Friday, March 30, 2007
The End is Nigh
Sandstorm expected to hit tonight and tomorrow. If there's truth to this, expect the next update to have post-apocalyptic fun and joy for all. In photo form. God, sometimes I wish I didn't have to work Saturdays...
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Life is extremely weird here
There's no compelling reason for the reason the title is what it is for this update, other than it's the truth.
Living in China is so weird. Always. I mean, almost too weird. Everyone here is pretty dang weird. The majority of the time it's the good kind of weird, with a few dashes of annoying weird. But all in all, fun weird. Which is one of the things I was looking for.
I'm not so much learning how to speak, read, or write Chinese in the formal sense at the moment, but I'm rocking out the understanding what people are saying. And that part is the scariest part. While I was in Zhongguancun getting my Wii tinkered with... umm... wow that just came out wrong. The sad part is I'm afraid of being more specific than that, so lets just say it involves the installation of some hardware to make my Wii better... I'm just going to stop saying Wii. Anyway, I was there being slightly impatient because I had a party to get to. I overheard the local proprietor mention something about me hovering over him like a hawk waiting for him to finish. He said, "laowai" alot, which is what I am. I could tell he was using it in the slightly pejorative sense. So I kind of laughed. Then both shopkeeps looked at me wide-eyed, and said in Chinese, "Does he understand Chinese?!". Bwahaha. I just kind of nodded.
Then a couple of days ago while waiting for my ride to school, I heard the security guard outside the apartment mention to a passerby, "Hey, there's that American standing by the gate." Said passerby turner 'round and stared right at me. I just sort of nodded and acknowledged that I was apparently the subject of great fascination. They both laughed at me of course.
Here in China, if you look like a whitey, you will instigate some incredibly odd behaviors. Ranging from stunned bewilderment to steadfast discrimination, it's always a surprise to me the extremes that many people go to when you're in their presence. While it's funny sometimes, I do feel highly uncomfortable most of the time. Heck, I could swear that my discriminates against me sometimes. I'll be waiting patiently on the eighth floor after hitting the button, and the elevator will come up and pass me by to the tenth floor, and then again on it's way back down. No way is it going to have some burger-eating white devil pushing its buttons with its greasy, hairy fingers. Not in a million years.
So I've been debating making some sort of comic about all the strange happenings in China. Because most of it is so surreal that I feel like it can only be best expressed through some sort of comedic medium. I'm just not convinced that: A.) I'm funny enough, B.) I can draw, or C.) I'd actually do it. Time will tell.
Living in China is so weird. Always. I mean, almost too weird. Everyone here is pretty dang weird. The majority of the time it's the good kind of weird, with a few dashes of annoying weird. But all in all, fun weird. Which is one of the things I was looking for.
I'm not so much learning how to speak, read, or write Chinese in the formal sense at the moment, but I'm rocking out the understanding what people are saying. And that part is the scariest part. While I was in Zhongguancun getting my Wii tinkered with... umm... wow that just came out wrong. The sad part is I'm afraid of being more specific than that, so lets just say it involves the installation of some hardware to make my Wii better... I'm just going to stop saying Wii. Anyway, I was there being slightly impatient because I had a party to get to. I overheard the local proprietor mention something about me hovering over him like a hawk waiting for him to finish. He said, "laowai" alot, which is what I am. I could tell he was using it in the slightly pejorative sense. So I kind of laughed. Then both shopkeeps looked at me wide-eyed, and said in Chinese, "Does he understand Chinese?!". Bwahaha. I just kind of nodded.
Then a couple of days ago while waiting for my ride to school, I heard the security guard outside the apartment mention to a passerby, "Hey, there's that American standing by the gate." Said passerby turner 'round and stared right at me. I just sort of nodded and acknowledged that I was apparently the subject of great fascination. They both laughed at me of course.
Here in China, if you look like a whitey, you will instigate some incredibly odd behaviors. Ranging from stunned bewilderment to steadfast discrimination, it's always a surprise to me the extremes that many people go to when you're in their presence. While it's funny sometimes, I do feel highly uncomfortable most of the time. Heck, I could swear that my discriminates against me sometimes. I'll be waiting patiently on the eighth floor after hitting the button, and the elevator will come up and pass me by to the tenth floor, and then again on it's way back down. No way is it going to have some burger-eating white devil pushing its buttons with its greasy, hairy fingers. Not in a million years.
So I've been debating making some sort of comic about all the strange happenings in China. Because most of it is so surreal that I feel like it can only be best expressed through some sort of comedic medium. I'm just not convinced that: A.) I'm funny enough, B.) I can draw, or C.) I'd actually do it. Time will tell.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Absolutely Ridiculous
Tonight I got a game for the DS and decided to reward myself after having gone shopping and cleaning my apartment by indulging for a few minutes of quality game time. Please fast forward through this update if you don't want to read about a video game, or may think about playing this game and don't want anything spoiled.
<<<>>>
So I got this game called Elite Beat Agents for the DS, which is one of those rhythm games that I've been enjoying lately. The types of games that make me think that if I really, really wanted to I could dance or have rhythm. But yeah, probably not.
Anyway, I knew that it was a Japanese game, involved manga-style comic book graphics, and was full of cheesy plots and dialogue. It's about a trio of super-secret agents that go around solving people's problems by dancing. By dancing. There apparently isn't a problem that can't be solved by cutting rugs.
So as I expected, most of the levels were hilarious oddities one right after another. You help these ridiculously rich sisters ensure that they can maintain their shallow, materialistic lifestyles after crashing on a deserted island. You help an old-fart oil tycoon who's lost all his money (and his gold-digging wife kicks him out of his mansion) by getting him to be come filthy stinking rich again, and basically "buying" back his wife without a second thought. It was all good fun, which is why I was blind-sided by what happened next...
Spoilers If anyone were ever thinking of getting this game and wants a good surprise, don't read anymore. A story comes up, and the whole ambience of the game becomes somber all of the sudden. It was an episode called "The Christmas Gift". It begins with a happy widdle family getting ready to celebrate Christmas. Daddy's leaving, and daughter says she wants a girl teddy for Christmas. He promises he'll be back for Christmas, and he'll put in a good word with Santa.
Well then, it says, "Six months later..."
The girl mentions something about when Daddy was going to come back. Mommy then says, "He's not coming back, lets not talk about this." That's right, Daddy's freaking DEAD.
Then the music kicks up. It's "You're the Inspiration", by Chicago. In and of itself, the song wouldn't have done anything for me. I mean, Chicago's all good and everything. I have nothing against the musical group, OR the city (I do have something against the movie though). But the context with the little plot of the game caused me to FREAKING CRY! What?!?! I have only cried about a game once. ONCE. And I was thoroughly ashamed by it (It was Final Fantasy III just so you know). Not only that, but no form of media has made me cry in months. It wasn't a single, poetic tear either. There were wells...
So I played through the level, which you can't pause during. The whole song of the level plays as you show your Mom how to keep on living, and that as long as you never forget, he'll always be there. I made it out ok, just to all those who were concerned. And though I had the usual aftermath feeling of being manipulated, I felt especially annoyed that it was a freaking game. Not only a game, a handheld game. That's simply not allowed in my book. I was already embarrassed to admit that I can't not cry during Angels in the Outfield. This is worse. Trust me.
But, that's ok. I stand by my original proclamation that it was because this little story came out of freaking nowhere. It caught me off guard. Just... shut up. Don't look at me!!
<<<>>>
Anyways, everything is ok. I downloaded "You're the Inspiration", so that I never, ever forget., I'm such a dork.
Ok sorry for the non-China post. I'll post something substantial soon.
<<<
So I got this game called Elite Beat Agents for the DS, which is one of those rhythm games that I've been enjoying lately. The types of games that make me think that if I really, really wanted to I could dance or have rhythm. But yeah, probably not.
Anyway, I knew that it was a Japanese game, involved manga-style comic book graphics, and was full of cheesy plots and dialogue. It's about a trio of super-secret agents that go around solving people's problems by dancing. By dancing. There apparently isn't a problem that can't be solved by cutting rugs.
So as I expected, most of the levels were hilarious oddities one right after another. You help these ridiculously rich sisters ensure that they can maintain their shallow, materialistic lifestyles after crashing on a deserted island. You help an old-fart oil tycoon who's lost all his money (and his gold-digging wife kicks him out of his mansion) by getting him to be come filthy stinking rich again, and basically "buying" back his wife without a second thought. It was all good fun, which is why I was blind-sided by what happened next...
Spoilers If anyone were ever thinking of getting this game and wants a good surprise, don't read anymore. A story comes up, and the whole ambience of the game becomes somber all of the sudden. It was an episode called "The Christmas Gift". It begins with a happy widdle family getting ready to celebrate Christmas. Daddy's leaving, and daughter says she wants a girl teddy for Christmas. He promises he'll be back for Christmas, and he'll put in a good word with Santa.
Well then, it says, "Six months later..."
The girl mentions something about when Daddy was going to come back. Mommy then says, "He's not coming back, lets not talk about this." That's right, Daddy's freaking DEAD.
Then the music kicks up. It's "You're the Inspiration", by Chicago. In and of itself, the song wouldn't have done anything for me. I mean, Chicago's all good and everything. I have nothing against the musical group, OR the city (I do have something against the movie though). But the context with the little plot of the game caused me to FREAKING CRY! What?!?! I have only cried about a game once. ONCE. And I was thoroughly ashamed by it (It was Final Fantasy III just so you know). Not only that, but no form of media has made me cry in months. It wasn't a single, poetic tear either. There were wells...
So I played through the level, which you can't pause during. The whole song of the level plays as you show your Mom how to keep on living, and that as long as you never forget, he'll always be there. I made it out ok, just to all those who were concerned. And though I had the usual aftermath feeling of being manipulated, I felt especially annoyed that it was a freaking game. Not only a game, a handheld game. That's simply not allowed in my book. I was already embarrassed to admit that I can't not cry during Angels in the Outfield. This is worse. Trust me.
But, that's ok. I stand by my original proclamation that it was because this little story came out of freaking nowhere. It caught me off guard. Just... shut up. Don't look at me!!
<<<
Anyways, everything is ok. I downloaded "You're the Inspiration", so that I never, ever forget.
Ok sorry for the non-China post. I'll post something substantial soon.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Psych!
Whoa! As you may have noticed from the last set of comments, Dr. Hughes and Dr. Pitts commented on my writing! Do you know what this means? They read it! I'm so happy about this, but at the same time I'm going to have to start being more careful with throwing my psychology around with reckless abandon. As a preemptive method to distance myself of any mistakes or flaws in my comments I'd like to go on the record on saying that I write here on a sort of unhindered flow of thoughts. That's why many of my posts may seem (how do I put this?) strange and disjointed.
Now that I feel that I've distanced myself from fault or liability, I may continue! Furthermore, Mariana reads this, so mental note to say one flattering thing about Brazil in my posts.
On that note, I'd like to vent on some issues that I've recently been thinking about.
This semester, we've started having one-on-one teaching sessions with the Chinese TAs here. As some of you may know, when I taught Intro to Psychology at App State, I realized that it is the first real job I've had that I've actually loved. I'm not bashing carpentry, HR guys, technical assistance, Blockbuster, hotel front desks, or Old Navy (well, maybe some of those), but I really felt like I gave my all with teaching. It was like going to class and leading a discussion everyday! So after doing that for two years, I knew that I really liked it. I didn't realize until recently that it's likely what I want to do for the rest of my life (apart from traveling). Once I started these little classes, I immediately went into teacher mode and started presenting the topics we have to talk about. I just feel way more comfortable than, say, appeasing snooty hotel guests with a fake smile plastered on my face.
That said, it's more clear to me that I want to go back and get a PhD now. That was something I was definately struggling with before. I remember many of my professors presented me with the idea of that possible career choice, but I kind of shrugged it off. The idea kind of intimidated me at first.
In China, however, there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in psychology. That is, real psychology. When I mention that I have my masters in psychology here, a lot of people seem to kind of be taken aback by it. I've actually had (Chinese) people my age outright ask me why I chose a field that was basically worthless. Many seem to see psychology and even human resources as a bunch of gobbledygook and hocus-pocus (not their words exactly). It can get a little old, as it has come from quite a few people, but I miss people being ok with it. I miss people thinking it's useful, and not just a bunch of common sense.
Anyway, just a little rant. Not China related exactly. I'll mark it as such.
By the way, I bet Brazil is awesome!
Now that I feel that I've distanced myself from fault or liability, I may continue! Furthermore, Mariana reads this, so mental note to say one flattering thing about Brazil in my posts.
On that note, I'd like to vent on some issues that I've recently been thinking about.
This semester, we've started having one-on-one teaching sessions with the Chinese TAs here. As some of you may know, when I taught Intro to Psychology at App State, I realized that it is the first real job I've had that I've actually loved. I'm not bashing carpentry, HR guys, technical assistance, Blockbuster, hotel front desks, or Old Navy (well, maybe some of those), but I really felt like I gave my all with teaching. It was like going to class and leading a discussion everyday! So after doing that for two years, I knew that I really liked it. I didn't realize until recently that it's likely what I want to do for the rest of my life (apart from traveling). Once I started these little classes, I immediately went into teacher mode and started presenting the topics we have to talk about. I just feel way more comfortable than, say, appeasing snooty hotel guests with a fake smile plastered on my face.
That said, it's more clear to me that I want to go back and get a PhD now. That was something I was definately struggling with before. I remember many of my professors presented me with the idea of that possible career choice, but I kind of shrugged it off. The idea kind of intimidated me at first.
In China, however, there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in psychology. That is, real psychology. When I mention that I have my masters in psychology here, a lot of people seem to kind of be taken aback by it. I've actually had (Chinese) people my age outright ask me why I chose a field that was basically worthless. Many seem to see psychology and even human resources as a bunch of gobbledygook and hocus-pocus (not their words exactly). It can get a little old, as it has come from quite a few people, but I miss people being ok with it. I miss people thinking it's useful, and not just a bunch of common sense.
Anyway, just a little rant. Not China related exactly. I'll mark it as such.
By the way, I bet Brazil is awesome!
Friday, March 09, 2007
Hong Kong
So we went to Hong Kong, you know? We as in Dad and I. We left after about three weeks of American good times of eating fast food and watching movies and such. Home was good, and I did some very home like things. I had nightmares before I left that Atari (my cat) was pissed off at me for leaving her alone and all. I was happy to know that she didn't seem to hold a grudge.
The flight over was easily the best flight I've had out of the three. The time pretty much flew by (get it? Like a plane...) since there were a lot of empty seats. I was able to actually lie down. You can't beat that. Those fancy-pants first class losers did not know the simply joy of taking up three seats. My time was divided nicely into watching movies, watching Buffy on the Mp3 player, and playing hefty amounts of DS games. It's amazing how long it takes for Sudoku to get old, I'm tellin' ya.
When we got to Hong Kong, everything was pretty easy to navigate. Once we found Nam and her Mom, we got on the train and made our way for the city. Almost everything I saw in Hong Kong was significantly more friendly than Beijing. It was easier to get around, people didn't spit everywhere, and the air was so freaking clean. I was impressed. Like, car wash, impressed (NOTE: The writer of this e-chron profusely apologizes for the very inside joke he just made, that basically two people will get [Nicole and Rachel, I'm lookin' at you] and will, henceforth, refrain from doing such things.)
Let me go on the record for saying that I'm not badmouthing Beijing. I love both cities for different reasons. And although it's hard to quantify, I'll do my best to explain with a tenuously applicable analogy. Hong Kong is like a cute little kitten. Very clean, very likeable, and you fawn over almost everything about it. Beijing is like a gross little pug. It's so ugly and comically uncouth at times that it's simply endearing for all the opposite reasons. Honestly it sounds like an insult, but really it's not. By the way, this is the dog that came to mind with the Beijing analogy.
Hong Kong was honestly, though, like all of the best aspects of China and Britain all smushed together into one ball of deliciosity. They had freakin' Ribena there. How could I not love it? Anyway, Nam's parents were totally awesome too. They showed us around everywhere, and always had stuff to do. They were such good hosts. They always had stuff to do for us, one of which involved gambling in Macau, however, which was my first true experience doing such. It wasn't a good one really. I mean, I don't really like giving money to a machine for shortly lived gratification. Unless it's in an arcade. Which, of course, is a totally different thing... shut up.
So some highlights of the trip included hitting one of my short list of things I actually really, really wanted to see in China. The big ol' Buddha on a mountain. It was pretty freaking awesome, especially the approach. You could see him way up on the mountain in the background.
This honestly was my favorite part of the trip. The countryside was misty and mysterious looking, and I'm a big fan of mist. Because mist = humidity. Humidity = easy breathing and less sore throats. What can I say? I'm a big fan of water. Only when you breath it though...
Also apparently, inside this Buddha is like a crystal that is sacred. When the Buddha was burned, several parts of his body were unburnable and crystalized. Apparenty there are a few thousand that exist somewhere in the world, and each one hold's the unique property to appear as a different color depending who looks like it. Which makes me think that Dad's old BMW is somehow one of the crystals. No one can decide if it's green or grey.
We also went to the aforementioned Macau. This is where the gambling went down. I liked all parts of the trip except for the gambling parts. Macau was interestingly a mish-mash of European city and Chinese city, which I guess makes sense since it was owned by Portugal for a bit (hehe, sense since). I really dug the layout of the city, it was pretty.
Not to say that I didn't like the gambling. It was interesting. But in the way I thought pigeons pecking keys at to get food despite increasingly diminishing returns was interesting. Which was essentially the same thing. One of those moments when I really thought that the argument that Skinner's research was faulty because it assumed that pigeons and humans behaved in the same way wasn't completely unfounded. People were freakin' zombies in there. There was one poor, poor soul making round after round to several roulette tables dropping thousand of Hong Kong dollars every 10 minutes or so. What a tool.
I'll talk more Hong Kong later, please allow this last post to sink in. Savor it, for it is the finest wine of online life-chronicling. Take it in, swish it, and spit it out. Just, you know, don't do it anywhere near me. I'm sick of spit.
The flight over was easily the best flight I've had out of the three. The time pretty much flew by (get it? Like a plane...) since there were a lot of empty seats. I was able to actually lie down. You can't beat that. Those fancy-pants first class losers did not know the simply joy of taking up three seats. My time was divided nicely into watching movies, watching Buffy on the Mp3 player, and playing hefty amounts of DS games. It's amazing how long it takes for Sudoku to get old, I'm tellin' ya.
When we got to Hong Kong, everything was pretty easy to navigate. Once we found Nam and her Mom, we got on the train and made our way for the city. Almost everything I saw in Hong Kong was significantly more friendly than Beijing. It was easier to get around, people didn't spit everywhere, and the air was so freaking clean. I was impressed. Like, car wash, impressed (NOTE: The writer of this e-chron profusely apologizes for the very inside joke he just made, that basically two people will get [Nicole and Rachel, I'm lookin' at you] and will, henceforth, refrain from doing such things.)
Let me go on the record for saying that I'm not badmouthing Beijing. I love both cities for different reasons. And although it's hard to quantify, I'll do my best to explain with a tenuously applicable analogy. Hong Kong is like a cute little kitten. Very clean, very likeable, and you fawn over almost everything about it. Beijing is like a gross little pug. It's so ugly and comically uncouth at times that it's simply endearing for all the opposite reasons. Honestly it sounds like an insult, but really it's not. By the way, this is the dog that came to mind with the Beijing analogy.
Hong Kong was honestly, though, like all of the best aspects of China and Britain all smushed together into one ball of deliciosity. They had freakin' Ribena there. How could I not love it? Anyway, Nam's parents were totally awesome too. They showed us around everywhere, and always had stuff to do. They were such good hosts. They always had stuff to do for us, one of which involved gambling in Macau, however, which was my first true experience doing such. It wasn't a good one really. I mean, I don't really like giving money to a machine for shortly lived gratification. Unless it's in an arcade. Which, of course, is a totally different thing... shut up.
So some highlights of the trip included hitting one of my short list of things I actually really, really wanted to see in China. The big ol' Buddha on a mountain. It was pretty freaking awesome, especially the approach. You could see him way up on the mountain in the background.This honestly was my favorite part of the trip. The countryside was misty and mysterious looking, and I'm a big fan of mist. Because mist = humidity. Humidity = easy breathing and less sore throats. What can I say? I'm a big fan of water. Only when you breath it though...
Also apparently, inside this Buddha is like a crystal that is sacred. When the Buddha was burned, several parts of his body were unburnable and crystalized. Apparenty there are a few thousand that exist somewhere in the world, and each one hold's the unique property to appear as a different color depending who looks like it. Which makes me think that Dad's old BMW is somehow one of the crystals. No one can decide if it's green or grey.
We also went to the aforementioned Macau. This is where the gambling went down. I liked all parts of the trip except for the gambling parts. Macau was interestingly a mish-mash of European city and Chinese city, which I guess makes sense since it was owned by Portugal for a bit (hehe, sense since). I really dug the layout of the city, it was pretty.
Not to say that I didn't like the gambling. It was interesting. But in the way I thought pigeons pecking keys at to get food despite increasingly diminishing returns was interesting. Which was essentially the same thing. One of those moments when I really thought that the argument that Skinner's research was faulty because it assumed that pigeons and humans behaved in the same way wasn't completely unfounded. People were freakin' zombies in there. There was one poor, poor soul making round after round to several roulette tables dropping thousand of Hong Kong dollars every 10 minutes or so. What a tool.
I'll talk more Hong Kong later, please allow this last post to sink in. Savor it, for it is the finest wine of online life-chronicling. Take it in, swish it, and spit it out. Just, you know, don't do it anywhere near me. I'm sick of spit.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Back in Action
The echronicling shall once again commence. Now that they scooped the giant internet cable up from the bottom of the ocean and duct-taped it back together, internet seems to be running free of any serious earthquake related hitches.
Thanks a bundle for the continued reading and compliments, everyone. It really means something to me. I'll let you figure out what that something is.
The trip home was quite successful. One of my favorite things about family and friends is how easy it is to just jump right back in so easily. I was expecting to be bombarded with a barrage of questions about China. The ones that can't really be answered, like, "So how's China?" I'll answer it here, just so that it's consolidated: Not bad, how's America?
So I jumped right back in, e.g. Luke was making jokes and tormenting me not minutes after meeting at the airport (and vice versa), Mom and Dad we're being very parenty (*sigh* Damnit Buffy), which was great, Nicole and I went on a caper to acquire a Wii, and Rachel, Nicole and I had ridiculous fun flailing around like a bunch of fruitcakes, with constant grins plastered to our faces. Jess and I went to get coffee at Legal Grounds, and that was just like old times up in Boone. Good times.
I really was bummed that I couldn't make it out to Atlanta or Wilmington to see Justin and Ryan/Laura respectively. It was just such a short, action-packed visit that I couldn't seem make that drive work, partially because of having a somewhat more abbreviated stay due to the fact that Pa and I went to Hong Kong during that time.
There were so many other people I wanted to see, though. I feel bad that I couldn't see all of them. Maybe I can make an informal and extremely early invite to some sort of "party" or "hootenany" when I come back in July. I think that might make a guy like me happy. But everyone is so freaking busy. Damn you, life!
So... not much else to say right now. The Hong Kong journey will be documented once I get my brain wrapped around the fact that I hav... er... get to teach this week. So, you can go back to reading my typings if you want...
I'll just be waiting here...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
*Looks at watch*
Thanks a bundle for the continued reading and compliments, everyone. It really means something to me. I'll let you figure out what that something is.
The trip home was quite successful. One of my favorite things about family and friends is how easy it is to just jump right back in so easily. I was expecting to be bombarded with a barrage of questions about China. The ones that can't really be answered, like, "So how's China?" I'll answer it here, just so that it's consolidated: Not bad, how's America?
So I jumped right back in, e.g. Luke was making jokes and tormenting me not minutes after meeting at the airport (and vice versa), Mom and Dad we're being very parenty (*sigh* Damnit Buffy), which was great, Nicole and I went on a caper to acquire a Wii, and Rachel, Nicole and I had ridiculous fun flailing around like a bunch of fruitcakes, with constant grins plastered to our faces. Jess and I went to get coffee at Legal Grounds, and that was just like old times up in Boone. Good times.
I really was bummed that I couldn't make it out to Atlanta or Wilmington to see Justin and Ryan/Laura respectively. It was just such a short, action-packed visit that I couldn't seem make that drive work, partially because of having a somewhat more abbreviated stay due to the fact that Pa and I went to Hong Kong during that time.
There were so many other people I wanted to see, though. I feel bad that I couldn't see all of them. Maybe I can make an informal and extremely early invite to some sort of "party" or "hootenany" when I come back in July. I think that might make a guy like me happy. But everyone is so freaking busy. Damn you, life!
So... not much else to say right now. The Hong Kong journey will be documented once I get my brain wrapped around the fact that I hav... er... get to teach this week. So, you can go back to reading my typings if you want...
I'll just be waiting here...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
*Looks at watch*
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Decisions, decisions.
The time has come in which Ms. Wang and co. are beginning to ask everyone if they're going to stay at Carden or not. This is causing me great strife, thusly I thought, "Where better a place to express such a conundrum that my vary own E-Chronicle webular site?". Indeed, so it shall be doneth.
First I'll start with a long chain of causation leading up to the aforementioned conundrum. It begins with the other school. This school is where I work on Saturdays and sometimes Sundays. This school is no Carden. And I mean that in the most pejorative sense. Schedules are wacky, the head fella is unreliable and kind of invasive, and one teacher said to me today after asking my name again that she almost doesn't bother remembering names any more because teachers leave so often and frequently that she's stopped bothering. All this adds up to lead to a over-generalized conclusion that Carden is a cushy job. Every aspect is better on the Carden side, and that makes me wonder just how much of a roll of the dice getting a job in China is. There in bold lies conundrum number one. I like the China Challenge of living here and such, but is it worth it to keep a job that is irrelevant to my major just for the sake of comfort and predictability? Watch how seamlessly this segues into my next issue.
Ever since I received the psych books from home, I've been perusing them quite a bit. Two things constantly strike me: That I very sorely miss psychology and research related activities (shockingly) and that I am getting rusty. This indicates that if I'm to stay here, I have to find something more relevant to my degree than teaching adorable little children. This can be done, I know it. And there's a possibility that it can be achieved at Carden as well, but I absolutely must do it. Although it pains me to think about leaving the little tykes, I will have to do it. And I will do it, I'm just hoping that whomever takes the reins of the class better not undo all that I've done. Related to this who psych mess...
One day, while being worn out after class, I was rewatching season 7 of Buffy because I loved it that much (I could write an entire e-chron counting the ways I loved it, but that has been done countless times I'm sure). Anyway, as I lay there eating Kit-Kats and drinking super-sweetened green tea, I passed out. I proceeded to have one of the most vivid dreams I've ever had here. In this dream, Xander appeared to me much in the same way Jesus or God has appeared to prophets of the past. Only, it was Xander. From Buffy. Xander told me that I should really stop living like a slovenly bachelor and figure out what I should do next. This motivated me in many ways to get to work on deciding what I'm going to do. Annnd... much less graceful segue to...
If I stay here, I'm going to have to learn to stop breathing.
That's about it for now that I can think of. There are many pros and cons about staying or leaving. I like Carden quite a bit, and the people I work with, and I want to learn the language more than I have. I like Beijing, and I like the challenge associated with living here. But I don't like the weather, pollution, and (above all) the lack of degree-related work.
By the way, if you didn't want to read someone griping about life choices, please don't read the above.
First I'll start with a long chain of causation leading up to the aforementioned conundrum. It begins with the other school. This school is where I work on Saturdays and sometimes Sundays. This school is no Carden. And I mean that in the most pejorative sense. Schedules are wacky, the head fella is unreliable and kind of invasive, and one teacher said to me today after asking my name again that she almost doesn't bother remembering names any more because teachers leave so often and frequently that she's stopped bothering. All this adds up to lead to a over-generalized conclusion that Carden is a cushy job. Every aspect is better on the Carden side, and that makes me wonder just how much of a roll of the dice getting a job in China is. There in bold lies conundrum number one. I like the China Challenge of living here and such, but is it worth it to keep a job that is irrelevant to my major just for the sake of comfort and predictability? Watch how seamlessly this segues into my next issue.
Ever since I received the psych books from home, I've been perusing them quite a bit. Two things constantly strike me: That I very sorely miss psychology and research related activities (shockingly) and that I am getting rusty. This indicates that if I'm to stay here, I have to find something more relevant to my degree than teaching adorable little children. This can be done, I know it. And there's a possibility that it can be achieved at Carden as well, but I absolutely must do it. Although it pains me to think about leaving the little tykes, I will have to do it. And I will do it, I'm just hoping that whomever takes the reins of the class better not undo all that I've done. Related to this who psych mess...
One day, while being worn out after class, I was rewatching season 7 of Buffy because I loved it that much (I could write an entire e-chron counting the ways I loved it, but that has been done countless times I'm sure). Anyway, as I lay there eating Kit-Kats and drinking super-sweetened green tea, I passed out. I proceeded to have one of the most vivid dreams I've ever had here. In this dream, Xander appeared to me much in the same way Jesus or God has appeared to prophets of the past. Only, it was Xander. From Buffy. Xander told me that I should really stop living like a slovenly bachelor and figure out what I should do next. This motivated me in many ways to get to work on deciding what I'm going to do. Annnd... much less graceful segue to...
If I stay here, I'm going to have to learn to stop breathing.
That's about it for now that I can think of. There are many pros and cons about staying or leaving. I like Carden quite a bit, and the people I work with, and I want to learn the language more than I have. I like Beijing, and I like the challenge associated with living here. But I don't like the weather, pollution, and (above all) the lack of degree-related work.
By the way, if you didn't want to read someone griping about life choices, please don't read the above.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
The Absence of Christmas
It's getting interesting here in Beijing now that it's nearing the winter time and the pollution days are becoming ever more frequent. Waking up to ashy grays looming on the horizon on a regular basis, its making me try to remember what green looks like. I'm not complaining really, just stating fact. I knew it would be like this, so I'm not surprised in the least. It was inevitable, Mr. Anderson. Add the fact that Christmas is rapidly approaching, and I couldn't be more oblivious to the fact. The stark absence of holiday cheer is quite interesting. While it would probably be a bummer to most, I find the existence in a society in which Christmas is just the faintest murmur among the few foreigners peppered throughout Beijing just one of those life-enriching moments.
Classes are going just fine, and it's weird to actually see kids growing. There are alot of things that have really surprised me about spending all this time with kids, that being one of them. But memories of myself being that age are actually coming back pretty strong. When I see a kid in class sort of talking to himself and speaking gibberish (not Chinese, I swear) it reminds me of myself when I was that age. And some other things, like I don't remember loose teeth in my own jaw freaking me out as a kid, but seeing another kid with a tooth that's about to fall out really makes me cringe for some reason. It's pretty shocking to me that I reacted that way. Either way, it's staggeringly impressive to see just how far the kids have come with English. They're geniuses. I dote, I dote. But here, not only are they smart little tykes, but they're staggeringly cute. Just take a look at these two pictures.
That's Rain, wearing Annie's glasses, and Kaylee, daydreaming about something. They've set the bar pretty high in terms of how cute kids can be. The worst part is that they know it, so they can work an angle to get away with being little bastards sometimes. Us softy teachers are so easily manipulated.
This, contrasted with the shocking spectacle of the bizarrely (yet aptly) named "Beijing Acrobat Macrocosm" show that Laura Kavazanjian, Lauren, and Laura's friend from home went to. I thought about that whilst watching little kids bend around in shocking ways and flip around like... I don't know, like some sort of supernatural flippy creatures. I mean, these kids are going to have some serious bone, muscle, and body issues. When you are able to bend over backward and balance yourself with the sole power of your jaw muscles, I'm pretty sure that's one thing that wasn't really intended for the human body to do. Just take a gander
Yeah. Ouch. Not alot of room for error there.
I've been spending alot of time away from home. Everything is pretty surreal because of it, I'm used to copius "me" time, and I'm being more of a socialite than I've ever been ever ever. It's all fun and good, especially since recently some of this quality hang out time has been at the absolutely beautiful location known as The Bookworm that lets you play the absolutely divine piano there and is one of the very few places that has Guiness and Bass. The only problem is that all this action is making me really exhausted. But I'm becoming accustomed to it relatively quickly, and it's great to have such a variety of things to do now in my life. Plus, when you go out, you can come across such awe-inspiring moments as these:
"The policeman remind," I will ruin your life if you commit all sorts of crime. He's so jovial looking. He derives much pleasure in punishing you severely. Now you see how they work here in China!
Well, I'll end this rather anticlimatic e-chron with a picture of me chilling with my homie Santa:
Classes are going just fine, and it's weird to actually see kids growing. There are alot of things that have really surprised me about spending all this time with kids, that being one of them. But memories of myself being that age are actually coming back pretty strong. When I see a kid in class sort of talking to himself and speaking gibberish (not Chinese, I swear) it reminds me of myself when I was that age. And some other things, like I don't remember loose teeth in my own jaw freaking me out as a kid, but seeing another kid with a tooth that's about to fall out really makes me cringe for some reason. It's pretty shocking to me that I reacted that way. Either way, it's staggeringly impressive to see just how far the kids have come with English. They're geniuses. I dote, I dote. But here, not only are they smart little tykes, but they're staggeringly cute. Just take a look at these two pictures.
That's Rain, wearing Annie's glasses, and Kaylee, daydreaming about something. They've set the bar pretty high in terms of how cute kids can be. The worst part is that they know it, so they can work an angle to get away with being little bastards sometimes. Us softy teachers are so easily manipulated.
This, contrasted with the shocking spectacle of the bizarrely (yet aptly) named "Beijing Acrobat Macrocosm" show that Laura Kavazanjian, Lauren, and Laura's friend from home went to. I thought about that whilst watching little kids bend around in shocking ways and flip around like... I don't know, like some sort of supernatural flippy creatures. I mean, these kids are going to have some serious bone, muscle, and body issues. When you are able to bend over backward and balance yourself with the sole power of your jaw muscles, I'm pretty sure that's one thing that wasn't really intended for the human body to do. Just take a gander
Yeah. Ouch. Not alot of room for error there.
I've been spending alot of time away from home. Everything is pretty surreal because of it, I'm used to copius "me" time, and I'm being more of a socialite than I've ever been ever ever. It's all fun and good, especially since recently some of this quality hang out time has been at the absolutely beautiful location known as The Bookworm that lets you play the absolutely divine piano there and is one of the very few places that has Guiness and Bass. The only problem is that all this action is making me really exhausted. But I'm becoming accustomed to it relatively quickly, and it's great to have such a variety of things to do now in my life. Plus, when you go out, you can come across such awe-inspiring moments as these:
"The policeman remind," I will ruin your life if you commit all sorts of crime. He's so jovial looking. He derives much pleasure in punishing you severely. Now you see how they work here in China!
Well, I'll end this rather anticlimatic e-chron with a picture of me chilling with my homie Santa:
Yo yo yo! Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 02, 2006
UPDATE!! OH MY GOLLY!
I know, I know. Not a lot of updating going on recently. I'm a slacker. Mainly it's the difficulty inherent in apparently doing anything internet related in China. And I don't care how much guff I give them now, they must understand that the over censoring is pointless. The people you probably don't want finding things out on the internet know how to circumvent it, so it's a losing battle in my opinion. Just let the free love of the internet flow. That's what I always say. And by 'always' I mean, you know, just in that last sentence.
I've been doing some serious socializing as of late. Whether its via the new part-time style jobs or just going out more, I've been exposing myself to some seriously high consecutive hours of intense, social activity. Almost like the Ironman of hangin' out. It's intense. For me at least.
During one such marathon social occasions, Annie, Lauren, and I discussed the idea of originality and how it feels to have some things of your own copied or outright stolen (such as piano songs and such). And how much I don't really care. In the midst of this, I mentioned my desire of what I call an "Aerial Burial". That is, that I would very much enjoy this method of burial post-mortem (definitely not pre-mortem though). Much to my chagrin, I've learned that the name "Aerial Burial" was not wholly original. What I thought was a clever and original title to something that didn't exist, I find that they do indeed offer similar services to those who wish to go out in a blaze of glamor. Although I think I might still have dibs on the concept of my aerial burial, in that your remains are fired out of a canon in a spectacular display of extravagance and grandeur. I can think of no more an apt, 21st century American tradition than to be blasted out of something upon death. I'd even be keen on donning my body with an American-flag helmet.
I bought a smashing new camera. I spent too many hours being wishy-washy, but laying down that kinda kuai makes me jittery. So I had to be absolutely sure that I was buying something that I was happy. Though in the process of such, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I gave in to the cute. I purchased not a super zoomy camera with all kinds of bells and whistles, but a small James Bond style camera more suited for looking awesome. Ultimately, I was won over by the fact that the camera had not one, but two, lenses built right into it. One is for normal picture taking, the other is for wide-style. It makes for some easy framing, I have to say. And like I said, its small and cute. Like Dad's camera. And cute things drive the ladies crazy here in Chinaland from what I understand (or from what's going on in my mind at least).
With said camera, I've been seizing the opportunity to make many such photos. All of which I can assure you are of the highest quality. And there are some videos as well of the classes that we teach at Carden. In the near future, you will see just how impossibly cute the kids are capable of being. I mean, there's regular cute, and then there's the dangerous cute. Cute that transcends any preconceived notion one might have about the definition of cute. Cute that redefines the term in an intangible way, one of those "you don't know it until you see it" kind of ways. It's that cute.
But, and there's always a but in China, uploading at this point is painfully slow. So I'm going to try again tomorrow when the planets are aligned, the temperature is just right outside, and when the bell tower chimes at half past 3 o'clock, because that's what it freaking seems to take to get the ever-elusive "fast-internet" connection that has only been spoken of in old wives' tales.
I've been doing some serious socializing as of late. Whether its via the new part-time style jobs or just going out more, I've been exposing myself to some seriously high consecutive hours of intense, social activity. Almost like the Ironman of hangin' out. It's intense. For me at least.
During one such marathon social occasions, Annie, Lauren, and I discussed the idea of originality and how it feels to have some things of your own copied or outright stolen (such as piano songs and such). And how much I don't really care. In the midst of this, I mentioned my desire of what I call an "Aerial Burial". That is, that I would very much enjoy this method of burial post-mortem (definitely not pre-mortem though). Much to my chagrin, I've learned that the name "Aerial Burial" was not wholly original. What I thought was a clever and original title to something that didn't exist, I find that they do indeed offer similar services to those who wish to go out in a blaze of glamor. Although I think I might still have dibs on the concept of my aerial burial, in that your remains are fired out of a canon in a spectacular display of extravagance and grandeur. I can think of no more an apt, 21st century American tradition than to be blasted out of something upon death. I'd even be keen on donning my body with an American-flag helmet.
I bought a smashing new camera. I spent too many hours being wishy-washy, but laying down that kinda kuai makes me jittery. So I had to be absolutely sure that I was buying something that I was happy. Though in the process of such, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I gave in to the cute. I purchased not a super zoomy camera with all kinds of bells and whistles, but a small James Bond style camera more suited for looking awesome. Ultimately, I was won over by the fact that the camera had not one, but two, lenses built right into it. One is for normal picture taking, the other is for wide-style. It makes for some easy framing, I have to say. And like I said, its small and cute. Like Dad's camera. And cute things drive the ladies crazy here in Chinaland from what I understand (or from what's going on in my mind at least).
With said camera, I've been seizing the opportunity to make many such photos. All of which I can assure you are of the highest quality. And there are some videos as well of the classes that we teach at Carden. In the near future, you will see just how impossibly cute the kids are capable of being. I mean, there's regular cute, and then there's the dangerous cute. Cute that transcends any preconceived notion one might have about the definition of cute. Cute that redefines the term in an intangible way, one of those "you don't know it until you see it" kind of ways. It's that cute.
But, and there's always a but in China, uploading at this point is painfully slow. So I'm going to try again tomorrow when the planets are aligned, the temperature is just right outside, and when the bell tower chimes at half past 3 o'clock, because that's what it freaking seems to take to get the ever-elusive "fast-internet" connection that has only been spoken of in old wives' tales.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Me: 1 China: 0
So with the help of Cami et al., I think I've beaten the system. I have a temporary non-Chinese IP address, and with such, I can post this message. We'll see if it works. I'm hopeful though.
Finally, a chance for an update. Alot has happened since I was slapped in the face with the Great Firewall of China, so it will be difficult to post much. So I'll just go with what I was just thinking about.
First of all, I'm totally stoked. It isn't because of anything major. In fact, that I'm stoked at all about what I'm stoked about is a testament of how easy it is to stoke me. I have live bookmarks on my browser, which allows me to browse my addiction-satisfaction sites much more quickly, leaving room for doing more valuable things with my time. Like glancing around my room and deciding not to clean. I have the most important stuff up there, such as video-game based comics, pointless news stories, short low-quality animations, and a real news source (just so I can kid myself). In addition (whoa, I almost accidentally wrote "addiction", which is probably more applicable), I have a site that tells me what words to say to stay hip with today's fly youngsters. I think the definition of "kthxbye" is extremely funny though, which is what this paragraph was getting to in a very circuitous fashion.
This past weekend, all the teachers banded together and went on an adventure in an agrestic area just outside of Beijing. We all had a chance to bond surviving the elements as we climbed up a gradually sloping, yet vicious, mountain and braved the unforgiving, placid waters of a giant lake in our duck boats. Later, we all bonded in the only way we know possible: By drinking, playing pool, bowling, and "singing" songs on karaoke. These poor songs never knew what was coming. It would be nice to say we(I) butchered them. Yes... less butchering, more torturing. I tortured Simon and Garfunkle's "The Sound of Silence".
The next day, Xiao Gao (Only the most awesome driver/repairman/organizer/partyplanner/sage/mentor/genius that's ever existed) put together a game for us to play. Since it was difficult to explain the rules of this totally made up game in both Chinese and English, it resulted in alot of us just running around bumping into other people. Which, to be honest, was a lot of fun anyway. I've never played a game and felt so incredibly out of touch with reality at the same time.
More updates. My camera... she is still broken. I was trying to find some way of fixing it for cheaper than 1600 yuan, but its not possible. So I don't know what to do. I have to do something though, I need more pictures.
Ok enough for now. Eating time.
Finally, a chance for an update. Alot has happened since I was slapped in the face with the Great Firewall of China, so it will be difficult to post much. So I'll just go with what I was just thinking about.
First of all, I'm totally stoked. It isn't because of anything major. In fact, that I'm stoked at all about what I'm stoked about is a testament of how easy it is to stoke me. I have live bookmarks on my browser, which allows me to browse my addiction-satisfaction sites much more quickly, leaving room for doing more valuable things with my time. Like glancing around my room and deciding not to clean. I have the most important stuff up there, such as video-game based comics, pointless news stories, short low-quality animations, and a real news source (just so I can kid myself). In addition (whoa, I almost accidentally wrote "addiction", which is probably more applicable), I have a site that tells me what words to say to stay hip with today's fly youngsters. I think the definition of "kthxbye" is extremely funny though, which is what this paragraph was getting to in a very circuitous fashion.
This past weekend, all the teachers banded together and went on an adventure in an agrestic area just outside of Beijing. We all had a chance to bond surviving the elements as we climbed up a gradually sloping, yet vicious, mountain and braved the unforgiving, placid waters of a giant lake in our duck boats. Later, we all bonded in the only way we know possible: By drinking, playing pool, bowling, and "singing" songs on karaoke. These poor songs never knew what was coming. It would be nice to say we(I) butchered them. Yes... less butchering, more torturing. I tortured Simon and Garfunkle's "The Sound of Silence".
The next day, Xiao Gao (Only the most awesome driver/repairman/organizer/partyplanner/sage/mentor/genius that's ever existed) put together a game for us to play. Since it was difficult to explain the rules of this totally made up game in both Chinese and English, it resulted in alot of us just running around bumping into other people. Which, to be honest, was a lot of fun anyway. I've never played a game and felt so incredibly out of touch with reality at the same time.
More updates. My camera... she is still broken. I was trying to find some way of fixing it for cheaper than 1600 yuan, but its not possible. So I don't know what to do. I have to do something though, I need more pictures.
Ok enough for now. Eating time.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Viva la revolucion!
Warning: This E-Chron is one of the least interesting thus far, I just felt like typing whatever I wanted to. Don't blame me if you are bored with the banalities of today's nonsensical ramblings. This isn't self-deprecation. I write a whole paragraph on how sad it was to lose a stick of candy...
Today is a day to remember... Today marks the day that the E-Chronicles are officially banned in China. I heard the news this morning, and wanted to see for myself. Sure enough, I typed in that simple, yet appealing url "echron.blogspot.com" and lo and behold I got the "This Page is Not Available". Upon discovery of this information, I was surprised to find that my feelings were not an ominous sense of paranoia, disappointment that it will be more difficult for some to read the blog, or fear that my site will be taken down. Nope. I felt elated. Even a little empowered. I wasn't sure at first, until I spoke with Annie:
Drew: "Annie, my blog is blocked. Isn't that weird? I don't think I said something anti-China or anything."
Annie: "Whoa! You were blocked! That's so cool! You're like a revolutionary!"
Drew: "Yeah! I kinda am!"
It suddenly became clear. I was elated because I was proud of the fact that maybe - maybe - I was well-known enough to be singled out and blocked! Maybe even I could photoshop a Che-like poster of myself! I found out later that, in fact, all blogger.com blogs are blocked... not just the e-chron. Bummer.
So I think I'll start a new section entitled "Scary Stuff that Moms Should Not Read". Things happen in Beijing, like the mystery people that got into my home a few days ago, or being ripped off, getting ill, being offered live chickens for dinner, etc., that seem to be the bane of all people who read this and may have loved ones travel abroad. So, I had to post this little article on the 10 things that could be improved in Beijing. I most certainly agree with these. And that leads to my first thing that Moms shouldn't read: Counting tonight, I have technically been hit by a bus and a car. I think the Xi'an thing was when I was "hit" by a bus... as in, I apparently wasn't crossing the street at a red light fast enough, so a bus decided to creep up and nudge my backpack a little. I looked at the driver, and he knew what he was doing. And then, tonight, I was nudged by a car on the way to my most favoritist Muslim food restaurant. It seems that they enjoy doing this most when they are under the inconvenience of having to let inferior bipedal humans cross in front of them while they're at a stop light. The nerve of those people who think they have to walk in Beijing!
The other day, I was walking and eating this fruit skewer they have here. Its like candy apples, but candy everything. I mean, they just take whatever fruit that exists, stab it with a long stick, and dip it into some sugary... something. So I had one with oranges on it. I ate two as I was walking across the footbridge. When I started walking through the path to my building, I did the unthinkable: I dropped the skewer. There were still probably 6 or 7 orange slices left on there. This is the random thought I wanted to post though, and I've thought this before. How come, when you do something like that, you actually stop and survey the damage for a few seconds, when it is clear that there's nothing you can do. Its kind of like when you trip, and you know you just tripped on your own clumpy foot or something, and you still look back and try to assign responsibilty to some blade of grass that jumped up and tangled itself in your shoelace.
I stopped and stared at the catastrophe heart-broken. But idiotic fleeting thoughts rushed through my head, as if I would be able to actually rectify the situation somehow and salvage what I had lost for further consumption. Why? Why would I think that. Sticky, syrupy, candied oranges fell straight into dirt. There's no 5-second rule. There's no turning back. So I just had a moment of silence for the loss and tossed the skewer in the refuse bin, and walked away, head lowered in shame and pondering where I went wrong. It was quite a defeat, I can assure you.
Ok, this has been a pointless e-chron, but I don't care. Not everything that happens over here is adventurous and epic, no matter how I much I try to exagger... I mean, tell the honest, unquestionable truth about everything that goes on in China.
Today is a day to remember... Today marks the day that the E-Chronicles are officially banned in China. I heard the news this morning, and wanted to see for myself. Sure enough, I typed in that simple, yet appealing url "echron.blogspot.com" and lo and behold I got the "This Page is Not Available". Upon discovery of this information, I was surprised to find that my feelings were not an ominous sense of paranoia, disappointment that it will be more difficult for some to read the blog, or fear that my site will be taken down. Nope. I felt elated. Even a little empowered. I wasn't sure at first, until I spoke with Annie:
Drew: "Annie, my blog is blocked. Isn't that weird? I don't think I said something anti-China or anything."
Annie: "Whoa! You were blocked! That's so cool! You're like a revolutionary!"
Drew: "Yeah! I kinda am!"
It suddenly became clear. I was elated because I was proud of the fact that maybe - maybe - I was well-known enough to be singled out and blocked! Maybe even I could photoshop a Che-like poster of myself! I found out later that, in fact, all blogger.com blogs are blocked... not just the e-chron. Bummer.
So I think I'll start a new section entitled "Scary Stuff that Moms Should Not Read". Things happen in Beijing, like the mystery people that got into my home a few days ago, or being ripped off, getting ill, being offered live chickens for dinner, etc., that seem to be the bane of all people who read this and may have loved ones travel abroad. So, I had to post this little article on the 10 things that could be improved in Beijing. I most certainly agree with these. And that leads to my first thing that Moms shouldn't read: Counting tonight, I have technically been hit by a bus and a car. I think the Xi'an thing was when I was "hit" by a bus... as in, I apparently wasn't crossing the street at a red light fast enough, so a bus decided to creep up and nudge my backpack a little. I looked at the driver, and he knew what he was doing. And then, tonight, I was nudged by a car on the way to my most favoritist Muslim food restaurant. It seems that they enjoy doing this most when they are under the inconvenience of having to let inferior bipedal humans cross in front of them while they're at a stop light. The nerve of those people who think they have to walk in Beijing!
The other day, I was walking and eating this fruit skewer they have here. Its like candy apples, but candy everything. I mean, they just take whatever fruit that exists, stab it with a long stick, and dip it into some sugary... something. So I had one with oranges on it. I ate two as I was walking across the footbridge. When I started walking through the path to my building, I did the unthinkable: I dropped the skewer. There were still probably 6 or 7 orange slices left on there. This is the random thought I wanted to post though, and I've thought this before. How come, when you do something like that, you actually stop and survey the damage for a few seconds, when it is clear that there's nothing you can do. Its kind of like when you trip, and you know you just tripped on your own clumpy foot or something, and you still look back and try to assign responsibilty to some blade of grass that jumped up and tangled itself in your shoelace.
I stopped and stared at the catastrophe heart-broken. But idiotic fleeting thoughts rushed through my head, as if I would be able to actually rectify the situation somehow and salvage what I had lost for further consumption. Why? Why would I think that. Sticky, syrupy, candied oranges fell straight into dirt. There's no 5-second rule. There's no turning back. So I just had a moment of silence for the loss and tossed the skewer in the refuse bin, and walked away, head lowered in shame and pondering where I went wrong. It was quite a defeat, I can assure you.
Ok, this has been a pointless e-chron, but I don't care. Not everything that happens over here is adventurous and epic, no matter how I much I try to exagger... I mean, tell the honest, unquestionable truth about everything that goes on in China.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Ill... that says "ill" with a capital "i".
I'm sick. Well, sickish. I woke up this morning to the sound of my phone ringing, which sounded like it was miles away from my bed. My throat was killing me. I had to /spit quite a lot, which makes me concerned that I'm becoming more and more like the citizens of Beijing with each passing day. Ich bin ein Beijinger!
But! My sickness benefits you, the ever-faithful E-Chron indulger! Due to my ailment, I stayed inside today and worked on the E-Chron more! Now the E-Chron is cooler than ever, with a YouTube enhanced intro movie/song! Now the E-Chronicles of Drew are 80% more epic! It took way longer to make that video than it should have, but who cares? Not me, I'll tell you that right now.
Ok that video took alot out of me, time for some pocky.
But! My sickness benefits you, the ever-faithful E-Chron indulger! Due to my ailment, I stayed inside today and worked on the E-Chron more! Now the E-Chron is cooler than ever, with a YouTube enhanced intro movie/song! Now the E-Chronicles of Drew are 80% more epic! It took way longer to make that video than it should have, but who cares? Not me, I'll tell you that right now.
Ok that video took alot out of me, time for some pocky.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Xi'an, among other things.
Well, there was some good news today. Dork news, but good nonetheless. China apparently has lifted its blocking of the super-subjective yet incredibly handy website of Wikipedia. This makes me very happy. I'm sure that their concerns as a nation are legitamate. After all, anyone can post pretty much anything they want on there about any topic. So, imagine what kind of "biased" information must be on there about... things that have happened in the past. You know... with certain "4-sided geometric shapes" in the center of Beijing, if you catch my drift.
Also, yesterday we were learning how to make the "Ch" sound, as in the word "Cheese". After saying "Cheese" about 50 times, I started really missing some Western foods (i.e. pizza). So I got some Papa John's last night and doused that fire as quickly as I possibly could. I hadn't had cheese in a very long time, and I haven't had milk since I've been here. And, AND... I haven't had a single burger or burger-like sandwich either. Its shocking. I had a submarine sandwich, but it was kind of gross... mainly because they put mayonnaise on it. Mayonnaise... on a friggin pizza sub. But I think that mayonnaise in the eye's of the Chinese people is more like "America sauce". So its like, its the condiment that American's eat. So slap it on anything you want and presto! Instant Western-style food!
One more thing, I've been valiantly staving off the marauding barbarians of sickness for the past week. Its not working too well. I feel like crap right now. And I hate that I feel like crap, which just makes the crap-feeling that much more crappy. Because the weekends are usually the best time I have to hang out with Cami and co. and have fun times together. But today when I went over, all I could do was dwell on the fact that I felt like crap. So I took some medicine, which made things worse due to the groggy repercussions.
The day didn't start off so hot either, as I was jolted from sleep to consciousness from the sound of a loud banging on the front door. There were some Chinese people out there who said alot of things in not-English and then came in the house. This one guy with blue plastic bags rubber-banded to his shoes opened the kitchen cabinet and mumbled a few indiscernable things to himself, marched right back out and said really quickly, "Si bai wu shi wu kuai". This translates to, "That will be 455 yuan". I understood that much. But what the hell? He didn't do anything and then started barking to me in mumbly Chinese (and yes, I can now discern mumbly Chinese from clearly spoken Chinese, in case you were following the progress of my language acquisition) about how much out of the tush I was supposed to fork over to him. Then this collectively acrimonious lot kept saying the price over and over and holding out there palms for me to commence forkage. So I lied of course and said that I didn't have that kind of money, what do you think I'm made of Mao bills? I think not busters... and bustette! So I called Ms. Wang and several others in a desperate attempt to get someone on the phone to tell them to leave. I failed at this, since it was around 8 AM and were asleep. So I got them to leave the only way I knew how: I knew how to say "go" in Chinese, and just repeated over and over. They could have been legitimate repair folk or something, but how the hell was I supposed to know? So, I just said, "Tso! Tso! Tso! Wo bu kuai! Wo bu kuai!" I'm sure this way of saying "I have no money" was totally incorrect. But it got the point across. I think they claimed they would be back later, but I fled the apartment before I saw them again. Now I'm back and there's no sign of breaking and entering, so everything must be square. Ms. Wang called back and told me, post hoc, not to give money to strangers. Good advice.
So... back to Xi'an.
I just realized as well, that post was completely lost...
This is a huge bummer, I hated writing about the bus ride down there. Oh well, here it goes...
We got on the bus in Beijing around 5:3o-ish and made our way to Xi'an. Once we loaded on, I knew instantly that I was in for a major treat. A sensory Dante's Inferno, if you will. Filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of what must have been equivalent to the nastier parts of Dante's little trip through hell. The floors were wet with some sort of... liquid. And to make the deal even sweeter, we had to take our shoes off at the front of the bus. So if the goal was to see how many bacteria could be soaked into each passengers' socks by the time the 15 hour ride was over, they most have broken some records. The mattress provided also featured an array of several mysterious human stains of some sort. The whole bus could have seriously given even Gil Grissom a run for his money.
So anyway, lucky me, I was on the top-middle bunk. I actually went to sleep around 10 pm. Poor Laura Kavazanjian and Annie barely got any sleep though. They were on the bottom bunk. Around 7 am, I was awakened to a cacophany of lung-hacking, guffawing, snorting, and coughing, accompanied by the aromatic smell of about 10 lit cigarettes in a poorly ventilated environment. Plus, according to Laura, someone spilled a bottle of pee. People were up and playing cards and having a wee of a time laughing and often saying, "Mei guo!" again and again. They were talking about us, like Chinese people seem to like to do. It's like Americans are celebrities and performing monkeys at the same time often in China. So, to add to the excitement, our bus broke down several times along the way. A few times even, a festooned officiall-looking fellow boarded the bus and poked around in a curious fashion. That was definately comforting. I took a peek, and then pretended to be asleep. For some reason I was worried that they might throw me off the bus for being American.
So.
What should have been a 15 hour trip, became a 19 hour trip. It was nearly unbearable, and I can tolerate a lot. I really can. This was one of the first times I've had to just concentrate as hard as I could in order to block out all the bad. It worked, I didn't flip out on anyone. But then again, it wasn't a position I'd really enjoy being in again any time soon.
This is the only picture I have of the horrid thing.
So... we arrived at Xi'an and burst forth from the stinking husk that was the remains of a thoroughly defiled sleeper bus. Then we continued on to find our way to the hotel.
We made it to the hotel, it was a beautiful sight. I indulged myself in what was, perhaps, the most rewarding shower I've had in my entire life.
More to come...
Increasingly better experiences too.
Also, yesterday we were learning how to make the "Ch" sound, as in the word "Cheese". After saying "Cheese" about 50 times, I started really missing some Western foods (i.e. pizza). So I got some Papa John's last night and doused that fire as quickly as I possibly could. I hadn't had cheese in a very long time, and I haven't had milk since I've been here. And, AND... I haven't had a single burger or burger-like sandwich either. Its shocking. I had a submarine sandwich, but it was kind of gross... mainly because they put mayonnaise on it. Mayonnaise... on a friggin pizza sub. But I think that mayonnaise in the eye's of the Chinese people is more like "America sauce". So its like, its the condiment that American's eat. So slap it on anything you want and presto! Instant Western-style food!
One more thing, I've been valiantly staving off the marauding barbarians of sickness for the past week. Its not working too well. I feel like crap right now. And I hate that I feel like crap, which just makes the crap-feeling that much more crappy. Because the weekends are usually the best time I have to hang out with Cami and co. and have fun times together. But today when I went over, all I could do was dwell on the fact that I felt like crap. So I took some medicine, which made things worse due to the groggy repercussions.
The day didn't start off so hot either, as I was jolted from sleep to consciousness from the sound of a loud banging on the front door. There were some Chinese people out there who said alot of things in not-English and then came in the house. This one guy with blue plastic bags rubber-banded to his shoes opened the kitchen cabinet and mumbled a few indiscernable things to himself, marched right back out and said really quickly, "Si bai wu shi wu kuai". This translates to, "That will be 455 yuan". I understood that much. But what the hell? He didn't do anything and then started barking to me in mumbly Chinese (and yes, I can now discern mumbly Chinese from clearly spoken Chinese, in case you were following the progress of my language acquisition) about how much out of the tush I was supposed to fork over to him. Then this collectively acrimonious lot kept saying the price over and over and holding out there palms for me to commence forkage. So I lied of course and said that I didn't have that kind of money, what do you think I'm made of Mao bills? I think not busters... and bustette! So I called Ms. Wang and several others in a desperate attempt to get someone on the phone to tell them to leave. I failed at this, since it was around 8 AM and were asleep. So I got them to leave the only way I knew how: I knew how to say "go" in Chinese, and just repeated over and over. They could have been legitimate repair folk or something, but how the hell was I supposed to know? So, I just said, "Tso! Tso! Tso! Wo bu kuai! Wo bu kuai!" I'm sure this way of saying "I have no money" was totally incorrect. But it got the point across. I think they claimed they would be back later, but I fled the apartment before I saw them again. Now I'm back and there's no sign of breaking and entering, so everything must be square. Ms. Wang called back and told me, post hoc, not to give money to strangers. Good advice.
So... back to Xi'an.
I just realized as well, that post was completely lost...
This is a huge bummer, I hated writing about the bus ride down there. Oh well, here it goes...
We got on the bus in Beijing around 5:3o-ish and made our way to Xi'an. Once we loaded on, I knew instantly that I was in for a major treat. A sensory Dante's Inferno, if you will. Filled with the sights, sounds, and smells of what must have been equivalent to the nastier parts of Dante's little trip through hell. The floors were wet with some sort of... liquid. And to make the deal even sweeter, we had to take our shoes off at the front of the bus. So if the goal was to see how many bacteria could be soaked into each passengers' socks by the time the 15 hour ride was over, they most have broken some records. The mattress provided also featured an array of several mysterious human stains of some sort. The whole bus could have seriously given even Gil Grissom a run for his money.
So anyway, lucky me, I was on the top-middle bunk. I actually went to sleep around 10 pm. Poor Laura Kavazanjian and Annie barely got any sleep though. They were on the bottom bunk. Around 7 am, I was awakened to a cacophany of lung-hacking, guffawing, snorting, and coughing, accompanied by the aromatic smell of about 10 lit cigarettes in a poorly ventilated environment. Plus, according to Laura, someone spilled a bottle of pee. People were up and playing cards and having a wee of a time laughing and often saying, "Mei guo!" again and again. They were talking about us, like Chinese people seem to like to do. It's like Americans are celebrities and performing monkeys at the same time often in China. So, to add to the excitement, our bus broke down several times along the way. A few times even, a festooned officiall-looking fellow boarded the bus and poked around in a curious fashion. That was definately comforting. I took a peek, and then pretended to be asleep. For some reason I was worried that they might throw me off the bus for being American.
So.
What should have been a 15 hour trip, became a 19 hour trip. It was nearly unbearable, and I can tolerate a lot. I really can. This was one of the first times I've had to just concentrate as hard as I could in order to block out all the bad. It worked, I didn't flip out on anyone. But then again, it wasn't a position I'd really enjoy being in again any time soon.
This is the only picture I have of the horrid thing.We made it to the hotel, it was a beautiful sight. I indulged myself in what was, perhaps, the most rewarding shower I've had in my entire life.
More to come...
Increasingly better experiences too.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Ok maybe not that bad...
I have been trying and trying to find a place that can fix my super-cool Canon S2 IS, with people offering wildly variant estimations of times and prices, ranging from 200 yuan in one day to 1600 yuan in 3 days. Of course, the person who offered the 200 yuan in one day was someone who looked at the camera briefly and said, "I don't know what's wrong with it, but I'll give it a shot." Adam went with me to translate, I don't understand Chinese well enough to know that that is what he said, if thats what you're thinking. Adam also informed me that some freelance, rogue camera repairmen will gut the poor contraption, take out all the good parts, and replace them with crappy parts, then sell the good parts to other people. I didn't like the sound of that. So we took the camera to the official Canon repair place.
The gentleman there informed me with complete indifference and torpor that the problem can only be solved by replacing the lens, and since my American warranty doesn't apply to China (and really, why should it?), it would cost 1600 ($200) yuan to fix. He wholeheartedly recommended that I ditch the camera and buy a cheap, no-brand camera until I go back home and can cash in on the warranty there. I, of course, could not capture this instant (or any other things I do for awhile) on camera, so here's the best representation I have to offer:
Apparently, this "E18" Canon problem is one that is rampant among customers. So much that there is an entire website registered to the victims of the affliction, and a impending class-action suit against the fine folks of Canon Inc. Apparently, according to Canon, you CANNOT touch the lens as it is moving... EVER. Similarly, thou SHALT NOT power the camera on if it's close to having dead batteries. If you do, the camera will swoon and faint under the pressure of having to do too much work. Its funny too, the Canon shop had photos on the wall taken by Canon users. Things like, rambunctious tykes or galloping gazelles taken in extraordinarily hazardous-looking conditions. And yet, the S2 IS seems to have the structural integrity of a dainty little flower. I'm sure they used some super Canon camera... either that or they took 20 s2 IS' to Africa and used them like disposables.
So... I don't know what to do. I was this close (right now I'm holding my thumb and index finger extremely close together) to shelling out the dough for the fix, because I so miss the camera. I could take photos like this one of a darling little chinese youth so easily.
And yet, who's to say if I did pay for it how long I'd have a working camera for? I could shell out the cash-money, use it for another 2 weeks, and graze the lens as I take off the lens cap. Then I'm out 200 more dollars and even more disheartened.
Anyway, until I do something, here are some more photos of things some of you have wanted to see in the only way I can make them for now:
This is my 1st grade class. Aren't they cute?
My apartment. What a comfy couch!
I have been trying and trying to find a place that can fix my super-cool Canon S2 IS, with people offering wildly variant estimations of times and prices, ranging from 200 yuan in one day to 1600 yuan in 3 days. Of course, the person who offered the 200 yuan in one day was someone who looked at the camera briefly and said, "I don't know what's wrong with it, but I'll give it a shot." Adam went with me to translate, I don't understand Chinese well enough to know that that is what he said, if thats what you're thinking. Adam also informed me that some freelance, rogue camera repairmen will gut the poor contraption, take out all the good parts, and replace them with crappy parts, then sell the good parts to other people. I didn't like the sound of that. So we took the camera to the official Canon repair place.
The gentleman there informed me with complete indifference and torpor that the problem can only be solved by replacing the lens, and since my American warranty doesn't apply to China (and really, why should it?), it would cost 1600 ($200) yuan to fix. He wholeheartedly recommended that I ditch the camera and buy a cheap, no-brand camera until I go back home and can cash in on the warranty there. I, of course, could not capture this instant (or any other things I do for awhile) on camera, so here's the best representation I have to offer:
Apparently, this "E18" Canon problem is one that is rampant among customers. So much that there is an entire website registered to the victims of the affliction, and a impending class-action suit against the fine folks of Canon Inc. Apparently, according to Canon, you CANNOT touch the lens as it is moving... EVER. Similarly, thou SHALT NOT power the camera on if it's close to having dead batteries. If you do, the camera will swoon and faint under the pressure of having to do too much work. Its funny too, the Canon shop had photos on the wall taken by Canon users. Things like, rambunctious tykes or galloping gazelles taken in extraordinarily hazardous-looking conditions. And yet, the S2 IS seems to have the structural integrity of a dainty little flower. I'm sure they used some super Canon camera... either that or they took 20 s2 IS' to Africa and used them like disposables.
So... I don't know what to do. I was this close (right now I'm holding my thumb and index finger extremely close together) to shelling out the dough for the fix, because I so miss the camera. I could take photos like this one of a darling little chinese youth so easily.
And yet, who's to say if I did pay for it how long I'd have a working camera for? I could shell out the cash-money, use it for another 2 weeks, and graze the lens as I take off the lens cap. Then I'm out 200 more dollars and even more disheartened.
Anyway, until I do something, here are some more photos of things some of you have wanted to see in the only way I can make them for now:
This is my 1st grade class. Aren't they cute?
My apartment. What a comfy couch!Friday, October 13, 2006
How frustrating
I typed a post this morning about the Xi'an trip, and I guess didn't wait long enough for it to upload before I closed my laptop. I thought I had waited long enough. I could have sworn it. But obviously I didn't. We're going bowling tonight, but tomorrow there will be an update. I promise.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Somehow...
Somehow, the three of us, with our tenuous-at-best grasp of the Chinese language, one dog-eared copy of The Lonely Planet, and a lot of bleary-eyed wandering about, managed to make our way back to Beijing. Don't ask me how. And we did it all and only cut 2/3rds into our 3000 yuan budget. We could have done it even cheaper, if we had gone the hostel route. But still, all that for the equivalent of just over 200 dollars is pretty darn good in my opinion. We even got bamboozled a couple of times.
I bought two souverniers, one for Mom and one for Laura-Blythe. I bargained for them too, which is one thing I never thought I'd be able to do. One more thing that I thought I'd never be able to do was done on this trip. I'll give you a hint: It involves Chinese public restrooms and... well, me. Yay for quadraceps.
There is a lot to write about. A lot. And I'm going to write about it in chronological order, instead of from recent memory. Which sucks because I don't like the first part. I want to pretend it didn't happen. And the last part is my favorite. I may have found peace and enlightenment on Mt. Hua. If I did, I forgot what it was all about after playing the Nintendo DS on the bus ride back for a few hours. Oh well, I'm sure it will come back to me. So anyway, expect the next few posts to be all about the trip.
Anyway, this one doesn't count. This one is the post to say I'm back.
I'm back.
I bought two souverniers, one for Mom and one for Laura-Blythe. I bargained for them too, which is one thing I never thought I'd be able to do. One more thing that I thought I'd never be able to do was done on this trip. I'll give you a hint: It involves Chinese public restrooms and... well, me. Yay for quadraceps.
There is a lot to write about. A lot. And I'm going to write about it in chronological order, instead of from recent memory. Which sucks because I don't like the first part. I want to pretend it didn't happen. And the last part is my favorite. I may have found peace and enlightenment on Mt. Hua. If I did, I forgot what it was all about after playing the Nintendo DS on the bus ride back for a few hours. Oh well, I'm sure it will come back to me. So anyway, expect the next few posts to be all about the trip.
Anyway, this one doesn't count. This one is the post to say I'm back.
I'm back.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Xi'an so far
In Xi'an right now. At the hotel, but can't post much because I'm borrowing the manager's computer. Just got ripped off and had a taxi driver cackle at us. We payed 20 yuan more than we should have. It wasn't much, but still. So, I'm kind of pissed. Otherwise, things are going well. Lots of pictures/video.
Ok gotta go. Update in a few days.
Ok gotta go. Update in a few days.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Leaving for a week
This weekend is the Lunar Festival, which marks the commencement of our weeklong October break. For the duration of such, Annie, Laura, and myself will be travelling to Xi'an to see some statues or something. I plan to eat lots of Xi'an Jao-zi (which Xi'an is apparently famous for) and link to as many things as possible.
My point being is that I will be gone from Sunday night (October 1st) until Saturday morning (October 7th). Which means a whole week on no update goodness (unless I stumble across an internet cafe, and can pop in for a second to update). Please don't stop reading though. This blog is like Puff, the Magic Dragon. When people stop visiting him, E-chron will cease his fearless roar, green html code will fall like rain, and E-chron that Magic Journal will slip sadly into his 404 (file not found) cave. Damn, that came off more guilt-trippy than I planned, my bad.
Before I leave, I'll be making one more post to further delineate my exact plans (Laura put together an itinerary). Then whomever so chooses could get a rough idea of where I am at all times during the trip. Furthermore (and this one goes out to all ya'lls out there who worry even slightly about my safety), Ms. Wang insisted and insisted that we take her phone number (which I was planning on doing anyway) so that in case of some emergency, she can get us back no matter what. Gotta love safety nets. Aside from the fact that she's looking out for our well being, I can understand her standpoint on the business end: If all buses became booked and we were stuck for whatever reason (unlikely), she'd be out 3 teachers for the beginning of the week. That would suck.
I really do like the set up we have going here at Carden China. They take good care of you. I highly recommend it to people who might want to teach in China. I wonder if you could find this blog now by searching "Carden China" on google...
I told myself I'd start using some GRE words in the e-chrons to help me study a bit, but I'm too dilatory tonight. Hehe.
My point being is that I will be gone from Sunday night (October 1st) until Saturday morning (October 7th). Which means a whole week on no update goodness (unless I stumble across an internet cafe, and can pop in for a second to update). Please don't stop reading though. This blog is like Puff, the Magic Dragon. When people stop visiting him, E-chron will cease his fearless roar, green html code will fall like rain, and E-chron that Magic Journal will slip sadly into his 404 (file not found) cave. Damn, that came off more guilt-trippy than I planned, my bad.
Before I leave, I'll be making one more post to further delineate my exact plans (Laura put together an itinerary). Then whomever so chooses could get a rough idea of where I am at all times during the trip. Furthermore (and this one goes out to all ya'lls out there who worry even slightly about my safety), Ms. Wang insisted and insisted that we take her phone number (which I was planning on doing anyway) so that in case of some emergency, she can get us back no matter what. Gotta love safety nets. Aside from the fact that she's looking out for our well being, I can understand her standpoint on the business end: If all buses became booked and we were stuck for whatever reason (unlikely), she'd be out 3 teachers for the beginning of the week. That would suck.
I really do like the set up we have going here at Carden China. They take good care of you. I highly recommend it to people who might want to teach in China. I wonder if you could find this blog now by searching "Carden China" on google...
I told myself I'd start using some GRE words in the e-chrons to help me study a bit, but I'm too dilatory tonight. Hehe.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Great Wall AGAIN?!
Ok just a little tidbit that I haven't added before that I think some of you might appreciate, or be appalled by. And yes, the same thing can enduce both reactions (e.g., The Great Faux-Jewish Escapade of 2002). The first day of training, the TAs came into the classroom to help us prepare. After going over the material, Eileen gave me a list of the children. Almost half had English names, the other half were nameless. So I was given the duty, nay, the privilege of assigning them their English names.
Did I name them something close to the sounds of their Chinese names? No, of course not. Too easy. Did I name them after friends, relatives, or other loved/respected ones? No, of course not. My brain wasn't thinking that way. So, how did I name them? After characters from Star Wars, Firefly, and video games, of course. This was stranger than I imagined, as kids started looking and acting in my eyes like their counterparts (I'm sure some of you will know these). I now see Luke as being sort of the one that will come into his own and be a powerful person one day. I see Han as a rebel mercenary type kid who's too cool for school. I see Kaylee as a quirky, cute little ball of optimism. And so on. There's also a Jane, but I couldn't get away with naming a boy "Jayne". Its funny though, cause she's tough and stubborn just like her counterpart. Oh well. Others that were turned down as too out there or complicated were Mal, River, Simon, Chewie, Jabba, Boba, and almost everyone I used to play WoW with. Hehe, I'm kidding... mostly. While I think that Boba Fett is less of a stretch than some of the names they actually give (such as Smile, or a boy named Sunshine), I guess I would have been crossing some line there. But, Celera came damn close to being one of the girls. That name was very well received (Sorry Cel!). There are also two exceptions: I named one of the kids Dan, because I knew he'd be dedicated just like Mr. Hubball, and one of the kids Jack, because I got tired of thinking of weird names.
Ok onto the Wall.
After coming back down, we walked further to the east. The sun was setting quickly, but we were interested in seeing if the wall continued further to another town (that has good Jao za, if thats how its spelled). We kept walking until we approached another impasse. We technically could have crossed, but that area was a little too rugged for our liking. Plus there wasn't 100% certainty that it was the right way. So we about-faced back to a decent camping spot we found.
We "set up" camp, which consisted of unfurling a sleeping bag and mat, and Cory cooked some fine - damned fine - pasta. It was a very cold, but clear, night. I had not seen the stars since I'd been here. It was very nice to see them. Very nice. I even caught a glimpes of a shooting star here and there. And, as I drifted of to sleep sans glasses, I peered through my sleeping bag up at the stars and thought for waaay too long on why one star was significantly brighter than the others. I erroneously concluded that it was a different part of the world, so maybe some stars shine more vividly than in America. Yeah, it was the moon, dumbass. I'm a sharp one, I tell ya. Anyway, after some intense crossword puzzle playing, we "went to sleep". I say it like that because it was hard to. First, I wasn't very comfortable. Second, it was pretty darn cold. Third, I couldn't get over the fact that I was freaking camping on the Great Wall of China.
So after a full night of tossing and turning and rolling down hill into a bush a few times, it was morning. I poked my nose out the top of my sleeping bag to get a whiff of cool, fresh air. The dew was glistening on the sleeping bag, and... the air... was so fresh. Sorry, when you live in Beijing, you really get a kick out of clean air. It was funny to wake up to a symphony of digitized camera shutter clicks, start up sounds, and Cory, Katie, and Laura all whispering, "Wow, its so beautiful!" Really, how could anyone sleep through that? So I got up to see what all the fuss was about.
Yeah, I thought in my sleeping bag with the cover over my eyes wanting to get some sleep, "Its just a sunrise. They're ooing and ahhing over nothing. I've seen the sunrise a thousand times. Its always the same. The sun comes up, lights things up, makes things warmer, and eventually decides to go back down. Nothing special. What is special is sleeping. That's where its at." Good thing this was a temporary thought.
Did I name them something close to the sounds of their Chinese names? No, of course not. Too easy. Did I name them after friends, relatives, or other loved/respected ones? No, of course not. My brain wasn't thinking that way. So, how did I name them? After characters from Star Wars, Firefly, and video games, of course. This was stranger than I imagined, as kids started looking and acting in my eyes like their counterparts (I'm sure some of you will know these). I now see Luke as being sort of the one that will come into his own and be a powerful person one day. I see Han as a rebel mercenary type kid who's too cool for school. I see Kaylee as a quirky, cute little ball of optimism. And so on. There's also a Jane, but I couldn't get away with naming a boy "Jayne". Its funny though, cause she's tough and stubborn just like her counterpart. Oh well. Others that were turned down as too out there or complicated were Mal, River, Simon, Chewie, Jabba, Boba, and almost everyone I used to play WoW with. Hehe, I'm kidding... mostly. While I think that Boba Fett is less of a stretch than some of the names they actually give (such as Smile, or a boy named Sunshine), I guess I would have been crossing some line there. But, Celera came damn close to being one of the girls. That name was very well received (Sorry Cel!). There are also two exceptions: I named one of the kids Dan, because I knew he'd be dedicated just like Mr. Hubball, and one of the kids Jack, because I got tired of thinking of weird names.
Ok onto the Wall.
After coming back down, we walked further to the east. The sun was setting quickly, but we were interested in seeing if the wall continued further to another town (that has good Jao za, if thats how its spelled). We kept walking until we approached another impasse. We technically could have crossed, but that area was a little too rugged for our liking. Plus there wasn't 100% certainty that it was the right way. So we about-faced back to a decent camping spot we found.
We "set up" camp, which consisted of unfurling a sleeping bag and mat, and Cory cooked some fine - damned fine - pasta. It was a very cold, but clear, night. I had not seen the stars since I'd been here. It was very nice to see them. Very nice. I even caught a glimpes of a shooting star here and there. And, as I drifted of to sleep sans glasses, I peered through my sleeping bag up at the stars and thought for waaay too long on why one star was significantly brighter than the others. I erroneously concluded that it was a different part of the world, so maybe some stars shine more vividly than in America. Yeah, it was the moon, dumbass. I'm a sharp one, I tell ya. Anyway, after some intense crossword puzzle playing, we "went to sleep". I say it like that because it was hard to. First, I wasn't very comfortable. Second, it was pretty darn cold. Third, I couldn't get over the fact that I was freaking camping on the Great Wall of China.
So after a full night of tossing and turning and rolling down hill into a bush a few times, it was morning. I poked my nose out the top of my sleeping bag to get a whiff of cool, fresh air. The dew was glistening on the sleeping bag, and... the air... was so fresh. Sorry, when you live in Beijing, you really get a kick out of clean air. It was funny to wake up to a symphony of digitized camera shutter clicks, start up sounds, and Cory, Katie, and Laura all whispering, "Wow, its so beautiful!" Really, how could anyone sleep through that? So I got up to see what all the fuss was about.
Yeah, I thought in my sleeping bag with the cover over my eyes wanting to get some sleep, "Its just a sunrise. They're ooing and ahhing over nothing. I've seen the sunrise a thousand times. Its always the same. The sun comes up, lights things up, makes things warmer, and eventually decides to go back down. Nothing special. What is special is sleeping. That's where its at." Good thing this was a temporary thought.
So after we took several thousand photos of nearly the same scenery (I'm not exaggerating... I think between us it was that many), we started back down. By the way, if anyone wants the full size image of the sunrise, alls ya got to do is ask. Its really much prettier than the super-compressed version.
Once we got to the bottom, we conversed with the locals. By "we", I mean Cory and Katie. I just sat there and played with a puppy, wishing that I knew what was going on in the Chinese conversation world. We eventually got a ride to another section of the wall, the touristy section, where we were constantly screamed at such phrases as, "Hello! Water!" or "Hello! Coke!" or "Hello! Water! Coke! Hello!". It sounded hilarious, as if they were thinking that my name was Water or Coke. I wanted to shot back, "Hello, Pepsi! Hello!". I'm not a jerk though.
The touristy wall was much easier to access, with a chairlift and everything. It was much more restored, but not any less cool. Just cool in a different way. In an easier way. I liked to challenge of going to the ruins. You had to hike through the wilderness to get there. At touristy wall, you were ushered around. There's nothing wrong with this. In fact, after getting such little sleep, I welcomed it. But I'm very glad I did the challenging part. Touristy wall was fun though, because when you were done, you got to ride a sled down a metal slide to the bottom. Just like in the old days...
So... thats it. Finally. I'm done. No more Wall Talk until I get back home and it is casually brought up in idle banter. Its one of those things that is difficult for a guy like me to talk about. By which I mean, I'm so unenthusiastic sounding about everything. Laura Kavazanjian, Cory, and Katie were all so enthusiastic about recounting it, telling the experience in detail. When I was asked about my wall trip at school I replied in a very "my Dad" way, "It wasn't too bad." Or "Yeah, it was pretty neat". Internally, I'm thinking, "This is the coolest thing I've ever done!! Oh my god!! The Great Wall!" It just doesn't come out that way.
Anyway, I'm done. Which is good, I'm going to Xi'an in a few days. I need to get caught up so I can write more! Thanks for sticking through the story till the end! Luke, the story is over. You'll have to wait for season two now. And there were no cliff-hangers. Where is the incentive to keep reading, I wonder?
Bye bye.
P.S. That peak back there is where the neat tree was. To quote Mitch Hedberg, "That tree is far away!!"
Once we got to the bottom, we conversed with the locals. By "we", I mean Cory and Katie. I just sat there and played with a puppy, wishing that I knew what was going on in the Chinese conversation world. We eventually got a ride to another section of the wall, the touristy section, where we were constantly screamed at such phrases as, "Hello! Water!" or "Hello! Coke!" or "Hello! Water! Coke! Hello!". It sounded hilarious, as if they were thinking that my name was Water or Coke. I wanted to shot back, "Hello, Pepsi! Hello!". I'm not a jerk though.
The touristy wall was much easier to access, with a chairlift and everything. It was much more restored, but not any less cool. Just cool in a different way. In an easier way. I liked to challenge of going to the ruins. You had to hike through the wilderness to get there. At touristy wall, you were ushered around. There's nothing wrong with this. In fact, after getting such little sleep, I welcomed it. But I'm very glad I did the challenging part. Touristy wall was fun though, because when you were done, you got to ride a sled down a metal slide to the bottom. Just like in the old days...
So... thats it. Finally. I'm done. No more Wall Talk until I get back home and it is casually brought up in idle banter. Its one of those things that is difficult for a guy like me to talk about. By which I mean, I'm so unenthusiastic sounding about everything. Laura Kavazanjian, Cory, and Katie were all so enthusiastic about recounting it, telling the experience in detail. When I was asked about my wall trip at school I replied in a very "my Dad" way, "It wasn't too bad." Or "Yeah, it was pretty neat". Internally, I'm thinking, "This is the coolest thing I've ever done!! Oh my god!! The Great Wall!" It just doesn't come out that way.
Anyway, I'm done. Which is good, I'm going to Xi'an in a few days. I need to get caught up so I can write more! Thanks for sticking through the story till the end! Luke, the story is over. You'll have to wait for season two now. And there were no cliff-hangers. Where is the incentive to keep reading, I wonder?
Bye bye.
P.S. That peak back there is where the neat tree was. To quote Mitch Hedberg, "That tree is far away!!"
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