Big Trouble, Little China

Sorry about the mess.

2009-09-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

I have a new roommate. I'm not exactly sure when he moved in but he seems to be making himself comfortable in my apartment. I discovered him last night when I was closing my door for the evening. A small greyish creature streaked across the floor under one of my cabinets. I was not sure exactly what the creature was it had moved so fast, I thought it was too quick to be a bug and moved in a more reptilian fashion. A lizard? Nah, never seen one of those in Baoding of all places... This morning I was preparing to leave for lunch and I met my new roommate for a second time when he jumped on my outstretched hand as I plunged it into an open drawer. I think we were both quite surprised at each other and quickly disengaged contact as I jumped about a foot off the ground and he scrurried back into my drawer under some paperwork. I quickly emptied the contents of the drawer and was luckily able to corner my gecko companion into my hands. But what should I do with him? Throw him out? How inhospitable that would be of me. Unfortunately, before I could solve my little dilemma, my new roommate had leaped out of my hands and returned to the deep recesses behind my kitchen counter. There is nothing I can do now but wait and hope that my little companion will decide to show again. This time I am ready, fully prepared with a proper living space/box for him.

Lizard news aside things in China are going along fantastically. The semester is speeding up, literally. Me and three fellow musketeers have collaborated in purchasing four small mopeds to dramatically increase our mobility here in our small Chinese corner of the world. After a very confusing day of deciphering motorized bicycles licensing laws and how they pertain to foreigners we settled on our beauteous new bikes, my own an electric blue. It is a bit faster than my previous electric bike with an easy cruising speed of 40-60 km per hour. A simple errand becomes an excuse for a little joyride and it is impossible to supress a smile when I look back and see one of my buddies in my side mirrors speeding along behind me. The honeymoon ended all too quickly unfortunately though as the 'Made in China' curse began to take its toll. A twice repaired flat tire, broken gas gauge, gas leak, oil change, missing lock, and engine stall and I am still loving riding it but definitely aware of the fragility of my new transport.

The past week has been the 60th Anniversary of the People's Republic of China. They call it National Day but I call it just plain awesome. It has been great to be able to take an extended break after the first 5 weeks of teaching. I joined in with the rest of the whole country as on October 8th the National Day parade marched on all morning with much fanfare that greatly resembled the extravagance of the recent Beijing Olympics. My favorite part of the holiday though was a side trip to the Great Wall outside of Beijing. We decided to take a chance on a hint that a guidebook had offered about camping overnight on the great wall. Amazingly, we found a great 'outdoorsy' store in Baoding that let us rent tents and sleeping bags for our camping trip. I was a little nervous about the regulations that the Chinese may have about letting people camp on the wall as they are especially strict on where they let foreigners stay but thankfully our plan was pulled off without a hitch even though the gate which we entered the wall said specifically 'No Camping.' The experience was one of my favorite memories in China to date. The weather was clear and the moon was full for our night spent in a guard tower in the middle of the mountains. We drank Great Wall Wine (not as 'great' as you may think but it warmed us up at least) and ate tuna fish sandwiches by the lights of our headlamps. In the morning we were able to see the sun come up over the mountains and light up everything around us. It was the most amazing sunrise of my life, granted I have not seen that many sunrises but still, you get the idea.

Return of the Jedi

2009-09-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

I know it's not exactly a quote but it just seemed so fitting. And yes I suppose if the title is implying that anybody would be the referred to Jedi than I suppose it would be myself. Although I'm no jedi, I have been working a little magic over on the far East side of the world. I recently discovered a way to blast straight through the great firewall of China and reestablish contact with the rest of the web savvy community. All thanks to a handy little download called a VPN (I have no idea what it stands for much less how it works) and a mere $60 later...abracadabra. I now have full access to blogspot, facebook, youtube, twitter, and even (drumroll please) hulu! It really is good news to have blog access as it was a frustrating thing to have subject to the whims of the Chinese government.

Internet news aside, I returned to China on August 28th. I journeyed over once again with my IECS cohorts, including two new additions to Team Baoding. Bethany and Kerry are the newbies who will be teaching at the Hebei College of Finance and Hebei University respectively. We are still unfortunately one short as Jon has encountered some Visa problems* and will not be able to return until September 12th (*An ultrasound from a Chinese physical discovered an anomoly on his kidney which Jon got checked out in the states, nothing serious, but unfortunately had to reapply for visas all over again). Summer life has altered to school life in a tornado like fashion here in Baoding as I stepped off a plane on Friday night and into the classroom a very jet-lagged Monday morning. Luckily, I happen to be teaching the same students this semester and it was great to see so many familiar faces. Unluckily, after some failed attemps at shmoozing with the officials, I happen to be teaching the same course, a riveting Business Writing, with no new material to draw from. It will definitely be a challenge to get my now senior students engaged into the classroom this semester.

Outside the classroom it has been great to see the familiar sights and pungent smells of the city. The week has been full of catching up over meals with friends, both Chinese and foreign. It has been great to experience China anew through the fresh eyes of the new teachers. I couldn't help but smile a bit as Kerry screamed after a live fish flew out of the hands of the waiter and proceeded to flop around the room. Another of my favorite new experiences was a high class Korean Barbecue restaurant that we enjoyed with our New Zealand friends Mike and Wen Jia. The meal was stylized in a cook-it-in-front-of-you type fashion and the meat was absolutely excellent. Almost like a Japanese steakhouse but in China at a Korean restaurant, not to be confusing or anything. After our first week of classes a big group of foreigners got together to have a welcome back meal. All told I think 18 people from countries all around the world showed up and sat at a large circle table to share a Chinese meal together. It was a special thing to be able to interact with so many people who share such different cultural backgrounds than my own.

Yesterday, in front of the Yesbuy (like a convenience store...but Chinese) I met a bright eyed youth, freshly completed with his military training, who introduced himself to me as "Rubbish" and then proceeded to ask for my phone number. How could I resist? I'm sure Rubbish and I will be getting lunch and perhaps sharing a game of ping-pong quite soon. And so it goes, life is not without obstacles here just as in the rest of the world. But as our fearless leader so fervently quoted "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." Nothing out of the ordinary about it, just business as usual here in Baoding.

You've got a lot of guts comin' here, after what you pulled.

2009-06-24T06:32:00.000-07:00

Long time no see! This commonly used English phrase is actually derived from an ancient Chinese saying (which explains the lack of grammar infused within). Its common to hear these phrases or many like it thrown out but oftentimes the meaning can come out less than perfect. "People mountain, people sea," for example makes one think of bigfoot and mermaids rather than an idiom used to express the fact that there are people everywhere. "No three, no four" and "I'll give you some color to see, see," make even less sense when translated and simply leaves a confused foreigner with the feeling that some sort of joke must be being played on them...

Needless to say, a lot has happened since my last blog post. The last two months of school were a whirlwind, encompassing exciting events such as Melissa's trip to China, my travels to Xingtai (a student's hometown), multiple English Club excursions, and much much more. Unfortunately, due to my internet negligence and the great firewall of China (China banned all blogging websites for about a month and a half), these historical periods have gone unblogged and therefore have passed out of all knowledge... On a brighter note, I have added two Picasa slide shows that document some of these things for your viewing pleasure.

The last week of the Spring semester in China may have been the most social week of my life. As we were leaving on Monday the 22nd, I had to both give and grade my exams to approximately 160 overeager essay writers. Between classes, grading, and saying goodbyes to everyone I had met over the past ten months, things got a bit hectic. Despite the busyness, it was a great time to be able to have some deeper conversations with students. This semester has been blessed with tons of great times with students and it has been amazing to see the progression of our team's relationships with so many of the people here.

With that said, it was really not too hard to leave my home of the past school year. I know quite well that it will be right there waiting for me once my brief stint in America ends in about two months. I am looking forward to a summer full of reconnecting with friends and family who I have missed so much more than those little things like driving, movie theatres, and even Panera. Thank you so much for supporting me during my time abroad and I hope you will continue to tune in next year. Hope to see you soon!

But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!

2009-04-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

An inevitable question that I get when first meeting a new students is, "What is the difference between Americans and Chinese people?" Usually, I give a very cookie-cutter answer about something such as college life, study habits, or work ethic but the truth is that the differences are so vast and complete that a true collection of my reflections on the subject would require volumes of discussion.

During this new semester I have had the chance to spend even more time with students and friends than in the previous one. Amid this flurry of eating at restaurants, sipping on tea, gaming at internet bars, and just general "hanging out," I feel that I have gleaned even more insight into the clashing of my culture with that of the Chinese. Take the other night for example. The Baoding team was out to dinner with some new students and Ryan's camera batteries had run out. Upon realizing this, a student quietly commandeered the batteries, went into the bathroom, and came out a short while later with some severely disfigured remains of the original batteries. When questioned as to what exactly happened to alter the shape of the empty batteries, he calmly replied that of course he had bitten them so that they would last longer. The other Chinese students at the table accepted this as a general fact while the rest of us were unsurprisingly quite shocked. Not only would we never consider putting a battery in our mouth's but biting a metallic entity that contains acid was frankly beyond the scope of our imagination. I turned to my student (coincidentally also named Tim) and further questioned him about the risks involved in "battery-biting." He replied seriously that one must not bite the batteries in excess of three times or risk bursting open the dangerous interior contents. Judging by the seriousness of his remark I asked him whether this was an action that he regurlarly took with his own batteries. With joy he told me that when he was younger he used to read under his bedsheets with a flashlight so that his mother wouldn't realize he was still awake (this resonated with me for obvious reasons). Oftentimes his batteries would run out and of course he could not simply stop reading at an exciting point in the story so he would engage in "battery-biting" in order to continue his nightly ritual. Amazing.

Last week we went out to celebrate my friend Scofield's 22nd birthday. Consequently it was actually his 21st birthday if you aren't counting by the lunar calendar (don't ask me to explain that one, still trying to wrap my mind around the concept). From what little I can grasp of the subject, Chinese people count the year prior to their birth (stretching conception from 9 months to a full year??) as their first year of life. Therefore, my friend Scofield who was born in 1988 is turning 22 in 2009 in some way due to the lunar calendar reckoning. Go figure. We went out to our favorite dumpling restaurant, lovingly called The Golden Dumpling. in China, the birthday-person always treats his/her guests to dinner as opposed to being treated themselves. Not only this, but they also ridiculously overcalculate the amount of food required to feed the amount of people present in order to show their generosity to their friends. A delightful idea but also one that ends with yours truly feeling sick from overstuffing myself with far too many dumplings for this little doughboy to handle. The evening really was perfect though and one of the many times where I am just so thankful to be in such an amazing place as this. We got to see "happy birthday" in English and Chinese and they even had an electronic candle that blossomed in the shape of a flower when lit, playing a happy birthday melody for us to sing in unison to. Consequently, the cute flower got on my bad side when the melody would not cease playing for the next 30 minutes until its small battery was playing a garbled mockery of the song itself into nothingness.

I could tell a hundred stories about these funny side notes that happen in daily life here. It has been a fun and growing experience to learn to adapt to the differences that arise from interacting with people who come from an entirely different culture from your own. I relish the opportunity to be an encouraging and uplifting influence on the lives of the people I interact with here and ask for your thoughts as I continue to live life to the full with my exponentially growing amount of friends here!

Great, kid. Don't get cocky!

2009-03-09T03:08:00.000-07:00

"You work too hard." That's one of a handful of phrases that I keep in my pocket, reserved for any kind of situation where I can get a few giggles from an unsuspecting Chinese person. Other phrases that I have picked of for the same effect include but are not limited to: "My name is Bruce Lee", "I'm so full I'm going to explode", "I want to eat fried ice cream" (only works in the winter), and "Robot."

While its great to know some fun phrases, my desire to learn Chinese has grown further than just being able to get by. My current knowledge allows me to get around relatively easily and to handle almost all of the day to day challenges like shopping, finding things, and eating out. But when it comes to getting past the initial 3 or 4 questions after meeting someone my knowledge becomes severely limited. On top of this I can read only a tiny bit and cannot write at all. To me it seems like the entire country is playing a big game of pictionary rather that using an actual written language. What I really desire is to be able to interact with people who don't speak English on a deeper level and to experience and understand the culture more clearly. It's for this reason that I have decided to make learning Chinese this semester a higher priority.

With these clear visions in my head I got up early and went to my first Chinese class at 8a.m. last Monday! I was determined to start this semester out on the right foot, setting up good habits to follow throughout the rest of the year. Unfortunately, the Chinese class was starting this week and I had showed up a week to early to a building of empty classrooms, much to my dismay. However, my resolve was not to be deterred and I managed to crawl out of bed early again this morning and attend my first Chinese class, the real thing this time. As I peeked into my classroom the first thing I noticed was that once again there was nobody else there. This is even more strange in China when its common for students to show up as much as 30 minutes before class. Unlike the last week though, the other classrooms all had people in them but they were for the higher level students. With a little hesitation I went ahead and took a seat, determined not to be discouraged by this somewhat surprising outcome. As it turned out, not too many students were taking the first level Chinese course this semester and by the time 8 a.m. rolled around only 4 students were seated in the class. The group was comprised of myself, an older New Zealand gentleman whose Chinese was way worse than my own (that bad), a younger Asian student from one of the -stan countries (Uzbekistan?), and a Russian girl named Kyashavenka (yeah, you try saying it). Needless to say it was with a strange combination of awkward interactions and poignant silences that we awaited the arrival of our teacher. And wait we did. After close to 25 minutes of waiting, a young woman arrived and between breaths told us in broken English that the other teacher was either: A. Having a baby or B. Watching his wife have a baby. A big mistake among Chinese speakers when talking in English is confusing he/she, this makes for some disconcerting dialogue. After these minor hiccups the rest of the class went off beautifully. It was a welcome change to have my teacher position suddenly reversed again to that of a student and I really enjoyed learning Chinese in a more formal setting as opposed to just repeating things I pick up from people.

The best way I can describe the start of this semester over the past two weeks is busy, busy, busy. Going from almost two months of zero responsibilities to a full teaching workload and campuses crawling with students has resulted in a (expectedly) drastic change in lifestyle. I have all new students this time around and have made some big changes to the courses I am teaching which have required a heavy amount of planning in these beginning weeks. The Baoding team and I have also begun to coordinate having English Club events on both schools campuses once a month. These English nights are full of songs, games, skits, and end in a lecture about a topic of some interest to the students. Our first one of the semester occurred last Friday at Jon and Ryan's Financial College and it was a blast. A few of my favorite moments were:
1. Singing "Country Road," an obscure favorite among the entire country of China.
2. Dressing up like a Kung Fu master named the Magic Master Magical Master of Magic.
3. Hiding my head under a box to scare unsuspecting students in a game of "Name that thing!"

The night really was a fantastic success that all of us were honored to be apart of. It feels wonderful to be able to host events for people are as fun and grateful as our students. When we told them that we would be holding another English night the following month, their excitement was almost palpable. I am excited to hold the same event next week for the students at the campus of Hebei University.

This semester is looking to be full of promise. Though last semester was more of a learning experience than the current one will be, I have lived in China long enough to know that one must always expect the unexpected here. One can only be so comfortable on the other side of the world (and in a place that calls sitting toilets "western").

Didn't we just leave this party?

2009-02-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

I love fireworks. If anyone had ever asked me how many fireworks are too many? I would've undoubtedly replied that, of course, there is no such thing as too many fireworks. I would've been wrong. In America we value the beauty and visual effects of the fireworks. The sparkles, the changing colors, the shapes and sizes. The Chinese firework decide to bypass such silly fanfare and go for a different sense altogether, sound. It doesn't matter if its pretty as long as it pierces/splits your eardrums. Yesterday was the end of the two week long Spring Festival which welcomes the Chinese New Year. The ending day is called the Lantern Festival but a more appropriate name would've been the Day of the Endless Firecracker. From dawn to far past dusk our home city of Baoding was transformed into a pyrotechnic warzone. The craziest part about it is that there are rarely any main shows put on by any kind of organization. There are no carefully planned displays for people to show up and watch. Instead, every Chinese seems bent on contributing their own personal effort to the chaotic orchestra of sound. We quickly became very wary foreigners as any street corner could be transformed into bombshell of fire and sound almost instantaneously.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I and my 4 fellow Baoding teacher counterparts just returned from a nearly three week trip to southern China. Our travels consisted of three main destinations. The first was the westernized Chinese city of Shenzhen. This city is described as the birthplace of western society's entry into China and it shows. Shenzhen proved to be a large bustling city with a healthy mix of business and pleasure. While the main focus of our stay was attending our IECS conference we had a chance to enjoy some of Shenzhen's attractions including the beach, delicious southern style food, and even a small Chinese theme park! The conference was a chance to enjoy some much coveted fellowship time with all the other American teachers from Langfang and Tianjin. It was an awesome time to be gain a respite from the frigid north and be able to experience some teaching and wisdom from our superior officers.

After a week in Shenzhen we parted ways with many of our friends and departed for the southernmost part of China in the province of Hainan. Hainan used to be known throughout China as the "Hell's doorstep" but now is much more commonly referred to as the "Hawaii of China." I tend to agree more with the latter description. Evidently Hainan used to be a place where China's criminals and riff-raff were exiled to a slow hot demise. However, in the past few decades the island has been hastily converted into a booming haven of seaside resorts for China's growing middle class. Our destination was the southwestern city of Sanya where there was a host of beaches at our fingertips. We found an excellent and very modestly priced hostel (about $20 a night and that was the boosted holiday price) with a single room consisting of six beds and a small attached bathroom. It wasn't the Ritz Carlton but it suited us just fine as we spent little time besides sleeping in the room anyway. The hostel is run by a jokester named Peter "Funny" and his name is aptly chosen. His escapades throughout the week constantly amused us and included but were not limited to lighting Chinese lanterns into the sky with socks drenched in motor oil, repeatedly entreating us to try a scary seedlike drug that he claimed would provide a calm and soothing effect (uh huh), and encouraging the guests to pet a taciturn dog that only bites people "gently." Besides our enjoyable hostel experiences I took to the beach as much as possible. We were lucky enough to have perfect beach weather as the temperatures frequently reached the mid to high 70's during the heat of the day. The beaches were busy but not too crowded and turned out to be every bit as beautiful as we had anticipated with picturesque white sand and sparkling blue water. Unsurprisingly, I was often found half buried in the sand and fully buried in a book (Fyodor Dostoevsky's, The Idiot was my weapon of choice for the week). I would be remiss to not mention one of the crown jewels of the trip was a small restaurant we found nearby humbly called Rainbow Bar & Grill. The menu and quality closely resembled that of a Chili's back in the states and while this may not sound quite impressive to all you idlers back at home it was a little slice of paradise for my 5 month rice infused pallet. Honestly, it was a bit of a struggle not to eat there every night but we did force ourselves (or maybe I was forced...) into trying other cuisines that the island had to offer. After a week of island adventures we sadly embarked on our last leg of the journey.

While we were loath to leave Sanya's sunny beaches, I was eagerly anticipating our final destination of Hong Kong. Our only real business to take care of during our three day visit to this international city included the renewing of our 180 day visas into full working visas complemented by our very own foreign experts card. The rest of our stay was free for sightseeing and shopping (and by shopping I really mean window-shopping). While this was the goal of our comrades, Jon and I both harbored a deeper secret mission that fueled us both. We shared a burning desire to buy a real Hong Kong style Mahjong set. To offer a bit of backstory here, I must confess that during our winter break from teaching I have become more and more engrossed into this famous Chinese game. While I have described the game a small amount in a previous post I believe I have failed to capture the true greatness of this game. It is a game of nearly limitless possibilities that can engross both heart and soul. It is for this reason that both Jon and I wanted to find a set to satisfy our hearts desire and have a Hong Kong Mahjong set of our very own. Finding a set proved a little more difficult task than we envisioned as this is not a popular thing for many foreigners to buy. The shops that sold Mahjong were not in the malls or beautifully decorated high end stores but turned out to be just a handful of small street side stands that were tailored to Mahjong and a few other random Chinese games. In the end, our journey turned out to be a circular one as the best bargain we found turned out to be the first of some four or five stores that we labored to locate. The prize was well worth the paltry price as Jon and I are both well pleased with our precious purchases. But I digress, Hong Kong was more than just a few Mahjong tiles. It was truly an international experience and the only time in China where I have not felt completely like a foreigner. The main language of the city is English with a mix of the southern Chinese dialect called Cantonese. We traveled all over the city marked by it's excessively tall buildings by means of bus, subway, and ferry. Every night at 8 o'clock in Hong Kong there is a light show put on by the enormous skyscrapers that fence the coastline between the island and the mainland. We traveled up to the island's mountain peak and received a bird's eye view of the beautiful illuminated skyline. With all too much quickness our quick stay in Hong Kong had evaporated and we again found ourselves taking to the skies and returning to Baoding just before the end of the 2 week long Spring Festival.

The very second we alighted from our plane we were greeted by the sharp northern chill. I thoroughly enjoyed our southern sojourn but I am glad to be back in our Chinese home town, anticipating the return of our college friends and the beginning of the year of the ox!

It's all a bunch of simple tricks and nonsense.

2009-01-18T09:10:00.000-08:00

Winter break has become a field day of new experiences for me and my American co-workers. With exams finished the campus has become a ghost town and our list of things to do has gone further negative than the temperature here(in degrees celsius that is, who still uses fahrenheit anyways?). The weather has reached a new level of coldness and my beach-trained body has repeatedly groaned in protest to its harsh new surroundings. One who is well-versed in my history might argue, "But Tim, didn't you go to college in Harrisonburg VA, right along the blue ridge mountains? Wasn't it cold there too?" An excellent point to with I have given some thought and to which I already have 2 counter points prepared.
1. It was indeed not as cold in Harrisonburg as in Baoding (which can be more aptly compared to a Massachusetts demographic)
2. In America, when cold weather struck my likely response included, staying indoors and turning up the heat and only experiencing the actual "outside" weather on the minute or less walk to and from my vehichle equipped with an easily heated interior. I find myself in quite a different situation in China. There is simply no getting around the weather here. If it is cold outside one day, I know that I will be doing a good amount of walking, biking, bussing, or taxiing (at best) in the middle of that cold weather. Luckily, I have been saved from a frozen demise by the ingenious invention of long underwear which I rarely leave my apartment without these days.

The cold isn't all bad though. Last week we discovered a frozen lake complete with ice skaters! Anxious to partake, a group of us walked over to admire the skaters. We soon discovered an even more exciting activity that is slightly less known than its skating counterpart. Ice chairing! It's a hybrid mix between skating and skiing while sitting comfortably in an iron chair. With a small set of oversized chopsticks you can propel yourself at mindnumbing speeds across the ice until the memory of feeling in your fingers has departed completely. We quickly took to activity and began to create all kinds of games such as relay races, congo lines, and propelling each other into various fences, innocent bystanders, etc. The evening was made complete with the rare treat of ordering some pizza and watching Roman Holiday.

Besides our outdoor excursions we have taken to playing all kinds of games to occupy our indoor times. While card games have been fun (specifically Dutch Blitz) our new favorite passtime has been the ancient Chinese game mahjong! Mahjong has been described as a strange combination of poker and rummy with a lot of strange Chinese rules (and dragons) thrown into the mix. It basically comes down to trying to maximize your points through the various tiles (like cards) that you hold through matching or making straights. While confusing at times, I have really begun to take to it and even am beginning to prefer it over poker due to the multitude of strategies that open up to holding a hand of 13 tiles.

Our mahjong playing will be discontinued for the next few weeks as tomorrow we leave for southern China. Our team will be meeting up with the rest of the IECS crew in Beijing and flying down to Shenzhen for a week long staff conference. It is going to be an awesome time of fellowship with the rest of the teachers and I cannot wait put my sandals back on and experience the warm weather of the south! After the first week, some of us will continue our travels and proceed to the most southern point of China in the Hainan province. Our destination is the city of Sanya which can be compared to basically the Hawaii of China. After another week there we will be spending a few delightful days in Hong Kong renewing our visas before returning back to Baoding before the new semester starts. With any luck I will be significantly tanner in any impending pictures you see of me!

Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?

2009-01-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

I must apologize to my diligent blog-followers for the past few weeks of empty updates. My only excuse lies in the fact that the past couple of weeks have been full of some of the busiest times since our entry into the East. My Christmas was, as expected, an unforgettable one. The week leading up to Christmas was full of holiday lectures, showings of Home Alone (much to the glee of many students) and an excellent Christmas party. Team Boading invited about 15 of our closest friends, teachers and students, to celebrate the season. We prepared like true Americans, bringing iced cookies, hot chocolate, and a Christmas tree with decorations. The only thing we were missing was a nativity set so we decided to further embody the Christmas story by putting on a small Christmas pageant ourselves! Jon and Emily took on the roles of Mary and Joseph, Amelia the angel of the Lord, Cameron a wise man (from the East!), myself a lowly shepherd, and Ryan the story's narrator. Although our costumes were not exactly Broadway quality, our acting spirits arose to the challenge and put on a comedic performance of the Christmas story, much to the amusement of our Chinese friends. After the play we led the group in the singing of Hark! the Herald Angel's Sing and Silent Night. Finally we attached the crowning jewel of any Christmas party with an intense game of Yankee Swap (greed, dirty santa, white elephant, etc.). All in all it was a great time to introduce our friends to some brand new Christmas traditions.

On Christmas day the whole of our IECS team traveled from their homes of Langfang and Tianjin to stay with us for three days in Baoding. As traveling in China is not the most easy (or comfortable) experience, we have only gotten to be with our other American friends on a brief handful of occasions. Therefore, it was an extra special Christmas gift to be able to spend three days with our other teammates. On Christmas night we ate a fantastic meal of western foods that was possibly the greatest gift of the day. I would not describe myself as a food conosseur in the least, but being without familiar foods for three and half months has made me realize how much I do cherish the foods I love. Among the delicacies that were provided included, ranch dressing, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, and cappucino brownies, Afterwards we revealed a long awaited (and much guessed at) time of Secret Santa.

After three days full of touring, games, meals, and KTV (of course) we bid adieu to our friends as they departed for their perspective homes. Then it was back to business with three long days full of finishing up classes. While half of my classes were Oral English and did not require exams, the other half of my Business Writing classes demanded a final worth 70% of their grade. It was interesting to reflect on the fact that a mere year ago I had been preparing for my own final exams in college while now I found the tables turned as I prepared to hand out a final to my students here. After going through both sides of the experience I can soundly say that I preferred the latter (experience) by far to the former. I must admit that some part of me really liked making up my own exam. After analyzing patterns of multiple choice questions for years and years...ABAABCABBC - (this one's gotta be a D!), I relished the opportunity to come up with an obscure code of randomness to the pattern of my own multiple choice questions. The exercise was not all fun and games however as it proved a delicate process to judge what would be a good balance of difficulty for my Chinese students. I believe that I managed well considering it was my first exam creating experience and am pleased (so far) with the spread of grades and quite glad that they didn't all ace my test. New pictures soon to follow...

I have you now!

2008-12-15T03:49:00.001-08:00

Sheng dan kuai le! Try saying that ten times fast. Though wishing a seasons greeting in Chinese certainly has its own charm, I think I'm going to stick with the good old fashioned Merry Christmas. And the season continues to be a merry one in out little corner of northern China. It seems that all the Chinese people are hugely curious of discovering more about Christmas from all the Americans. Although there are a lot of decorations, santa hats, trees, and strange tasting "gingerbread" houses, the holiday turns out to be a little on the hollow side for most Chinese. Like getting all dresssed up to go for a big date with nowhere to go, Christmas here seems to be all for show.

Last week we were invited to an English Corner on one of the campuses of Hebei University to discuss what Christmas is all about. It was an awesome opportunity to discuss the roots of the Christmas holiday and get past a lot of the fluff that they see in American movies (their fount of knowledge for most foreign subjects). We had a great time reading parts of the Christmas story from the books Matthew and Luke while Chinese students read aloud with us. There were a few tricky parts to explain, i.e. virgin birth and Herod did what to all the babies??, but overall they grasped the main themes quickly. Following some questions we talked about singing Christmas carols and lead the students in "Silent Night" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."

The Christmas madness didn't end there as the next Friday Jon and Ryan organized a movie night at their college in order to show "It's a Wonderful Life." We were worried that not many students would be able to attend as we had given them only short notice in the form of 12 text messages to Jon's students saying "Movie Night! Bring your friends!" I should've realized by now that one thing China never lacks is people and we were not disappointed as the room filled up once again. Watching "It's a Wonderful Life" with my family around Christmas time has been one of my favorite holiday traditions and I truly wish they could have been there last Friday to see the reactions of the students. They adored George Bailey and the room was filled with their collective laughter at his antics as well as scowls at old man Potter. My favorite moment occurred at the end of the movie when George is about to be arrested by the police but all his friends come to give him money. The first to do so is Uncle Billy with a huge basketful of cash and as he poured it out the students in unison began to clap emphatically and cheer for him (or possibly could have been for the sight of a mountain of cash, who knows).

Watching this movie always makes me reflect on just how grateful I am for my life. Last week in classes we were talking about injuries and how to stay healthy. Through teaching this lesson, I shared stories of all the stupid ways I had injured myself in the past. The students were dumbfounded when I told them my front teeth are fake and I knocked my old teeth out while falling from my bike or when I showed them the huge scar on my arm from my snowboarding accident in high school. My favorite story to tell them was about my brother Peter, who had to get stitches twice in the same spot (and within mere months of each accident) due to a baseball bat's backswing that he caught in the face and running headlong into a wall while chasing a balzac I had thrown at him.

This upcoming week will be filled to the brim with Christmas lessons and parties. I personally cannot wait to see what it is like to play a game of white elephant (or greed or dirty santa, everyone seems to have a different name for this game) with Chinese friends!

P.S. If you're interested in coming to China but don't care about teaching, try out this fantastic new weight loss program! Evidently China is a great place to lose weight due to the drastic change in eating habits that it induces (who would've thought?).

Who's scruffy-looking?

2008-12-07T06:38:00.000-08:00

The deep Chinese chill has begun to set in but you won't find anyone hibernating here. Instead of burrowing deep into my den for the winter, I have decided to face the cold head on. My going outside gear now often includes but is not limited to: long underwear bottoms, jeans, long sleeve undershirt, sweatshirt/sweater, jacket, two pairs of socks, shoes, gloves, scarf, and hat. While this may not seem overly impressive to many of you, you must keep in mind that in years past I would often still be seen wearing sandals at this time of year. However, not even my hobbit feet could brave the great wall wind that blows down to Baoding.

Even with all these wintry wards, (can you tell I've been on an alliteration kick lately?) I have not completely managed to shut out the cold. Last Thursday was undoubtedly the coldest temperature to date. While the temperature alone would have been bearable, there was a fiercely strong wind that made the cold blow right through every layer you could stack against it. While riding my electric bike with Jon and Ryan to our weekly lunch meeting at KFC, we could not help but let out a few wild yelps at the sting. Encouraged by our mutual frostbite, we desired no longer to subdue our discomfort and proceeded to yell battle crise like savage indians the rest of way to lunch.

If bearing the cold is the price we must pay to welcome the holiday season than I am confident that we bear it gladly. Both I and the rest of team Baoding have had our spirits uplifted by the prolific signs of Christmas fast approaching. I was unsure how much Christmas time would be felt while we are in this foreign land, as both Thanksgiving and Halloween were treated as very minor affairs. It seems so far that Christmas is in a whole different league. Everywhere we go there is a jolly Santa peaking around the corner at us, a christmas tree with incredibly ridiculous ornaments, magnanimous displays of holiday lights, and even a massive gingerb read house!

It seems that the Christmas spirit has spread all over. Trips to the supermarket have been greatly enhanced through the workers all donning little Santa helper costumes. Walking down aisles that are practically bleeding tinsel while listening to a ridiculous Chinese version of "Santa Claus is coming to town" has put an abundant amount of holiday joy into my heart. I even went so far as to create a Christmas wish list powerpoint for my mom after she chided me on not being able to think of anything I would want.

In addition to my regular routine of teaching and hanging out with students, visiting the local coffee bars and dvd shops have become my regular rendevouz of choice. The coffee shops are always a great semi-warm getaway and usually pretty empty, allowing a perfect time for chatting or reading. There are always new dvd stores to discover and I was recently overjoyed to find 5 seasons of one of my favorite tv shows, Monk, on dvd for a mere $3! To top it off, last Saturday night we were invited to go bowling with one of our teaching colleagues, Sophie and her husband. It was an awesome night of relaxation and fun, not to mention that I bowled a 145 and 161 (even without my lucky bowling ball). All things considered, I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to have so many new experiences during this holiday season.

How do you get so big eating food of this kind?

2008-11-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

When I first arrived in China I stuck out like a sore thumb. Now that I have begun to grow out my beard I stick out like a sore mutated sixth finger that is not supposed to exist. Not only do I receive the normal double take and look of wonder from the everyday Chinese passerby, I am now frequented with many giggles and blatant fingerpointing towards my person. Not that I have anyone to blame but myself. When one decides to take on the task of growing out a holiday beard for oneself, one has to be prepared for the consequences; no matter how dire they may be. Lately, I have taken to telling people that all American men grow out their beards in the wintertime to keep their faces warm. Unfortunately, they rarely take my word for this and frequently cite beardless movie stars to back up their well founded skepticism.

Over the past 2 weeks I have given Thanksgiving lectures numbering in the double digits. I now know scores of miscellaneous trivia about the origins and traditions relating to Halloween and Thanksgiving. I know all kinds of useless facts about how 46 of the 102 pilgrims died in the first winter, they celebrated the first Thanksgiving in the fall of 1621, and invited the local Indians from the Wampanoag tribe to join them. While they enjoy learning these facts and especially like to see pictures of turkeys, the real fun comes when I get to tell them about what Thanksgiving is like in my family. When I tell the students that my mother comes from a family with seven brothers and sisters and my father has an additional three, their eyes open as wide as saucers and an inevitable "wahhhhhhhh" escapes in unison from all their open mouths. On a spur of the moment whim, I told my class today that it was the first time in my entire life that I would spend Thanksgiving away from my family and didn't fully realize it was true until after I had said it. I don't know if it is a bit of narcissism but part of me is repeatedly surprised that the rest of the world keeps on spinning when I'm not around. It has caused me to reflect more than usual, on this holiday dedicated to thankfulness, how truly blessed I am to have such an amazing family full of loving parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and hybrid cousin/uncle/aunts all mixed into one. I am very grateful to have a family that I truly miss seeing.

However to say that I spent a lonely Turkey Day here in China would truly be a deceptive statement. Apart from the casual "Happy Thanksgiving" wishes I have had thrown at me from friends and strangers alike, I have received a plethora of phone calls, e-mails, and text messages from Chinese friends invoking upon me their most sincere Thanksgiving cheer. One of my favorite text messages of the day went a little something like this:

I open my pocket, find no coin;
I open my purse, find no money;
I open my life, then I find you!
Then I know how rich I am! Happy Thanksgiving Day, my friend!

On top of these warm wishes I got to spend a great night of fun with my fellow IECS team members here in Baoding. We ate "American food" consisting of home-made chicken fajitas, chips & salsa, and some fresh baked cookies! While this may not sound like traditional Thanksgiving fare, I assure you that all of the above were precious commodities indeed and could not have been accomplished without a few special shipments from some thoughtful parents.

This weekend we will journey forth into previously unknown territory and visit a partner IECS team in Langfang. There we will enjoy an awesome time of fellowship witho the whole IECS band and eat some delcious food courtesy of the local team. Best wishes to all of you who are enoying more than the tofu turkeys of China.

I have a bad feeling about this.

2008-11-13T07:53:00.000-08:00

Of course nobody likes being sick. However, people handle sickness with varying amounts of dignity. Some suffer quietly and wait patiently for the illness to pass while others complain loudly in an effort to make those around them as miserable as they are. I fall into the latter category. According to my mother, of her three children I am the worst at handling affliction. Evidently I am a natural moaner. When something ails me I can't help but let out a low audible moan to convey my discomfort to whoever is within earshot. Not that this is exactly new information to me, I have always known that I have a low tolerance for pain/cold/itches/you-name-it.

Monday night went very similarly to most other nights. A little reading, a little lesson planning, and a mild change in routine where I ate some packaged noodles at the apartment instead of going out for dinner. No big deal right? I certainly thought so. I won't go into details here but lets just say I awoke during the night with a few violent reactions directly related with something (I swear it must've been those noodles!) I ate. It was a most unpleasant night of many short episodes of sleep so rudely interrupted and to top it off with an ill-timed power outage which only served to darken an already calamitous evening.

The past few days have been spent recovering fluids and attempting to eat foods that seemed entirely undesirable at the time. Throughout this experience my Chinese friends have been extremely helpful, maybe a little too helpful. In order to cancel a class I needed to let a fellow teacher know of my condition so she could pass it on to the students. This simple gesture had an avalanche effect as soon I was receiving numerous calls expressing serious concern over my status and offering help in any way possible. These expressions of aid were not only shown through calls but also through abundant text messages and surprise visits to my apartment. To be perfectly honest, there are many other times when I would have welcomed visits and calls far more amicably. I found myself annoyed at these intrusions but upon seeing the earnestness of their desire to help and sincere concern for my well-being, it was impossible to hold any kind of resentment towards them. Frequently during these communications, my friends would often offer me advice as to how I should be treating myself. I will reiterate these here.

Top 5 suggestions as to treat a Chinese illness:
1. Drink hot water (cold water? you westerners must be crazy)
2. Take Chinese medicine (I think the mentality is that American medicine will not have an effect on a Chinese illness)
3. Have a rest!
4. Put on extra clothes.
5. Go to the hospital.

In fact, almost every conversation I had was followed up by an offer to take me to a nearby hospital or doctor to get a full on diagnosis. Happily these extremes were not necessary as I am beginning to feel much better. My appetite has not fully returned and I am a little worried that my love for noodles might not be coming back anytime soon but only time will tell. All things considered, I think I bore this recent illness quite well, with only minor moaning and no one here to call me out on it! That being said, it is nothing like being sick at home with your mom to bring to you ginger ale and peanut butter crackers while she swaps out the cold washcloth on your forehead and puts in a Star Wars dvd...(sigh). I'll leave you with a text message I received that brightened my spirits while I was feeling down.

Text:
Hello.Tim my name is Jack. Jon told me that you were sinking. I am sorry to hear this remember to drink hot water and wear lots of closes. Remember that I am here my friend. Do you need docotor or hospital. I can find. I will call to check on you sooner after class.

You needn't worry about your reward. If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive.

2008-11-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

Everyone loves payday. I remember the days not so long ago, working at the Holiday Inn, when I would tear open that envelope and curse the government for how much money these mysterious "programs" like Social Security were pilfering from my paycheck. Here in China payday is way better. Not only is there no tax on my paycheck but there is no paycheck at all! Just a huge pink wad of cash plastered with Chairman Mao's face all over them.
While the pay is not quite what I earned back in the States, it is much more than sufficient for my needs here. With my excess cash I tend to buy things that although cheap, are often times superfluous or not what you would call the bare necessities. For example:

Yes, these gloves do in fact say Hero on the knuckles

Chinese twinkies and french fries/potato chip things

Slightly hazardous reverse cooling fan

Awesome movies that I would never purchase for more than dollar store prices

A poster that is most probably offensive in some way to most of the world's population.

As clearly seen here, having too much cash on hand can prove disastrous to an impulse buyer such as myself. Especially when the cash on hand looks more like monopoly money than actual currency. In order to combat this predicament I have taken as many opportunities as possible to pay for the meals or other simple things for the students and Chinese friends I come into contact with. While this may sound like a simple task, it proves much more difficult than one would imagine. The students are very sneaky about beating you to the payment punch. Even though they have nowhere near the spending power of your average employed person, they persist in treating us as "guests" of China and seizing every possible chance to treat us as such. Facing such stiff opposition leads us to take dramatic measures. More than a few times I have pretended to excuse myself to the bathroom in order to prepay a meal, subtly slip the taxi driver a bill before my Chinese counterparts get a chance, or physically tackle my friends before they can reach for their wallets. As fervent as our efforts are, we are still oftentimes bested and must resort to letting them off with a warning that next time it will be our treat, or else.

I sense much fear in you

2008-11-01T23:40:00.000-07:00

China does not celebrate Halloween. While this is understandable given the nature of the holiday and its strange not-China-related origins, I find it to be a tragedy for a number of reasons.
Chinese people...
1. are easily entertained by costumes
2. love to eat candy
3. are ridiculously superstitious

Last week we were walking back from a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants that we like to refer to as "Rainforest Cafe" (due to the foliage/fruit on the ceiling, no such luck as to have animals and rainstorms during your meal). As we were walking, we noticed a number of people burning things on the side of the road. Burning trash, while illegal, is not an uncommon sight but the frequency of the event on this night far surpassed our previous encounters. After inquiring the reason for the plethora of mini bonfires, our Chinese friend told us that they are burning money to send to the ancestors in the afterlife. Intrigued and a little disturbed at the prospect of being a little short of some post-mortem cash money, I questioned where they got this ethereal currency. The short answer was that it was just fake money that didn't even really look like real money. After a few more minutes of discussion Jon made the excellent point that maybe if they really believed it would work they would burn their "real" money. Our Chinese friend dismissed this as preposterous and also illegal. A good point as well.

Because of the lack of Halloween awareness here in China, it seems that me and my fellow Americans have taken it upon ourselves to educate everyone we can about this sweet holdiay. For the past week and a half I have spent the majority of my class time teaching fun Halloween words and telling spooky tales which have gone over with more giggles than the screams I was hoping for. For the day itself we traveled to the Financial College where Jon and Ryan teach to have a movie night for students who were interested in watching a scary film. Evidently they were very interested as the big room was packed out with over 400 students who showed up to watch Poltergeist, a fantastic 1982 Steven Spielberg film. The film did not disappoint the viewers and it was really fun to watch the hundreds of students react to the movie with collective screams, laughs, and even applause. After the film we took some students out for coffee and had a great time creating our own tale by playing a game where everyone says one sentence of a story and proceeds in a circular fashion. It will remain one of my favorite Halloween memories ever (right after the time when me and my housemates in college each dressed up as characters from John Carpenter's horrific masterpiece The Thing, pictured here).

I have enjoyed getting to know students from my own college and have recently branched out to make about 1,000 new friends at Jon and Ryan's school as well. After receiving an invitation to come watch some students compete in a karaoke competition, I traveled to the first time last week to the campus of their Financial college. The competition turned out to be a diverse talent show-like operation with singers, dancers, and the occasional magic act thrown in just for the heck of it. Ryan joined the fray by singing Michael Jackson's classic hit, Man in the Mirror and then Jon and I joined him on stage in a collaborative American effort to sing our beloved Oasis song, Wonderwall. Aside from a few falters and lyrical errors, the song went off beautifully. The whole thing felt slightly reminiscent of playing Rock Band and singing the vocals with Jon on the guitar. It was slightly distracting when the students kept coming to the stage and wrapping us with these flamboyant tinsel scarves in the middle of singing but that is one of those things you just don't question. I have uploaded both performances for your viewing pleasure and apologize for the Chinese student who took pictures with the camera while taking the video, he couldn't help himself.

If Halloween turned out to be this much fun I can only imagine what the future holds for the holidays to come. I am slightly concerned at the prospects of finding a turkey here though, we might have to settle for some Peking Duck. Mmmmmhhhh.

You must unlearn what you have learned.

2008-10-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

Today marks my fifth week in China. In many ways it feels like the time here has gone by so quickly. Yet at the same time it seems like my last slice of American pizza was a very long time ago. More and more China is starting to feel a bit like home and then comes some insane curveball thrown toward your midsection to knock that breeze of comfort right out of your lungs. Over the past week there have been a few of these interesting lessons that I would like to recount to all of you waguorens (foreigners) back at home.

#1. Massages, while insanely cheap, can be a little on the weird side.
-After competing extensively in a shotput type event Jon decided it was high time for us to get a Chinese massage. Accompanied by our fearless friend Kevin, we purchased a 2 hour long rub down from some Chinese experts for a mere 50 yuan, or about 7 bucks. While parts of this experience were extremely enjoyable (i.e. the hot foot soak and rub), others felt more closely tied to what I would refer to as a beating (i.e. when they "massaged" my stomach a.k.a. transferred all their weight into a fist pressing down on my kidneys).

#2. A few dumplings are delicious; 35 dumplings make you feel worse than the economic crisis.
-My teammates and I were invited to the house of our dear teacher friend Sophie for a fun filled night of dumpling construction and consumption. Our construction efforts were slightly mocked as our Chinese friends relished the opportunity to point out our clumsiness at folding the slabs of dough into neat hot-pocket like purses. Unfortunately, we did such a good job at making the dumplings that there was way more food than necessary, resulting in a "dumpling game" involving laughs, numbers, and overeating dangerous proportions of food. The next few days were spent in recovery with a diet consisting solely of noodles.

#3. Physicals in America are pretty good but in China there is no cutting corners.
-Yesterday all the foreign teachers at Hebei University went on a 2.5 hour bus ride to the capital city of Shijiazhuang (don't worry I can't say it either). We were there to get our physical examinations in order to get our extended teaching visas for the year. Apparently, the Chinese were not completely satisfied with the physical I had before I left in August and wanted to double check to make sure everything was in order. This included the normal things like examinging my height & weight, a blood test, and a confusing eye exam involving strange characters pointed in different directions. They also decided it was a good idea to give me what I am pretty sure was an ultrasound despite my best efforts to ensure them that I was, in fact, not pregnant. I did not try in the least to contain my laughter as they put slimy jelly (my actual stomach is not pictured here) on my tummy and proceeded to rub some kind of mechanical device over my vital organs.

Now I know and in China knowing is probably even more than half the battle. At least two-thirds, or even five-sevenths. In other news, I went to the market with some friends yesterday with the specific intent of buying a speaker for my iPod. Instead I came back with a pair of balls that you roll around your hand, a sword, and a string of Christmas lights. All in all, a satisfactory outing. Now if only I could find a Kung Fu master to teach me...

When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master!

2008-10-13T01:12:00.000-07:00

Well I may not be the master quite yet but I must be getting close. This past week my friend and fellow teacher in the English department named Sophie and I were discussing the the speech competition that several students I know are competing in. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Too bad the competition is in Qinhuangdao and on a school day. I would have loved to hear all the students speeches.
Sophie: We are having a practice on Sunday, perhaps you would like to come watch and ask them questions.
Me: Uh sure, what kind of questions would that be?
Sophie: After their speeches you give them a question about it. You will be great!

I have been hearing this phrase passed my way a lot lately. Apparently the Chinese have a lot of confidence in my ability to do just about anything (except order food at restaurants, they have caught onto that one). With this kind of affirmation how could I do anything but accept. Sounds great right? I'll get to hear a few of my friends give speeches, maybe meet a few more that are in the competition, mingle with the English department, what could go wrong?

The week passes normally (a relative term) and on Sunday I get my first inkling that I could have gotten a little more than I bargained for. Sophie calls me and tells me she will pick me up early so that I can join the other teachers and faculty for dinner (Clue #1). Next she says I should go ahead and dress nice (Clue #2). We get to dinner and I find myself among the entire English department faculty and administration at a dinner where fish is served (Clue #3 - fish is expensive and reserved for more special occasions). At this point I am a little unsure exactly what this "practice" I am attending constitutes. During dinner I realize that all the dishes added to the table are seeming to come my way first, puzzled, I turn to my friend Nick and ask him the reason. "Ahh" he says, "You are the honored guest. You are Question Master for the evening (Big Clue #4)." After seeing my confusion he briefly explains that I am the one and only questioner to all the students competing in the speech contest and that this evening is their formal practice before the full scale competition next weekend.

I began to sweat and not just because of the spicy kung pao chicken I had been eating (well maybe a little but that was some awesome chicken). After dinner, I apprehensively walked with the other teachers into the neighboring building and enter a large classroom filled with well over a hundred students, teachers, and faculty. As the competition began I learned that my task was to listen to 2 speeches from each competing student, one impromptu on an random topic, and one prepared speech. After each speech I was to ask a poignant question regarding their speech t0 challenge them.

Albeit a month ago I might've been sweating bullets at this point and looking for the nearest unbarred window but I have started to learn a few things in China and that when you relax, things tend to work out alright. Part of this is due to the fact that most foreigners are so fascinating to the Chinese that they could care less how stupid the nonsensical redundant question I just asked him or her was. In reality, it all played out fine. For the most part I was able to have fun asking questions to the students I knew and perform adequately even when I could barely understand what the point of that 3 minute speech about 1 + 1 = harmony nonsense was about. I'm learning that part of the excitement about living in a place like China is that you never know what is around the next corner, or kind of crazy event the next seemingly casual conversation could draw you into!

Anyway China is still way better than Japan. I hear they do this to all the foreign teachers there!

Look Sir, Droids!

2008-10-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we embarked on a speedy trip from Baoding to Beijing and back again. The five members of team Baoding ventured out to the big city to see our fellow IECS team members from Langfang and Tianjin. The trip blew by as we left Friday morning and returned Satuday night.

When traveling in China there is never a dull moment. Although Beijing is relatively close to Baoding, getting there is still something of an ordeal. My favorite form of travel is by train. I was introduced to this vehicular luxury when traveling across Europe this past summer with my brother. Compared with the hassle of driving a car or being jammed in a plane seat while stuck on a runway for two hours, anything starts to look good. However, riding in a European railcar is truly an exercise in relaxation. All one has to do is catch the train and everything else is taken care of. You can order food (nothing like plane food mind you) get up and walk around the spacious aisles, or doze in your comfy chair while watching the beautiful scenery sail by...

With these conjured images of train euphoria in my mind, I looked forward to our quick train to Beijing. To be fair I did expect it might be a bit different, perhaps not as nice, maybe a little more crowded, my seat a bit smaller, etc. Unfortunately, I grossly underestimated the power of 1.3 billion Chinese on a National holiday. The experience more resembled the trucks of chickens that I used to see driving down the highway back in Virginia. The chickens were so stuffed in there little pens that you could tell neither beak from claw, a flying feather fiasco as they barreled down the highway at 80 miles an hour. So team Baoding traveled to Beijing in a car so packed with people that it seemed to take most of the voyage to literally shove our way to our seats where we had to give a couple of freeloaders the boot. In truth it wasn't so bad once we were seated and on the bright side it was a speedy way to travel.

We stepped off the train to a beautiful clear day in Beijing that made us quickly forget the hassles of the commute. We spent the afternoon shopping at various locations and walking around the city a bit with IECS Director Newt, his wife Claire, and staff member Tony. Towards the latter part of the afternoon Jon and I ventured off on our own to see the worlds largest Apple store. We discovered it in a metropolitan jungle of high-end stores in Beijing's commercial district, the enormous apple shining like a one of those electric bug zappers that lures over-curious insects to their swift demise. We felt right at home in the midst of all the fantastic merchandise and by an extreme test of will were able to escape with only a few small purchases.

Saturday was spent with all of the IECS folks together in China for the first time and was an awesome time of fun and fellowship. Our team left for home, sad to say goodbye to Newt and Claire heading back to the States but with hearts full of encouragement from our friends.

You'll find I'm full of surprises.

2008-09-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

An apology goes out with this post to my steadfast readers (really just Mark) who have been anxiously awaiting another update this past week and a half. I offer no excuses for my poor behavior. With that said it has been an exciting and busy time here in Baoding.

We have had our first week of classes! I teach quite a variety of students ranging from senior english majors (excellent speaking ability) to freshman non-english major (I have to talk so slow it is hard not to bore myself.) Despite these and other difficulties such as not having blackboards, not having computers, computers not working, finding buildings with Chinese names, etc. the first week went off relatively seamlessly. I have figured out that I am teaching eleven different classes of Chinese students which could make learning everyone's name a tad bit difficult (11 x appx. 40 per class = 440 generic Enligsh names). Also the scheduling here is strange with most classes occurring only on odd and even weeks. The great news is the students are picture perfect respectful of me and each other and really excited to learn English no matter what their current level is and that makes teaching them a real joy.

In other news, after our first week of teaching we get to take a week off due to China's National Holiday. This early part of the week was spent visiting with IECS Director New, his wife Claire, and Tony who lives in Beijing and works for IECS. Our time together was filled with delicious meals and trips to our new local hotspot, The Honeypool, a coffee joint which we have been recently making daily trips to. Emily, Amelia, and I joined one of our friends named Nick, who is an administrator for Hebei University, his wife, Mr. Liang (a Dean), and his daughter Anita (her French name) for a tour of Baoding. It was an awesome day and we got to see many parts of the city that were previously unknown to us. You can view the pictures to the left.

Tomorrow we leave for Beijing to meet up with fellow IECS teachers from Langfang and Tianjin. Traveling during the holiday will likely be hectic but we are looking forward to seeing our friends from other schools. Until next time!

Uncle Owen, this R2 unit has a bad motivator!

2008-09-22T03:22:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, in America, motorized scooters are just not that cool. Why not just make a little extra effort and buy a motorcycle instead of riding around looking like an overeager 15 year old. The scooter industry in China however, puts America to shame. Sit on a street corner for 5 minutes and you will see more types of motorized bicycle transportation than you can count on ten, maybe fifteen fingers.

Yesterday team Baoding decided that our feet were no longer adequate forms of transportation for our China experience. Taking the time to endure the 12 minute walk to visit our teammates Jon and Ryan's apartment was quickly becoming too much of a hassle. We needed a transportation transplant and we needed it fast.

Three of our more practical teammates proposed the logical solution, buy bicycles! (the normal kind). A perfectly fine solution but Jon and I wanted to take things a little bit further. With our mission before us we set out with spirits high, stomachs full of dumplings, and our Chinese friend Kevin in tow to help us negotiate/haggle.

As it turns out, a simple bike shop is not enough for China. Baoding presented us with an entire street dedicated to the selling of motorized bicycle transport. We traversed the street 2 times, searching in vain for a reasonably priced used electric bike. Just as our hopes were beginning to dwindle and we had decided on settling for a new bike in an older model, we stumbled upon a gem hiding in plain sight. After a quick inquiry as to the price we knew we had found "the one." The only problem was that there were two of us...

As fate would have it the chap selling us the motorized beauty just so happened to have more used bikes at an undisclosed location. We somewhat suspiciously followed our new friend out of the market, then across the street, finally into an old apartment complex (all the while Kevin assuring us, "It's ok, it's ok, this is safe..."). In an atmosphere that the word surreal does little justice in describing, we walked through a vacant apartment and to our great delight found in the very last room a row of excellence unparalleled in the market. We quickly chose a choice bicycle which he graciously sold us for the same price (after 30 minutes of haggling).

As I told Jon yesterday as we were zipping through the sidestreets of Baoding on our sweet new rides, "this may be the best monetary purchase I have ever made."

Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy

2008-09-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

Things in Baoding are just plain done differently than in the US. Take shopping for example. When I needed to make a few purchases to make my living situation more comfortable I would hop into my personal transportation vehicle, drive to the nearest Wal-Mart, and comfortably peruse the spacious and well organized aisles for the items of my choice. As our team ventured out to the largest supermarket in Baoding we quickly discovered that this would not be the case for our overseas experience. In fact when I think of yesterdays supermarket adventure the first thing that jumps to mind is the video game Road Rash that Peter and I used to play for the Sega Genesis.

The game can best be described as a high speed motorcycle racing game meets full contact football with lead pipes and wooden bats. It is a full on brawl to get to the finish line which quickly becomes a secondary objective to knocking your opponent to the asphalt with your metal a long metal chain. Needless to say our shopping getting around the supermarket is a skill that we Americans have not yet acquired.

Somehow we were able to procure most of what we needed in the midst of the masses of clashing carts and people but it was an experience that we will not quickly forget. 2 hours and hundreds of yuan later we all were very grateful to a respite back to our respective apartments. Despite the difficulties I was very much pleased with decorating my room with exciting things like a rug, lamp, and trash can larger than the size of a cereal bowl. Thanks to the marvels of modern technology you can view these new additions if you so desire in a youtube video that shows a brief tour of my apartment.

If there's a bright center to the universe you're on the planet that it's farthest from...

2008-09-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Baoding!

We have reached our destination and are currently settling in to our new home here at Hebei University. Our first few days have been quite a whirlwind of activity with a side of jetlag. Upon arrival in Bejing we were escorted directly to a van which drove us to our apartments in Baoding (about a 2 hour trip). The apartments are in a dorm style consisting of a bedroom with a desk, small kitchen room and bathroom.

For the most part our time has been spent meeting with school officials, eating out at restaraunts, shopping for the bare necessities, and being introduced to our new home city! Yesterday we had a 15 minute walk back from the supermarket in which we were carrying a few of our recent purchases. Needless to say that as Americans we stand out quite easily on a normal basis and looked extra ridiculous carrying pillows that had words like FANTASY emblazoned all over them. Like many of the events of the past few days, I like to think of it as a "learning experience" to make myself feel better.

Anyways here is some info for those of you who really like to contact me. My snail mail address is:
Number 2 Building Room 204
Overseas Student Hotel
Hebei University
Number 180 Wusidong Road Baoding City
071002 Hebei Province, China
(I hope all that is correctly ordered)

Also I have a recently purchased cellphone courtesy of Nokia China. Incoming calls are free so don't hesitate to call me at your own expense! #15830219224. China's country code is +86 so I believe that is the only thing you would need to put before my number. That's all for now, I should have some pictures and other fun stuff up in the near future so stay tuned!

Tim

(The map at the top is from http://www.hbu.net.cn/en/ Hebei University's official website. My building is the one at the very bottom to the left of the big green square)