very sick of him.

He invited us to a restaurant to meet his friend andy. Andy is a good guy and I still see him occasionally. Liu was a complete ass; very drunk, obnoxious. I yelled at him and felt bad about it afterwards. I decided to come home and have a few drinks and invited liu. this was very stupid. Liu was so drunk, he spilled coke everywhere. he kept saying "i like the coca cola."i was sort of drunk myself, and i think i hit him a few times because he was so fucked up and insisted on sneaking coke and rum and then spilling it everywhere. eventually, he passed out on my floor. The next day, i woke up and he was at my computer, listening to chinese music and eating tons of my food. I had already decided to cut him off for good, so I threw him out of my house physically! He called my many times that day, but i told him to fuck off. He called winston. I told winston to hang up on him, but winston is too nice. Anyway, Yipin doesn't believe me, but I was done with that fucker from that point on.

So the next morning, Winston calls me. He said that liu had called him and was in a bathouse in ba yi lu. he owed them 25 yuan and they would not let him out until he left. I told winston to let him rot, but winston went down anyway. I told wisnton that he had only insured that liu would do the same thing again. Anyway, the next day, Winson left with his girlfriend maria to go travelling. I started tutoring that morning. On the way to work, i got two phone calls from liu, i just answered fuck off and hung up! then Winston call me while Ed and I were having breakfast. he was on the train and liu had called him from a bathouse again; most bathouses are legitimate places that are enjoyed by all of the chinese, but many of them offer prostitutes. again, its that shadow world that exists in the open. It's not there if you don't want it to be. Liu said that he owed 1200 yuan! In nearly spit out my orange juice. I think that the bathhouse girls usually charge about 200 yaun and i still have no clue what the hell liu had done to ring up such a high bill! i don't think Iwant to know! I told winston that their was no way in hell i was going to help liu and he should just not think about it and enjoy his vacation. It turns out that Liu did call wisnton again and asked him to get off the train and transfer money into his account! Maria pretty much told winston no, which is good, because i think he might have done it. Liu called me thourghout the day and i told him several times to fuck off. around the evening he called again, and I listened to him. He said that they had beat him up ,and that they were threatening his life. I almost caved but then told him that i could not help him. I was worried for him, but had a feeling he was bluffing in some manner. He said he had a credit card at home and would pay me back but of course that was bullshit. Anyway, I woke up the next morning and he called again. He again begged for help; again i told him that i could not. So he hung up. a few hours later, he called and said that he called his dad and he came and got liu. He could have done that the entire time, but he knew he would be in serious shit with his family.He was trying to be liu, do what he wanted without having to pay for it. So he was in not real danger, he just didn't want to make that phone call to his parents. His dad took him to a mental hospital directly and he was there for a month. He called while yipin was visiting and of course, she went mental on me, understandably. i have told her that i am done with him, but she is worried about me. nothing to worry about, lesson learned. The funny thing is that he has not called since that weekend. I think that he got out of the hospital, went straight back to his old ways, got into some sort of absurd mess again and ended up in jail or the mental hospital again. I just can't see him not calling me and winston so abruptly. Winston thinks that he is just laying low, trying to get back on track. time will tell who is right, but i know that i am!

So ends the ballad of Cray liu. its not a particuarly happy chapter in my journey, but its real life. I learned alot, especially about not slipping back into the darkness. Liu had his good points. He was a user, but if he had money, he would help out his friends. He was very funny. hearing someone say "i like Satan, Satan is good"in a very thick chinese accent is hilarious. But he , like many people i have know, could not stop the bad shit in him from overcoming him. I am lucky, i went there and came back stronger. this time I went to the border of that world, but stopped before the point of no return. It was good in the way that i feel that i have finally conquered my attraction to that world. maybe liu was neccessary in my process of self transfomation, the path of drunken dishwasher to academic that I have been on for the better part of this decade. And before any of yuu write; don't worry, i am fine. I was never in any real danger as long as i stopped it before it got to far. and while i came close, i did. It really was an educational experience. But to be honest, I prefer my normal chinese life. Being a teacher, talking to hard working chinese who actually know how to behave in public. I guess i owe liu if only for showing me that I like living in the light much better than the shadows....
please forgive my mad metaphors!
anyway, next entry, various observations. much more upbeat and postive, i hope! things are great here; don't worry about me!