travelblog

Wed Sep 01, 2010 04:16:16

Wed Sep 01, 2010 04:48:08
Hey everyone,

I made it in and its been great so far. The flight wasn't too bad, only about 15 hours from LA to Guangzhou and then another 1 hour flight to Changsha. The coach seats with China Southern Air seemed a little bit smaller than what I was used to, but I was able to sleep most of the way since it was a night flight. It was kinda cool because the entire flight was in the dark until we reached Guangzhou this morning at 6am, which is weird b/c we totally skipped over Thurs. It was really a lot like time travel. Right now, its about 8pm on the 27th and I think its about 6am on the 27th your time, just to give you an idea of the time difference.

It has been a great day so far! Shirley, my FAO, and Tom, a history teacher for the university, along with a driver met me at the airport this morning in Changsha and were absolutely great with me. They kept calling me their VIP. As soon as I got my luggage and met them, they grabbed all my bags and carried them to the car, then insisted that I sit up front since that is reserved for the VIP guest. I know their names sound American, but that is their English names, their Chinese ones I can't pronounce very well and have already forgotton. They drove me the the hotel, all the time flattering me by telling me how strong I looked and how handsome I was. The hotel is nice enough, and I think they are actually staying at a different hotel. Mom, my hotel room is actually nicer than the one we stayed at in Denver. The third floor is dedicated to an internet cafe and it is very nice. Very comfortable chairs and private tables, if you pay 1 more yuan an hour.

After the hotel, we took a walk to grab lunch. Shirley wanted to know if I wanted Western food or Chinese and being unsure, she took me to a restaurant that served both. The outside didn't look like much, but walking up to the third floor where the restaurant was, it was actually very nice. They have private rooms for people to eat in if they want, and instead of chairs by the tables, there are sofas. Its all about comfort. The food is delicious and very spicy, so I have been sweating a lot, plus, its quite humid here. The craziest thing I ate at lunch was fish head. Not bad really, except you have to pull out the bones, though they swear the bones on the face are the best and they suck the meat off. They were pretty impressed with my chopstick skills, though, its much more difficult than when using them on the food at home. They bring out the food in large plates and everyone digs in with no regard for double dipping with the chopsticks, though they do not use their hands at all when eating, even when we ate the seafood pizza (shirly was afraid I wouldnt like the food so she ordered a pizza just in case) I told them you had to eat pizza with your hands, so they tried it, but still used chopsticks with the other hand to guide it into their mouth.

After lunch, Shirley had some business to attend to, so she left me with Tom and the driver and they took me to Orange Island wich is an island surrounded by the Shou River. Its very beautiful, something like a Chinese Central Park and have a huge mountain with Mao's head carved into it. Hes the guy on all their money and the one responsible for libertating China in 1945 and bringing it to Communism. What really is most shocking is the driving. Its like Juarez but worse. People walk in the middle of the streets and cars either stop or go around them. Motorscooters are everywhere and its not uncommon for those scooters to be driving the wrong way down a street or freeway. Jon, its like that video of traffic in India that we saw. The people seem very happy here and life doesnt seem so bad at all.

After the park, we picked up Shirley and her friend and went out to dinner. Again, large plates of different kinds of meals, noodles with beef, beef and rice, potatoes and rice, fried pig ear (which tastes a lot like a tough calamari and resembles it too.) And now I am back at the hotel, beat and ready to relax in bed. All the men do smoke and it is rare to see women doing the same, though Shirley says some young women do bc they want to be trendy, but are often looked down upon by those more traditional. And they smoke everyone, indoors, at restaurants, and honestly, its not so bad. You don't even notice it. I actually like it. So the people are super friendly, many locals stared at me because Im so beautiful, and the food is delicious. I can tell Im really going to enjoy myself. We are meeting tomorrow morning at 10am for breakfast and then they want to take me to a museum and then to a mountain for some hiking and sightseeing. I think they just want to wear me out. And they order so much food bc it is rude to let the guest plate go empty, so they order more just in case. It may be harder than I thought to lose weight.

Diana, you would have loved the park, they had a pond filled with Koi fish that would gather in schools at the surface. I took pictures, but it will probably be a while before I can upload them. I hope you guys will all visit me soon. Daniel, you'd love it. The women here are actually very beautiful, but they take relationships very seriously. so seriously, according to Tom, that it is very difficult to break up with them after you have formed a relationship. Its almost unheard of, and some girls will go so far as to jump off a building for it. What constitues a relationship you ask? Having sex, that apparently is a commitment for a lifelong bond. Well, I guess thats all I got for now. I will do my best to keep you guys updated and really look forward to hearing back from all of you. Dad, I showed Tom the picture of you that you took at my going away party, the one where i said make me look good and you took a pic of yourself. He really liked it and asked for a copy for himself. You reminded him of someone named Bao and asked me if you could sing. He wants you to come visit and said you looked very American, I suppose because of the goofy smile you had on your face.

Love you all and cant wait to see you again...Love,


Brandon

Wed Sep 01, 2010 04:52:16
Thanks dad, what no response from anyone else? Am I not missed by anyone except my dad and diana? Sheesh. So heres something interesting. The beds here are as hard as the floor, but I slept very well. Wonder if its going to be good for my back. You know, in America, we have the next new and improved bed every five years and here, theyve stuck with the hard surface. Who knows, maybe they're on to something. This morning I had a traditional Chinese breakfast of rice porridge, steamed bread stuffed with meat, and spicy pickles and I do mean spicy. It was really the only thing that had flavor, the pickles I mean, but it was filling. Also, I ordered orange juice and it was more like an orange drink and its served hot. Something Im having to get used to because most of the food is hot and spicy and the only thing cold to drink is water or beer and the water comes in very small 4 oz glasses. Well, the glasses are 4 oz and you pour either your water or beer in them, but the beer comes in a big 24 oz glass and then you share it around the table, but at least i dont have to wait for a waiter to fill my glass with water. After breakfast they took me to a museum which was about as boring as any other museum although I did get to see many artifacts that date back from the Mongols during the BC era all the way through several Dynasties. Still, theres only so many pots and jewelery and fabrics you can see. I did get to see the preserved corpse of a prior queen which was kinda freaky. They said she was once very beautiful, but her body looked like something out of Texas Chainsaw. Seriously, the face was just like leatherface. Then we had lunch at McDonalds, which was really a nice break from all the spicy food and chopsticks. Dont get me wrong, the food is delicious. Much better than anything you would find in America, obviously, but its nice to have a Big Mac now and then. Actually, the food seems to be doing me well, they feed me so much so I dont think Im really going to lose much weight while Im here, but Im def. pooping a lot and it doesnt burn coming out like Mexican food tends to do to me which is a nice surprise. Also, its not as filthy and third world as we had imagined. I havent seen anyone spitting on the floor and the bathrooms do have toilet paper though they do usually have squatters except for the handicap stalls which have a western toilet. Still, Ive noticed that most only wash their hands with water. They have soap dispensers, but I seem to be the only one using them. by the way mom, the anti diarreah meds came in handy today. Thank God! So, after lunch, we came back to the hotel to have a nice 4 hour break where I crashed out! Prob. the only reason Im still awake now, its only 1050pm, I was tired before the nap. After that, we met around 7pm for another fabulous dinner where I again was the guest of honor. They fill my cup with hot tea first and fill my bowl with rice for me. They also like to refill my glass with beer or whatever Im drinking when I low and always want me to be the first to take food from a dish. Im getting much better with chopsticks now. Then, we drove to Orange Island to see an amazing firework display, I got about 7 min. of it on video but it must have gone on for at least half an hour. Better than Disneyland, though there was no music, just car alarms going off. Apparently, it was in honor of a wealthy person who had just been married. So here I am, back at the hotel and using the internet cafe to check in with everybody. I guess while Im sleeping, you all will be enjoying your Saturday and when I wake up, youll be getting ready for bed. So it seems like 8-10pm my time, 7-9am your time is the best time for us to communicate live. Try and get a gmail email account because then we can chat live, you know, if youre interested. I love you all and will talk to you soon, Love, Brandon

Wed Sep 01, 2010 04:53:54
So...this morning was all business. We had to go get my physical done and I was a little nervous since I really wasnt sure what the urine test was checking for. They took my blood, my weight, height, blood pressure, performed an ultrasound on my liver (its a boy!), gave me a chest xray, and took a urine sample. Great news mom, I am very healthy, except my blood pressure, which was a little high on the first run, but cleared the second time around. So, no HIV, no diseases, good liver, great heart, and apparently nothing wrong with my urine content. So after that, we had another fabulous lunch, though nothing too odd. I woke up a little sick this morning. My throat is very itchy, most likely from the air. China's air is extremely polluted. Its like LA, but worse. I couldnt find my pamphlets this morning and didnt know which meds to take, but Shirley got me some to take before we had lunch. Then, when we got to the restaurant and I was going to take them, they gave me a glass of hot water. I asked for tea to take it with, but they told me that in China, they do not mix tea and medication. I also cant eat spicy foods, drink alcohol, smoke, or eat fish, since "fish will fight the medicine and my stomach will be the battlefield" these things are taboo apparently when taking chinese medicine... -* sigh So after lunch, we went back the hotel, packed, picked up my paperwork from the physical and headed to Shaoyang. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive and the country side is beautiful, then...we arrived in Shaoyang and I quickly realized that the honeymoon was over. Shaoyang looks a like like Juarez, if Juarez were about 10X poorer and 50X smaller. This is the China we read about. Little kids with split pants so they can poop easily, pig snouts for sell in the street, a strange scent in the air mixing with the dust from the streets, and vendors everywhere selling out of storage units lining the sidewalks. Again, the countryside is beautiful, but the entire time I was driving through the streets my mind kept saying "Oh S***, Oh S***, Oh S***" We stopped first at the new University which was nice...for Shaoyang. The elevator didnt work so we had to climb 6 stories to get to Shirley's office and meet her collegue. I def. need to get into better shape. I wasn't breathing hard, but I was getting there. Again, the polluted air probably isnt helping matters. We then went for dinner at a very nice restaurant where we had a private room and traditional Asian green sofas surrounding the dinner table. There was even a tv and internet in our dining room. Pretty cool. Nothing bad can be said for the food, its delcious, I cant emphasize that enough. I just wish I could get an old fashioned American glass to drink out of with free refills from a coke dispenser. I do miss free refills and Big Gulps. Also, yesterday when I was eating breakfast, they asked if I wanted tea to drink. I said Id rather have a coke and was obliged. But while I was eating and sipping on my tasty beverage, Tom told me,"you are eating hot food and drinking something cold..." I was thinking, "duh" but he said that traditionally, chinese believe that mixing hot and cold is bad for your stomache. I told him eating hot food and drinking hot drinks was bad for my toungue. Seriously, think about eating a steamy, spicy dish, your mouth is burning and you poor hot tea down your throat. I don't know how they do it. Its one of the reasons I like to order beer at dinner ( as if I needed a reason) because that is the only thing thats served cold...sometimes. So, after dinner, they drove me to the old campus, the one I will be living and teaching at, and again im thinking, "oh s***, oh s***, why are we turning onto a dirt road, oh s***" and I see this old building and I ask, so, whats this building and they say, thats the teachers' dorm, let me go get the key and Im starting to freak, bc my imagination is putting together the pieces. If the outside looks like that, what does the inside look like. Of course, I want to be polite so Im not letting them know what im thinking, but Im obviously not enthusiastic. So, we haul my luggage up three flights of stairs, Shirley comes with the key and opens the door and...bam! Im pleasantly surprised. Brand new furniture and coffee table, brand new molding. High ceilings. Plenty of living area space. Two rooms, one with a nice sized bed with fresh bedding and the other with a nice desk, new computer, and flat screen monitor. I'm happy. She shows me around and I am pleased. The only thing I notice that will take some getting used to is the bathroom. It has a toilet, a sink, a drain, and a handheld shower head. But wheres the shower? Ahh, the bathroom is the shower. I guess on the upside I can clean off while still on the head...if that is an upside. But hey, at least its a western toilet. All the other toilets throughout China are squatters. A porcelein hole in the ground. Also, it took me a little bit to figure out how to turn the internet on since the entire windows program is in chinese. I would try to change the settings to english, but it was hard enough guessing which icons and characters to click to start my little internet icons flashing. I guess Ill tackle the settings tomorrow, as well as the shower. Shirley did provide me with all new kitchen ware, even a little pot for boiling, though, after I boiled water in it for the first time, I left it on too long and all the water evaporated and I noticed that what was left was a pool of caramel brown liquid. I guess thats what the website meant about boiling out the germs, but not thewaste. Dont know if I can drink that...Im gonna have to stock up on bottled water. Going to the store first thing tomorrow. Well, thats it for now. Out of Changsha and into Shaoyang. Wish me luck!!! Love, Brandon
ps...a few odd things ive noticed about China. What we consider traffic laws are more of suggestions to them. People use their horns constantly to communicate that they are either switching lanes, not stopping for pedestrians, or that they are simply going around you. Its not uncommon for people to drive in both lanes at the same time until they decide which one they would rather take and its also not uncommon for cars to pass each other in the same lane. Again, the lanes, the medians, the sidewalks, the direction of traffic, all suggestions rather than concrete rules. Strange custom number two...Men, especially those with big beer bellies, like to pull their shirt up above their stomach and walk around. Usually, its to cool down, but honestly, it looks like they just like to show off their bellies. Its like women in American constantly wanting to bare their stomachs except women here dont do it, just the men. Number three, I saw a woman yesterday at the restaurant wiping her little babies butt through its crotchless pants right at the table. Whats worse, after she was done, she simply threw the napkin that she was using on the floor under the table (at least she threw it on the floor) and by the reaction of the people at her table and the rest of the patrons at the restaruant, this is not uncommon either. I must have been the only person with wide eyes and a crinkled nose...

Thu Sep 02, 2010 06:59:35
So...this morning was all business. We had to go get my physical done and I was a little nervous since I really wasnt sure what the urine test was checking for. They took my blood, my weight, height, blood pressure, did a sonagram on my liver, gave me a chest xray, and took a urine sample. Great news mom, I am very healthy, except my blood pressure, which was a little high on the first run, but cleared the second time around. So, no HIV, no diseases, good liver, great heart, and apparently nothing wrong with my urine content. So after that, we had another fabulous lunch, though nothing too odd. I woke up a little sick this morning. My throat is very itchy, most likely from the air. China's air is extremely polluted. Its like LA, but worse. I couldnt find my pamphlets this morning and didnt know which meds to take, but Shirley got me some to take before we had lunch. Then, when we got to the restaurant and I was going to take them, they gave me a glass of hot water. I asked for tea to take it with, but they told me that in China, they do not mix tea and medication. I also cant eat spicy foods, drink alcohol, smoke, or eat fish, since "fish will fight the medicine and my stomach will be the battlefield" these things are taboo apparently when taking chinese medicine... -asterix- sigh So after lunch, we went back the hotel, packed, picked up my paperwork from the physical and headed to Shaoyang. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive and the country side is beautiful, then...we arrived in Shaoyang and I quickly realized that the honeymoon was over. Shaoyang looks a like like Juarez, if Juarez were about 10X poorer and 50X smaller. This is the China we read about. Little kids with split pants so they can poop easily, pig snouts for sell in the street, a strange scent in the air mixing with the dust from the streets, and vendors everywhere selling out of storage units lining the sidewalks. Again, the countryside is beautiful, but the entire time I was driving through the streets my mind kept saying "Oh S***, Oh S***, Oh S***" We stopped first at the new University which was nice...for Shaoyang. The elevator didnt work so we had to climb 6 stories to get to Shirley's office and meet her collegue. I def. need to get into better shape. I wasn't breathing hard, but I was getting there. Again, the polluted air probably isnt helping matters. We then went for dinner at a very nice restaurant where we had a private room and traditional Asian green sofas surrounding the dinner table. There was even a tv and internet in our dining room. Pretty cool. Nothing bad can be said for the food, its delcious, I cant emphasize that enough. I just wish I could get an old fashioned American glass to drink out of with free refills from coke dispenser. I do miss free refills and Big Gulps. Also, yesterday when I was eating breakfast, they asked if I wanted tea to drink. I said Id rather have a coke and was obliged. But while I was eating and sipping on my tasty beverage, Tom told me,"you are eating hot food and drinking something cold..." Im was thinking, "duh" but he said that traditionally, chinese believe that mixing hot and cold is bad for your stomache. I told him eating hot food and drinking hot drinks was bad for my toungue. Seriously, think about eating a steamy, spicy dish, your mouth is burning and you poor hot tea down your throat. I don't know how they do it. Its one of the reasons I like to order beer at dinner ( as if I needed a reason) because that is the only thing thats served cold...sometimes. So, after dinner, they drove me to the old campus, the one I will be living and teaching at, and again im thinking, "oh s***, oh s***, why are we turning onto a dirt road, oh s***" and I see this old building and I ask, so, whats this building and they say, thats the teachers' dorm, let me go get the key and Im starting to freak, bc my imagination is putting together the pieces. If the outside looks like that, what does the inside look like. Of course, I want to be polite so Im not letting them know what im thinking, but Im obviously not enthusiastic. So, we haul my luggage up three flights of stairs, Shirley comes with the key and opens the door and...bam! Im pleasantly surprised. Brand new furniture and coffee table, brand new molding. High ceilings. Plenty of living area space. Two rooms, one with a nice sized bed with fresh bedding and the other with a nice desk, new computer, and flat screen monitor. I'm happy. She shows me around and I am pleased. The only thing I notice that will take some getting used to is the bathroom. It has a toilet, a sink, a drain, and a handheld shower head. But wheres the shower? Ahh, the bathroom is the shower. I guess on the upside and I can clean off while still on the head...if that is an upside. But hey, at least its a western toilet. All the other toilets throughout China are squatters. A porcelein hole in the ground. Also, it took me a little bit to figure out how to turn the internet on since the entire windows program is in chinese. I would try to change the settings to english, but it was hard enough guessing which icons and characters to click to start my little internet icons flashing. I guess Ill tackle the settings tomorrow, as well as the shower. Shirley did provide me with all new kitchen ware, even a little pot for boiling, though, after I boiled water in it for the first time, I left it on too long and all the water evaporated and I noticed that what was left was a pool of caramel brown liquid. I guess thats what the website meant about boiling out the germs, but not thewaste. Dont know if I can drink that...Im gonna have to stock up on bottled water. Going to the store first thing tomorrow. Well, thats it for now. Out of Changsha and into Shaoyang. Wish me luck!!!
Love,
Brandon
ps...a few odd things ive noticed about China. What we consider traffic laws are more of suggestions to them. People use their horns constantly to communicate that they are either switching lanes, not stopping for pedestrians, or that they are simply going around you. Its not uncommon for people to drive in both lanes at the same time until they decide which one they would rather take and its also not uncommon for cars to pass each other in the same lane. Again, the lanes, the medians, the sidewalks, the direction of traffic, all suggestions rather than concrete rules. Strange custom number two...Men, especially those with big beer bellies, like to pull their shirt up above their stomach and walk around. Usually, its to cool down, but honestly, it looks like they just like to show off their bellies. Its like women in American constantly wanting to bare their stomachs except women here dont do it, just the men. Number three, I saw a woman yesterday at the restaurant wiping her little babies butt through its crotchless pants right at the table. Whats worse, after she was done, she simply threw the napkin that she was using on the floor under the table (at least she threw it on the floor) and by the reaction of the people at her table and the rest of the patrons at the restaruant, this is not uncommon either. I must have been the only person with wide eyes and a crinkled nose...

Thu Sep 02, 2010 07:53:49
Well, I'm happy to say I am feeling much better. Yes, I did get sick. A slight upper respirtory infection mixed in with a case of the common cold and a nice dose of what I believe to be food poisoning. Sandy, a head of the English department here at Shaoyang University, took me down the Better Life Mall to shop for some basic necessities and food. She asked me what I was interested in buying and the first thing that popped out of my mouth was, "water". She looked at me strangely and said, "you don't like drinking boiled water?" With a slight crinkle in my face I replied, "I prefer bottled water" Apparently, bottled water is seen as expensive and most just boil the water to drink. Even today when I was throwing out my trash Tom noticed the large quanitity of empty water bottles in my garbage and remarked how expensive bottled water was and wanted to know why I just didn't boil it from the tap. I explained my dilema of accidently boiling all the tap water into steam and being left with nothing but a pool of rust colored sludge and how I simply prefered bottled water. Needless to say, that afternoon, at the reccomendation of Shirly, my FAO, Tom took me to buy a water dispenser for my apartment. We also had a little science experiment and boiled water from the dispenser, the bottled water I had bought, and water from the tap to see what type of sediment was left behind from each once the water had fully evaporated. Turns out that the rust colored sludge I had encountered from the tap water the first time actually was rust from the pipes since they hadn't been used for a while. Either way, Im happy to have my dispenser now, but I did feel the need to clear China's good name with all of you. It was rust, not waste. Ok, concious cleared. So, back to shopping. I picked up the basic necessities, you know, toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, cleaning products, and an assortment of beverages and snacks. Mainly, I stuck to the brand names that I know. Coca-Cola, Colgate, Pringles. I did get some delicious Chinese beer and also, the toilet paper and soap I grabbed were a Chinese brand since there was no Charmin or Axe. By the way, the toilet paper came without a cardboard roll in the middle. Strange, but I suppose since the entire bathroom doubles as a shower, it wouldn't make sense to have the toilet paper resting on a toilet paper dispenser as it would become soggy and difficult to wipe with. Oh, and I bought a carton of milk, which is literally a box carton. Not like we're used to, but I digress. So, I didn't pick up much food since I really didn't recognize much. I recognized the sugar, but its just in big basin and you scoop it into a little bag yourself. I was tempted, but I had a mental vision of tiny creepy crawlers funneling their way through the cracks in my apartment and into the bag of pure sweetness, so I passed. Also, I did recognize the parts of the pig lying about in the meat section. Hooves, snout, skin...I can now understand why the Jewish consider it unclean, because it is pretty damn unclean looking. After seeing a hoof and snout, you don't really crave bacon anymore. Not to say that was the only type of food there to eat, but its the one that stood out to me the most. So instead, I opted for some Lays, and venturing out of my comfort zone, even picked up the Chinese version of Pringles that were flavored as spicy seafood! Still, that wasn't enough. For someone who studied Cultural Anthropology, I was a little disapointed in myself for sticking with some many American brands that I was familiar with and not going out on a limb and experiencing what China had to offer. So, I asked Sandy to help me pick out a tasty Chinese treat. She pointed out a bag of spicy tofu triangles and I said, "Sure, why not" In her defense, she did warn me to only snack on a few at a time, since they weren't "fresh", but I didn't understand this. I mean, they were sealed in a clear plastic bag with a cartoon Chinese girl smiling at me and throwing up the peace sign, so how could they not be fresh? So, once I got home, I sampled a few of the Chinese pringles, drank some of my Chinese beer, and before you know it, I had gone through the entire tube of chips. Blame it on the "once you pop, you can't stop" culture that was engrained into me as a child. So, I popped open the bag of tofu triangles and after a few cautious bites, I realized that they were actually quite tasty and had an interesting texture, so I proceeded to not stop and snacked my way through the entire bag in less than thirty minutes. Less than two hours later, I started getting aches around my shoulder, but I just assumed I had been sitting at the computer too long. So, I took an aspirin and got ready for bed. A few hours later I woke up and something deep inside told me I should head to the bathroom. Yup, I had gotten sick. I figured it was the flu or something and started taking some flu medicine. I was just surprised by the whole thing since I had been on antibiotics the last three days for my respitory infection and figured that would have killed anything swimming around inside me. It didn't. Instead, I spent the entire next day lying in bed and hating China. I hated the stale and humid weather for creating the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. I hated the air, polluted by coal and emmissions and cigarrette smoke, for giving me a respitory infection. I hated the censorship of the internet for not allowing me to watch some of my favorite american tv shows online. I hated everything about China so much, that I walked a mile and a half just to have lunch at McDonalds. In my defense, I did have their Spicy Grilled Chicken Sandwich, which is nothing like what you get back in the states. Its prepared more like teriaki chicken and has some spicy mustard smeared between the buns, which was actually quite good. However, the fries come without salt and pepper, and anyone who knows me knows how I love my salt and pepper. But anyways, I feel much better today. I think my body has finally finished digesting those criminal tofu triangles and I am back on the road to recovery. So today, I went and opened up my bank account with the Bank of China, which due to Communism, seems to be the only bank in China, where I ran into another American teacher. We exchanged greetings, commented on the air quality, and asked each other how our Mandarin was coming along. All in all, it was nice to see another American, even if just for a small time. Then Tom and I wandered the streets to find me a water dispenser, which we bought for 50 yuan and then continued to explore the streets of Shaoyang. He taught me a little more Mandarin and explained how to read Chinese characters. Its going to be a while before I get the hang of it, but I enjoy learning. Then, for dinner I went to the canteen, which is like the University cafeteria. So, what you do is bring your own bowl and then when you get there, they fill it with sticky rice for 7 jio, which is 7/10 of a yuan. Think of it as seventy cents, but cheaper than that. If you feel like doing the math, approx. 7 yuan = $1. Then, you can have them top that off with an assortment of Chinese dishes. At the recommendation of Tom, I had them top mine with a spicy version of what looked like chopped greenbeans, a fried egg, and then some beef, which turned out to be spicy fried fat or at least chewed that way. Everything in Hunan is spicy, but delicious. All in all, the meal came out to be 4.2 yuan. Not bad really. I ate alone for most of the meal since Tom had already eaten and had a family to get back to, but soon enough I was greeted by a Chinese student excitingly waving at me and saying "Hello" then fumbling for a moment in her head before saying, "How are you" and "Where are you from" Turns out, she is an English major and was very excited to have the opportunity to speak with real foreigner. Soon, her two friends joined our table, both English majors, and we delightfully conversed with one another. They were very friendly and one of the girls said she knew I was friendly because I was always wearing a smile, and anyone who knows me knows how charming my smile is...and also said she hoped that I would be her teacher. Needless to say, I'm making friends and I'm sure once school starts, I will have a nice social circle to help me with my Mandarin while I in turn, help with their English. And that pretty much brings us up to date...Stay tuned for more Surviving Shaoyang

Fri Sep 03, 2010 06:14:29
So, what a fun-filled day! This morning, just a few minutes after I woke up and before I was going to hop in the shower, a knock came at my door. When I opened it, shirtless and sporting my Miller Light pajama pants, I was greeted by one of the English students, Rasta or Ren, he goes by either one, and Mike, the former English teacher whom I was replacing. Mike is a Canadian who has spent a few years teaching in China and had recently left Shaoyang University to teach at a vocational school in Changsha. I had heard stories about Mike, his fondness for frequenting the local bars and his unsupervised bike rides out into the country, but he looked different than I had imagined. He had to be in his 40's, had gangly teeth, a receding hairline, and a long neck with a strong adam's apple. Anyway, he was taking advantage of his downtime before school started by revisiting Shaoyang and seemed to be very popular with the students and teachers. He invited me out for coffee so, after showering and putting on some more appropriate clothes, I met him in front of my building and took off down the Shaoyang streets.
I was deeply interested in talking with Mike, since he seemed to have a good knowledge of how things worked out here and I could finally get some straight answers about what is appropriate and what isn't while working as a teacher for the university. The Chinese don't seem to be as upfront as westerners are, so talking with a fellow North American was quite a treat. He showed me where to get a therapeutic massage with no worry about damaging my reputation with the university, simple information that was like pulling teeth when speaking with my Chinese counterparts and took me to the Orange, a coffee shop that specialized in everything western. They were even playing some good ol American music, though they sure make you pay for it. A cup of coffee cost 28 yuan. Thats ridiculous when you consider that you can eat an entire meal for less than 5 yuan. Thank God he picked up the tab. He also helped me prepare for the classroom presentation I was scheduled to give later that day. Right before the knock came at my door, I had a received a phone call letting me know that at 4:30pm, I was to give a quick 20 min. lecture on unit 4 of the textbook, though I hadnt even received the textbook yet, and that a student would call me to meet her to pick up her textbook so that I could suffiently "prepare". They also wanted a lesson plan and my ideas on how to motivate and inspire the students to speak English.
After our coffee, Mike wanted me to follow him to the hotel he was staying at so that I could meet his girlfriend, a young 23 year old Chinese girl named "Mimi", I think. So, we took a cab down to the trainstation which was right by his hotel, met his girlfriend and then went next door to the home of a family he had met just a few weeks ago when he had fallen into an uncovered drainage ditch and gashed his shin. The girl, Lei Hongbo, had seen him and taken him back to bandage his leg and care for his wounds. Since then, they had become friends and she had invited him over for lunch at their house, so, he had invited me. He quickly introduced me to Lei Hongbo, her mother, her husband, and her baby, as well as her sister Lei Jinbo or "Candy", her English name.
We all sat down for a traditional Chinese meal complete with rice, chicken soup, yams, greenbeans, spicy chicken, and of courseYan Jing beer. Now I know what your thinking, other than the beer, that doesnt sound like traditional Chinese food, but thats only because Im calling the food by the english names that I'm familiar with. See, when I first reached into the bowl of chicken soup to pull out some meat, I grabbed onto a piece of chicken foot and upon realizing what it was, let it go with my chopsticks and grabbed another piece, which was mostly bone. I guess the chicken foot was actually quite good because later on in the meal, I saw the little 2 year old sucking on it while sitting on his grandmother's lap. Ever see a baby sucking on a chicken foot? I have. My favorite was actually the spicy chicken, which I later found out was actually chicken heart. It was good until I knew what it was, and once I found out, I noticed how salty the meat actually was. Still, not bad...not bad at all.
After lunch, Candy asked Mike for a favor. She had twice taken and twice failed her CAT 4, which was an English profiency test, and wanted to know if he could help her with it. Knowing that Mike wouldn't be spending much time in Shaoyang, I told her that I would be more than happy to tutor her for it. Afterall,they had welcomed me into their house, fed me some delicious yams and chicken heart, and served me a tall, cold bottle of Chinese beer, it was the least I could do. Plus, its always good to expand your social circle when living in a foreign land. She was very excited, and after giving her my email address, Mike helped me grab a taxi back to the university and promised to pick me up later tonight to take me out to the Bobo bar, his favorite in Shaoyang. And knowing that I was still waiting on money to be sent to me from America, quickly pulled out his wallet and lent me 500 yuan without so much a blink of the eye. Not once did I solicit the money from him, but I also didn't refuse.
So I got home, read the chapter I was giving a lecture on, Travel and Tourism, wrote out a quick outline, and met Shirley at the front of my building to be escorted to the class. It was to be supervised by 3 heads of the department, including the dean, 4 English teachers, and about 20 students. Needless to say, I was a little nervous since this would prove to be the first time I had ever taught a class. Ever. But I pulled it off quite well. In fact, other than my sporadic use of the black board, I seemed to be a natural. I guess my mother was right, I'd be good at anything I put my mind to. After the twenty minute lecture, I pleaded to the students that whether they are in my class or not, practicing English and participating in class was the best way to become proficient at the language and after that, they even applauded me. Now, Im sure I wasn't that outstanding and this is simply a polite courtesy that they extend to every foreign teacher, but still, it was nice. I am really looking forward to starting class on the 6th and really getting to know my students. I have a feeling I'm really going to enjoy Shaoyang. Especially now that I see how popular Mike is with everyone, even though he no longer teaches here. I have a feeling I'm going to be very popular too...

Sun Sep 05, 2010 08:03:24
Wow, it seems like so much has happened since the my last blog and it was only a day or two ago. Everyday, I meet new people and experience something new and exciting. I suppose that is one of the benefits of moving to a foreign country. So, last time I left off, I had finished having supper at my new friend Lei Hongbo's house with my new friend Mike. After that, I came home, wrote my blog, and soon after showering, was picked up by Mike and three of his friends for a trip out to BOBO, a local nightclub here in Shaoyang. The city looks so different at night. There are lights everywhere, bright reds and oranges and pinks flash from the signs off the buildings and hanging off the tree branches are long white streams of light flicker in such a way that they resemble rain falling from the sky. The club scene in many ways is similar to America, but also so much different. For instance, the place gets packed around 8:30pm and by 11:30, the party's over. No 2 am last call here in Shaoyang. When we get in, Mike signals for service by lighting the candle in the middle of our table and holding it high in the air. Immediately, an eager young waiter comes to our call. Mike orders 2 bottles of whiskey which cost us 300 yuan and within minutes, brought to our table is a platter of fruit with watermelon, grapes, the whole spread along with a plate of barbequed tofu and peanuts. This, of course, is part of our bottle service. Then they bring out one of our bottles and along with it, about 8 plastic bottles of ice tea. The girl then measures about 2 shots of whiskey and pours them into a pitcher and proceeds to fill the rest of our pitcher with ice tea. This is how alchol is drunken in Shaoyang. They pour shots of whiskey laced ice tea, and everyone downs the shot and refills. You can't even taste the alcohol since really, its mostly ice tea, but after about 30 shots, you feel pretty groovy. So, we start playing a traditional Chinese drinking game...Rock, Paper, Scissors. They love this and we play about ten rounds before we start playing a dice game where the objective is lose all your dice before the other person. The rules are simple enough. You start with 5 dice which are housed in a blue, air hockey type canister that you shake and slam on the table. Then you reveal what you rolled. Any 1's get taken out and any 6's are given to your opponent. Pretty easy right. Only took me two or three rounds to figure out what I was doing, who says there is a language barrier. But of course, dancing is the universal language and they love to dance and why wouldn't they, the music is great. American pop mixed in with a little Chinese pop, and the dance beat never stops. So, in between Rock, Paper, Scissors, rolling dice, and drinking large shots of ice tea, everyone is dancing around their table. It was a great time! I was just so happy to hear some American music. What's really cool, is being American in there is kinda like being a celebrity. The girls hang around us, acting coy as women often do, and the guys, well, it was pretty common for the men in the club to come up to me with a shot of ice tea whiskey and have a drink with me. They would just tap me on the shoulder, maybe lead me back to their table, and offer me a drink. So, we danced, we drank, we played Rock, Paper, Scissors and by 11, we were out the door. We only finished one bottle, but they gave us a ticket, so when we go back, they will have our other bottle waiting for us. Oh yea, the Chinese know how to do it.
And that was Friday night. The next morning was actually quite slow. I went to the street market right outside the front gate of the university, ordered myself a bowl of rice noodles and vegetables, (Wo yao yi won fan), and bought myself a usb plug for my camera's SD card. Well, actually, right before breakfast, my friend Rebecca, a young student who had dinner with Shirley, Tom, Sandy, and myself the first night I had arrived in Shaoyang, had stopped by my room. She had just gotten back from her first trip traveling all by herself. She had been very excited about the trip and asked if she could use my camera and of course, I could I say no to a young, excitable Chinese girl. So, in return, she had brought me back a beautiful wooden Chinese fan, with a famous Chinese landscape etched into the wood foldings, and scented with perfume. It was actually an extremely awesome and thoughtful gift and I was pleasantly surprised. However, she didn't have a way to transfer her pictures to her computer, and neither did I, so buying a USB adapter became a priority for me. And after that, I came home and relaxed with a nice movie. But, about an hour in, a knock came at my door and it was Mike. I was happy to see him, so we shared a couple of beers, discussed our views on spirituality ( a favorite subject of mine), and decided to go hit the gym before meeting Rebecca and two other foreigners for supper. See, Mike had posed as a "model" during the grand opening of the gym and in return, they had given him a free year membership. Hiring foreigners to endorse a business is a pretty common practice here and I'm excited about getting work myself.
We took a cab to get there and walked into a building, up the stairs, and came into a rather nice looking gym. Freeweights, machine weights, treadmills, bicycles, heavy bag, pool tables, stripper poles, and even a nice sitting room complete with airconditioner, tv, and ashtrays for that after excercise cigarrette. The Chinese love their cigarettes. So much so that after pumping out a few reps on the benchpress, one of the patrons lit up a cigarette right there in the gym during the rest period between his sets. Ever see a guy smoke a cigarette in a gym? I have. So, Mike gave them his membership card and I was asking them how much it would cost for me to work out (Duo shao qian?) and the boss came up and just escorted me right in. No charge. I think he was just happy to have me there. Good for business I guess. And after about ten minutes of hitting up the weights, I started getting pretty hot and sweaty and noticing that most of the people there had just taken of their shirts, I decided to do the same, since I didn't have a change of clothes and really didn't want to stink up my shirt right before dinner. And even sporting a few extra pounds, my body was quite well received. The boss kept coming up to me and in broken English would compliment my body, telling me I was very strong and pointing to the pictures of American body builders lining the walls of his gym. I love it here, I feel like Superman. On Krypton, there's nothing special about Superman, he's just another Clark Kent, but on Earth, he's Superman. That's kinda what its like for an American in China. Something special. So I put in another 20 minutes or so and decided it was time to hit the showers. Before leaving the boss asked me if I would come back and wanted to know when. Looks like I found a new gym.
We left and walked through Shaoyang for about half and hour before reaching the central square to meet Rebecca and the two other foreigners. While were were waiting, we kept getting a lot of looks from the locals, pretty common anytime I venture out into the streets. One girl, after I flashed her a smile and said Hello, excitingly asked me in Chinese if she could take my picture and of course, I said yes. She flashed one of me by myself and then gave the camera to her friend and laughed as she posed for a few more of me and her standing next to the KFC. Soon after, Rebecca showed up and right behind her were my new friends Jessie, an American from Northen California, and Lorne, a Brit from Manchester. Both just started teaching jobs for one of the local middle schools. From the sound of it, I got a pretty good deal working for the University. Not only have my guides been more than excellent, an honor that wasn't as generously bestowed on Jessie and Lorne from the people at the middle school, but they also have to share an apartment, have a shower that is pure "rubbish", deal with snot nosed pre-pubescent little monsters, and are being paid 1000 yuan less than I am. So, needless to say, I feel like I made the right choice when accepting the position. We all had an excellent dinner at the top floor of a fancy hotel, chatted with each other enough to realize we would all be good friends, and then, at the suggestion of Mike, went to meet a friend of his who he calls Phoenix.
Phoenix just happens to be one of the more prominent members of Shaoyang. A very wealthy man with many powerful connections and in China, as with most places, its all about who you know. We met him at his old flat where he happened to be having an English class for many young students. Apparently, he runs his own private English school out of his old apartment. He was very excited to meet all of us, apologized about the crowd, and eagerly took down all of our phone numbers after offering to take us out for lunch the following day. The whole meet lasted maybe 5 minutes, but the connection was made. From there, we headed to an illegal bar just outside my campus, drank a few liters of beer, sampled the local liquor, and spoke on our views of politics. Mainly, comparing Britian and America with me defending our right to bear arms and complaining about America's current shift into socialistic ideals and the collapse of the independent spirit of our forefathers, but hey, anyone who has drank with me already knows my views on this. We called it a night around 11 and all made our way home to prepare for bed.
Mike picked me up around 11:30 to meet with Phoenix and my new friends and took a taxi to the restaurant. I'll give this to Shaoyang, anything you order is made fresh, and I mean fresh. The chickens you see pecking at the ground on the patio of the restaurant will be the ones served on your plate if chicken is what you order. The turtles piling on each other in buckets, the caged frogs, the fish swimming in the basins, or the snakes slithering in their box are all there awaiting your order. Makes you feel kind of bad knowing that whether they see another moon or not is reliant on your appetite. But then again, after giving it some thought, I realized that any of the chickens being tortured in American factory farms would love to immigrate to China. At least they get to peck at the ground and walk freely until their time comes. In America, most of what we eat never knows a kind hand or even feels grass, or even dirt, under their feet. Think about it. So, Phoenix, his wife Summer, a middle school student from his school, and the two other Lao Wai (foreigners) show up, and Phoenix orders a feast for us to sample. Fish, frog, chicken, beef, its all there. Its spicy and delicious, and goes down smoothly with our beer. Even our middle school friend drinks beer with us. He tells us he loves it, and honestly, I rather enjoyed drinking with a 12 year old. Phoenix speaks to us about his travels, boasts on his numerous BMW motorcycles and the size of his flat, and then casually asks us if we are looking for part-time work. Work that he will pay handsomely for. And of course, we are interested. Just like that, we can double our monthly salaries for a few extra hours a week. And to top that off, he knows a lot of business men who would be interested in renting us to model for their business and when work is available, he will give us a call. It pays to be the three only Lao Wai in Shaoyang, and it pays well.
After lunch, we are invited back to his flat for coffee and what a flat it is. 210 square meters, pool table, 40" flat screen tv, illegal satellite television, and even a guest room with western toilets and showers, and of course, we are welcome anytime we like. We shoot some pool, drink some coffee, eat some fruit, and watch a pirated copy of Salt on his big screen tv, which is conveniently connected to his high speed internet. He shows us pictures of his motorcycles. The Ninja, the BMW, the Harley Davidson and after a few hours, we feel like its time for us to leave. So, he offers to drive us to the new campus of Shaoyang University to check out the new soccer field and of course, we agree. Its a beautiful field, but its not ready yet. So, we drive around campus and find a plethra of basketball courts and decide that we would like to play a little 3-on-3 with some of the students. We're about double their size, but all three of us are pathetic at basketball. What a story these kids have to tell their friends. How they embarresed three Western giants on the courts. They were fast and had their fundamentals down, while we could barely shoot, dribble, or pass. I did manage to floor one of the poor guys when he ran into my chest, but I apolgized and he was quite nice about it, telling me I was very very strong. It was fun, but we maybe scored three baskets to their 20 and they were extremely good sports, very gracious with no gloating. They didn't have to. A large crowd had gathered and they seemed to love seeing us play basketball, and more amusingly, lose.
We thanked them for the game, complimented their skills, and headed down to soccer field to play a little five on five. Again, I floored a poor guy when we were both chasing the ball. It was clean, he ran into me, and then flew like he had hit a wall. It was actually pretty fun, but I helped him up as I am a friendly giant. We played for a couple of rounds, lost, though it was close and decided to head back since the humidity here makes it feel like your playing sports in a sauna. Phoenix drove us back and mentioned that he likes to get a massage after exercise and asked if we would like to join him. And of course, the answer was yes. So, he dropped me off first and said he would call to pick me up around 8:30, which is in about half an hour. Its been an excellent weekend and tomorrow will be my first day officially teaching classes. Oh, and Phoenix said that if we get our license here in Shaoyang, we can borrow his car anytime. We made a really good contact! Can't wait to see what will happen tomorrow. Living in a foreign country really makes every day a new and exciting one. Cheers!

Wed Sep 08, 2010 09:51:09
Ok, so classes have started for me now and I don't have as much free time as I used to have. Still, its not too bad at all. I only have classes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and spend about 4 hours a day actually teaching. But before I get into that, let me tell you about getting a massage....
Phoenix kept to his promise and picked me up from the university at 8:30pm. After picking up Lorne and Jessie, we made our way to a brand new massage parlor. Phoenix asked us what we would prefer, a full body or a foot massage and we all agreed that after a day of basketball and soccer, a full body sounded brilliant. He negotiated the price and got us a great deal on a hour massage. He asked us if we wanted a heavy or light massage and us three foreigners all agreed that heavy was the way to go. And so, they took us into a room with four massage tables, brought us some hot tea, a cigarrette, and turned on the flat screen tv for us to enjoy. The Chinese really know something about service. My therapist came in first. A short Chinese man with a combover and strong, magic hands. He laid me down, stomach up, and started by massaging my head. In China, its customary to leave your clothes on during the massage and the therapist uses a thin, small sheet to cover the area of the body they are massaging to reduce skin to skin friction. So, for example, when he was massaging my arms, he used the thin blanket to smoothly massage my muscles rather than lathering me up with lotions or oils. So, again, he started with my scalp and I knew immediately that this was exactly the type of massage I was looking for. He really knew what he was doing and focused his thumbs on relieving all the pressure in my chakras. Then, he worked his way down my neck to my shoulders, being carefull to follow the directions of my muscles, and the best part, really seemed to care about relieving any tension or pain from my body. He took my arms and twisted and pulled them in such a way that I could feel my muscles cracking. Really, the best part was when I lied face down and he worked on my back. Its like he could feel exactly where my back had been hurting all these years and wanted to make sure that he took the time to heal it. He got into the places that no one has been able to get to. Most of the time, I have to tell people, this is where I hurt, pointing to the pain in my lower back and hips, and even then, my muscles are usually too tight and thick for them to get really deep into. But this guy, he knew exactly what to do without me saying a word. And he was able to get deep enough that the next morning, I was sore and possibly bruised. But thats ok, because its just what I needed. What I really appreciated was that I could tell how hard his hands were working and yet, it felt like he really did care about healing me, not just giving me some foo foo massage. So, I can say that the entire hour was just what I was looking for. But after we were finished, Lorne, whose mother is a sports massage therapist also, felt that while the pressure from his therapist was good, she just wasnt hitting the right spots. Needless to say, what he really wanted was a foot massage, since his were pure "rubbish" as he put it. Still, he didn't want to impose on the rest of us. That is until I told him that I was totally down with getting a foot massage also. Phoenix and Jessie opted out, so me and Lorne went to another room, had more hot tea brought to us, turned on the tele, and awaited while two small but strong Chinese men came in and poured hot tea into a basin. Then, the small man lowered my reclining bed for me, so that I was sitting in a comfortable reclined posiiton, fluffed my pillow, and put a comfy comforter over my torso. Then, he placed my feet in the hot tea and let them soak. While they were soaking, he came around and gave me shoulder massage. Brilliant, just brilliant. Then, he went to the basin and began washing my feet. Im telling you, the Chinese know a thing or two about service. It was at this point that he pulled my feet out of the tea, dried them off, and began to give me the most painful foot massage of my life. I almost regretted saying I wanted a heavy one. I mean, I could feel him breaking the crystals in my feet, and I could really feel the reflexology pressure points, and everyone he hit was excruciating. All I could hear was my mother's voice saying, "Breathe, breathe" So I did. And as painful as it was, I knew it was just what my feet, and organs, really needed. He worked on my left foot for about thirty minutes and started working on my right foot, wh