Birthday Part 3 and 4

This will be a short post as I am sitting in my office and getting ready to leave for 3 weeks!  My birthday celebrations continued on Wednesday at Lunch.  Thomas my site mate and I have the same birthday.  The English teachers took us out to lunch at the Day's Inn.  A Western style sea food buffet!  It was delicious!  Sushi, Chinese food, Spaghetti, Broccoli, fish (minus the bones!!).  The teachers brought some wine and we toasted and ate way to much.  Listening to a live band play easy listening music.  Misty, Amanda, Faye, Emily, Candy, Lucy, Lydia and so many others came. Thomas was the only guy.  The entire English teacher population is all women at our school.  We ate, way too much, and enjoyed the company.

Thursday was the silver lining.  Dinner with Kaylee, cake at my house, and then late night KTV.  I rocked out to many songs, including "I just had sex!"  My favorite thing about KTV is when they do not have the video they will just film white people doing things.  Aqua's "Barbie Girl"  is to a film of white people at an amusement park.  Very funny.  Around 3am I turned around to realize I was the only still in the room!!!  Home to sleep off my stupor!  Waking up at 7am to let my friend Kirsten in!  Then back to bed.

My Birthday in Changsha! Part 1 and 2

My birthday in Changsha consists of 4 different parts, and was celebrated for nearly 4 days off and on!  The first part was with my primary school 一师二府小 (yishi erfu xiao).  I came to class with a fun Christmas lesson, that didn't go over to well!  It was a little too advanced for them!  And they seemed to think that setting the table was naughty.  Anyways.  I walk to school and walk into my office and there are two of my students with a cage for me.  I looked at it, and smiled awkwardly.  As my students proudly presented me with a cage containing two hamsters.  I do not like hamsters that much, to be honest.  But the students were so happy and proud of their gift to me.  I just stammered a thank you, which they accepted before they ran off to get the bag that had food and more bedding!  They informed me through the English teacher Mrs Yi (Lucy) that I must clean their cages every 5 days.  Then a flood of other students brought me cards, chocolates and other gifts for my birthday!  I smiled nervously as I saw my desk disappear under a pile of presents.  I went to teach my lesson, and in both of my classes the first 5 minutes of my 40 minute class were reserved for students who wanted to pile presents on my desk.  So after two classes and a long break, I could no longer see my desk under my gifts.  It was time to go home.

So I borrowed some bags and filled them up with all my gifts.  I had a backpack, a shoulder bag, a stuffed dragon under my left arm, 4 bags in my left hand and hamsters in my right.  As I walked down the street trying to keep the cage from swinging too much, Pangpang continued to stuff her face.  Pangpang means fatfat, Shoushou cowered in fear under the shavings.  I made it home and my arm was in pain.  Real legit pain.  I put my gifts down, and managed to straighten myself up a bit then it was back out for dinner with my Primary school Headmistress, deputy headmistress, the party liaison (communist party I assume), and several English teachers.  Unfortunately the two headmistresses were unable to join us as a teacher had just lost her father.  They were going to pay their respects.  So it was just some English teachers, and the party liaison.  We went to Thai food, it was their first time eating Thai food!  They shoved the menu at me, and asked me to order and then told me I wasn't ordering enough, and to order more.  So I did, we got a bottle of wine.  We toasted each other and ate delicious Thai food.  Lucy quickly became intoxicated off the 1/4 a glass of wine she had to drink.  So she kept speaking to the waiters in English, confusing them!  The evening was fantastic.  At the end of the evening I had some flowers and a giant cake to add to the pile of gifts in my house.  What can I say?  I love presents!

My pile of presents!

China's Medical System

My foot has been hurting, so I figured... lets go get it checked out.  So Michaela and I head to the hospital on Friday morning.  We went to the nicest hospital in Changsha, probably the nicest hospital in Hunan.   I knew the moment we walked in this was a nice place, there was no one smoking and no chewed up betel nut on the floor.  My second thought was that this hospital was built like a mall.  There are registration kiosks for each section.  You register, pay for whatever you need and go to the right section.  You get a booklet which is your medical record, which you are responsible for.  They don't really keep records, and they definitely don't believe in privacy.  We were waiting in a room with a doctor and like 10 other people.  They would call your number and you would sit down and explain what was going on with you, the doctor would look at you, write in your booklet where you should go and print out some tickets for you to bring to the next kiosk.  I was sitting there with my shoes off and the doctor was asking Michaela questions and asking me questions, and there were 10 Chinese people staring at me.  He gave me two tickets one for an Xray and one for something that I still don't know what it is.

People come from all over Hunan to go to this hospital.  As I stood in line to pay for my Xray at the center kiosk, the man ahead of me kept turning around to stare at me.  Then he would return to staring in front of him, then turn around to look at me again.  60 Kuai later I was standing in line at the radiology kiosk to check in.  I was sent to room 4.  Both of the rooms I visited were room 4, talk about unlucky!  In Chinese 4 is a very unlucky number, 4 in Chinese is "si", which sounds like "si" which means death.  So I got the death number twice!  On the way to room 4, we passed by a man who was staring at me wide eyed, "Hallo" he said to us.  Michaela and I smiled generously, "hello".  As we are waiting for the xray room, a woman comes up to us.  She looks really upset.  In perfect English she says "I am having a terrible day, I hit someone with my car."  Michaela and I just looked at each other.  I think one of us managed to say "Oh.."  The woman nods, as if we are being sympathetic to her.  "She is making too much of it, I think she is fine"  She says gesturing to a woman who is writhing in pain on a gurney.  "That was nice of you to take her to the hospital."  says Michaela generously.  "I am supposed to."  Michaela and I were very silent, then a Chinese man opened the door and in they wheeled the woman.  We all pushed and shoved our folders at the doctor.  Who took them all, and saw the foreign name on mine.  So when the door opened again, it was my turn.  I was xrayed, no doubt all over.  They told us to come back that afternoon, the hospital closes at Noon for anything but emergencies, then reopens at 2:30.

We came back that afternoon, picked up the xrays (which I also get to keep).  Showed them to the doctor, he said. "Oh it isn't broken"  Then he looked at my tickets.  "You didn't get this test?"  "UH?"  So we walked from kiosk to kiosk, asking where we were supposed to go.  We got to the right window.  And they said "Mingtian (tomorrow) Xiawu (afternoon)".  So we go back today, and they said "Mingtian (tomorrow) Shangwu (morning)".  Needless to say I won't be going back there unless I am bleeding.  I will wrap my ankle and wear different shoes!

Bad Day...

There is good and bad hiding everywhere.  I don't want to give the impression that this bad day occurred because of China, it didn't.  It just happened to happen in China, where I don't speak the language that well, which always makes things more difficult.  I had a fun lesson prepped.  However, I was unprepared to be challenged about Taiwan and Tibet,  have one of my favorite classes acting like jerks, and have a student throw the Japanese flag on the ground.  Needless to say I was feeling very down about my students.  I was comforted by the knowledge that I had next week for them to redeem themselves.  I get home in tears, and am comforting myself with some Back to the Future, when I get a text that I will not have any classes starting next week.  My vacation has been extended (by only one school).  So they don't get to redeem themselves.  Oh well!!

Then to the gym, I canceled my Chinese class because I was a mess.  I went to cycling, and hurt my ankle. Then to the shower, where I lost my keys and had to cut my lock.  This process was complicated because a friend of mine, who is also a foreigner had earlier that evening cut someone else's lock in a stupid misunderstanding.  They clearly thought that I was her and must have asked me like 40 times.  "this is really your stuff."  "Yes it is my stuff"  "are you sure?"  "yes".  So they cut it open,  I lost a 5kuai lock and will have to get another one.  This one I will write my name on!  But I got my stuff back.

To end on a high note!
I taught Rose today, she is a student who I am helping with her pronunciation.  Together we will learn the phonetic alphabet, and we have fun saying stupid sentences to help with pronunciation.  Spending an hour with her is a ray of sunshine for me!

I read through some interesting reports where students poured their hearts out about "Growing pains"  and "agreeing with puppy love"  whatever the hell that means.

I got Lamian and watermelon juice!  And I managed to invite some people to my birthday, in Chinese!

Overnight Hot Springs Trip for Teachers

I was speaking to the other teachers in my office, when they mentioned that this weekend there would be a hot springs trip for all the teachers.  I was invited as was Thomas.  It was a weekend for all the Senior 1 teachers (高一).  I gladly accepted, and Saturday morning I woke up, packed an overnight bag, including a swimsuit, and walked across the street and climbed on a bus.  I was sitting there alone, realizing that none of the teachers from my office were coming.  I was resigned to a slightly lonely but enjoyable weekend!  When an English teacher from another office came over and sat down.  "We were talking, they think I should sit with you so you don't get lonely!"  This is how thoughtful my fellow teachers are!  We spoke for a while, she asked me where I had been.  I asked her where she had been, she gave me some tips for where to go in China, and how to get there inexpensively!  I have to admit, probably one of the most useful conversations.

The countryside

The bus ride started in Changsha and drove for about 2 hours, for the first hour or so we were in the suburbs of Changsha.  Then we finally made it out to the country side, the bus had to pull over so people could go pee.  There was no bathroom, so all the male teachers laughing got off the bus.  Linda, the teacher next to me, saw a home just nearby.  So she got off the bus and went and asked if she could use their toilet.  After they saw her successfully get inside, the other women flooded off the bus.  Oh how I wish I had gone.  The last 20 minutes of this ride were torture!  We arrived at the place and got off the bus.  We were shuffled in for a spicy Hunan lunch.  The other English teachers sat near me to translate.  I got some of the conversation, not a whole lot.  But didn't feel left out.  I felt like I was part of the group!  I was offered wine, and said "Yes"  The whole table looked surprised, and out came the baijiu.  I blush and said.. "Oh no no.. uh Hongputaojiu"  they all looked a bit disappointed and gave me some of the wine that was going around.  Then the toasts began, the two teachers in charge toasted every table, and the men were pouring baijiu for each other, and pouring their baijiu in each others glasses.  It was very amusing.  Then we went back to the room while the Party members had a meeting.

Lisa and I watched some TV, I read about Thailand.  Then to the hot springs!  The hot springs was more like a water park.  There was a water slide, that was not in operation.  There was a heated wave pool that was extremely popular, then there were little pools.  The first pool we went in was scalding hot, as I yelped the teachers laughed.  Then I jumped in the swimming pool, which was not as heated.  I swam a quick length to the other side, when I surfaced people were staring at me.  An older man in the lane next to me said "Leng ma?"  "cold?"  "Tai leng"  I replied.  "Too cold."  Then I wandered around looking for the English teachers.  But was unable to find them.  Finally Lisa found me, and told me they had all gone to the fish room.  I stood up and followed her.  I walk in, there is a small pool where you sit, and little tiny fish eat the dead skin off your feet.  It was severely weird and ticklish!  I couldn't handle it for long.  I was then led to the salt room, where tons of white salt is lying about like sand.  You rub it all over your body, it "gets rid of germs".  Why not!  Then a rinse off and back in the hot water.  Then inside to the pool with jets for your aches and pains!  The showers were very gross, so Lisa and I decided to take a quick shower and shower again when we returned.

That evening we ate another spicy Hunan dinner, drank more wine, had more toasts.  Then headed to KTV (karaoke).  The KTV room was a small room with a projector, a screen, crazy disco lights and giant speakers.  The door didn't shut so well, so people kept slamming the door.  There was more toasting in here.  Bei Laoshi, a teacher from my office that speaks no English, toasted me.  Ganbei-ing me!  I drank my beer down and could see the respect glowing in his eyes!  When I looked at the beer, I tried not to laugh.  It was Budweiser.  They all sang old songs.  I sang Waka Waka, attemped to sing "Your Girlfriend"  and was talked into a duet of "My heart will go on."

We left early, and were getting cozy when I received a text message about the Lunar eclipse that was occurring right then!  So we bundled up again and headed outside, to watch the eclipse.  Then I saw something that I miss living in the city.  Stars!  I could see stars and planets.  On a clear day in Changsha maybe you can see Jupiter.  We were cold, so I taught them a circle dance while we waited.  Then after while we were forced to retreat indoors.

Don't know her name, me, lisa and linda

The next morning we woke to frost on the ground, we had a filling breakfast of porridge, baozi, and noodles.  Then a walk around the grounds.  Then back on the bus.  As we drove down the windy roads with our bus driver swerving around other cars blaring his horn, one of the teachers got car sick.  So the bus pulled over to take a break.  The teachers stormed off the bus and across the street to buy pork.  The area we were in is famous for pork!  Some other teachers headed to a farmers garden and bought some fresh out of the ground produce.

The farmer's fields!

Then back on the bus, and back to Yi Zhong!  Best trip ever!

Children in China

Children in China are awfully cute!  And they are so similar to American children, but in some ways they are more free than American children.  Children in China walk around the city with their friends and really don't feel any fear.  Their parents don't either.  Changsha is a pretty big town but invariably I see young children walking around by themselves 7, 8, maybe even 9 at night.  They play late at night and come up and talk to me.  But because they are so free, and some of them are the only child in the family, school can be difficult for them.  Going from being the center of attention to being 1 face in a class of 40 to 75 students.  The elementary students often act out for the bad attention they receive because at least they are receiving attention.

Anyone who has lived in China for a while will tell you that parents rarely control their children.  Children run amok, very similar to these two twins on my street.  Their parents never control them, once I walked by their house and the kids were climbing on a car that was clearly not theirs.  Part of me wanted to scream at the parents "Control your Children".  But while the parents never openly control their children when you speak to them they all know what is expected of them.  That they study hard and do well in school!

My favorite thing about the children is how strong and brave most of them are.  In America if a child had a baby tooth knocked out playing volleyball, would he keep playing?  I do not know.  In China, that is exactly what he did.  After assuring me "mei shi"  "nothing", he left the tooth on the playground and hopped back in the game!

Children in China, are really fun!  The most rewarding thing is sharing a laugh, a basketball match, a song or some sort of odd clapping game with them!

Paintings and Yoga

My dear friend Corra after two trips to Beijing to visit her boyfriend, was finally back in town.  She gently reminded me of this fact by e-mailing me, calling me twice yesterday, and then calling me again today.  Corra is a very nice, if a little over-zealous, woman I met in the park.  She is a yoga instructor, who is constantly fixing my posture.  She is very excited and energetic.  Her warm heart is evident in how she speaks to everyone and how she speaks about the people she knows.  She always reminds me she wants to help me if I need it.

She called me on my way to Starbucks to get some work done, to invite me to sing and dance in the park!  I turned her down, saying I had to work.  But invited her to lunch.  So at 11:30, I walked briskly back to Yi Zhong.  Ninja turtle hat bouncing.  I met her at the gate, and we walked off.  Hand in hand, she is really clingy.  She loves to hold my hand, hang on my arm and other things.  I don't mind, it is nice to have a friend who knows her way around Changsha!  So this time I took her to lunch.  I took her to a Hunan restaurant near my house.  The lady who owns this store was ecstatic to see me approaching with a Chinese person.  She immediately began to inform on me, I always come here and I always order the same thing: 白辣椒炒肉，茄子豆jiang（Not sure the character for that one）and 花菜！White Pepper fried meat, green beans and eggplant, and cauliflower.  With her usual sunny smile Corra cheerfully ordered some Tofu in addition to the white pepper meat and eggplant.  We sat and chatted, many people came through and asked questions about me to her.  Patiently and proudly she answered them.  Every so often when I could understand the thick Hunan accent I would answer, much to their surprise!!

Then something happened that surprised and pleased both Corra and myself.  One of the painters who owns a shop behind the restaurant asked if he could paint a picture of me!  He was going to take some pictures of me, with my permission, and paint a picture!  Corra and I agreed heartily!  We walked into their tiny shop, all three painters proudly showed off their paintings!  They were beautiful, some where oil paintings others were traditional ink and water paintings.  The kind men gave me tea, took my picture, asked me many many questions.  Then gave me a painting and a news paper clipping about them.  When the painting is done, they will e-mail me!

When people ask me, do you find China to be repressive.  I have to say no, in the day to day life you never feel the government.  It is just people living, and the people in China know how to live.  If you look foreign they are usually willing to help you out, and have such warm hearts!

Hello Winter!

It is officially Winter!  This weekend and Monday I was wearing a t-shirt as I wandered around.  Tuesday was still warm, the wind was a bit chilly.  I woke up this morning to being able to see my breath, red nose and finger tips!  It is officially winter!  What better way to greet this season then with a rousing class, disco cycling and hot soup!  I welcomed winter by moving my clothing line inside and stringing it up in my room!  I have also started making Christmas decorations!  Paper Chains are easy to make and mindless to string together!  My paper chains perfectly accent my drying laundry!

In the evening I went to disco cycling again!  Words cannot describe, the room is dark, surrounded by mirrors.  They turn on blue and red lights that flash, there are strobe lights that flicker and green lights that also flash.  Our instructor looks like he has been taking steroids for years, he is extremely huge.  His biceps are huge and only accented by the tiny v neck skin tight shirt.  It must have been about 2 sizes too small.  He was also wearing teeny tiny bicycle shorts.  He played the music very loud and continually shouted at us in Chinese!  My favorite was when he would yell "Hey Hey' and have us chant back "Hey Hey".  Very amusing!  Words cannot describe!

Thanksgiving in Changsha! Students

Truly terrible Pumpkin Pie!

I was lucky enough to celebrate Thanksgiving not once but twice!  Once at the fabulous Sheraton Hotel, they have a Thanksgiving buffet.  All the westerners of Changsha (at least the ones who know about it), flock to the hotel for a taste of home.  270 yuan later, we all sat making merry with all you can drink wine and beer and a none stop buffet of delicious food!  Turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin, curry, sushi, and spiced frog were among the choices.  The chocolate fountain and ice cream were also delectable.  But the pumpkin pie was terrible!  Really really horrible!  It was watery and tasteless!  And the big bowl of something that looked like whipped cream was actually sour cream!  Oh China...  That being said it was wonderful to eat some comfort food and enjoy the company of my fellow World Teachers and some new friends!  After 2 plates, Maureen and I ran to the gym.  They were having some sort of party, and Maureen's gym friends invited her.  As a proud member of this gym (She says ironically).  I headed with her, we played some games and won some prizes.  I finally figured out their names.  Xionghuan (Bear something) and Zhongliang (He of course in true southern style says "zong").  Then we returned to the Sheraton to continue eating and drinking.  My friends were quite sauced and decided to have a cake race!  The chocolate fountain had a stand with spoons and mini cakes.  My friends put 5 mini cakes in a long column and had a race to the bottom.  I did not watch this, I sorta wish I had.  But at the same time I was a bit embarrassed for them.  It was the Sheraton, a really nice place!  But nonetheless when we left people were stealing plants and food.

Joey, Sarah's Friend, Sarah and Teresa

 Then on Friday after a rousing game of Uno, I managed to lose my voice just in time for Thanksgiving in Hengyan with almost all of the World Teachers!  Down to Hengyang we went, we left Yi Zhong at 9am, and arrived at 1pm.  Taking the fast train is fast, but getting to the fast train stations takes an hour on both ends!  But it was worth it when we got there, playing Ultimate Frisbee and American Football was fun!  The funnest was trying to explain it to the Chinese Students who were playing with us!  I met an interesting fellow "Lee", who taught me a game called "Feji"  it is basically Sorry!  Which was awesome!  But as happens all too often two players were not focusing so I kicked them out, much to Lee's delight!  Lee was an interesting fellow, and is one of those Senior 3s that is just hilarious!  We left at 7 and made it home by 10!  It was much shorter on the way back!  Not sure quite why!  But Hengyang was awesome!  I could see living there!

A short update on teaching!  Nothing is more hilarious that having 5th graders who are a little too into a game rip your signs up accidentally!  And nothing is more painful than having a lesson you thought would be fun fall flat!

Some of my 6th graders being naughty during morning exercises!

Birthdays in China!

Maureen's Gym Friends!

This past Saturday was a dear friend of mine's 25th birthday party!  So what do you do in China to party?  You either drink heavily, go to KTV (Karaoke), or do both!  So Maureen opted for Pizza Hut, followed by Parking Lot Bar, and then finally KTV!  KTV becomes astronomically cheaper after 11.  So we met at pizza hut, there was a huge crowd of us.  15 people:  Some world teachers, 3 English speaking Chinese teachers, a random Chinese guy from Maureen's gym and his two friends.  Dinner was awkward, language barriers with the Chinese guys who didn't speak English.

Then to Parking Lot bar.  There was much laughing and joking.  I was taught many new words, and phrases.  Including one I am too shy to use because I don't understand it completely.
"为什么你吃我豆腐？” “吃报了吗？”  “吃慢慢”
"Why are you eating my tofu?"  "Have you had enough?'  "Eat slowly"
(I think it is like " why are you making fun of me"  but I am not sure.)  The man that taught me was quite drunk, he also taught me some Changshahua (Changsha local language).  Eat is Qiu instead of Chi.  He taught me "Ni yao ogai luo"  (What do you want).  Bill was very amusing!  Then to Foosball bar!  Then finally to KTV!

This was the icing on the cake!  Somewhere in between singing "Waka Waka" and "Party in the USA"  I realized that American's have it wrong.  You should only have to listen to people you know sing off key.  Private rooms for KTV are fantastic.  One of my friends was clever, bringing booze in from outside.  Hiding beer in his pants!  When I told my fellow teachers, they marveled about how amazingly clever he was.  It was amusing.  I left at 3:30am they were still partying!

The next morning I was kicking myself for making lunch plans.  But they ended up being most enjoyable!  May and Syvia took me to Hot Pot, taught me more Changshahua.  Hot pot is delicious, but I will never understand their obsession with putting hot dogs and spam in it!  Oh well.  Walking around Buxingjie was fun.  Seeing the people, with locals made it so much better.  Their English is good, they continue to strive to learn.  I have come to learn the desire to out weighs the gift to learn.

Syvia and Me on BuXingJie

May and I on BuXingJie

Chinese Students: The good, the bad, the adorable

Teaching in China is without a doubt the most rewarding, entertaining thing I have done with my life.  If you ever get a chance to live in China I recommend it.  Like any job there are ups and downs, but the kids they are worth it.  They are so cute!  But they can be so naughty, and the ones that are naughty relish in it.  You can see it in their impish faces the few precious moments you have to head them off before they do something naughty.  Like putting toilet paper on an unsuspecting students head.

That being said, my students are pretty golden.  This is because I am spoiled.  I work at 长沙市一中学, the #1 middle school in Changsha, and I work at a primary school where I am the first foreigner ever to work there and I have a Chinese teacher in the class with me.  The presence of a Chinese teacher is usually enough to stem any naughtiness.  One of my 6th grade classes, I had a student who was drawing breasts in this book.  He refused to share it with me, but I managed to get a look.  But let it go, only to see the notebook cycling around the back of the class.  It was quite amusing.

Stone, from my practicum.  I wish I was teaching him!

My seniors on the other hand are just amusing.  They are all so different from one another.  The way they are naughty is talking in Chinese, they often forget I can understand them.  Or don't notice me, it is fun to make them jump by leaning in and saying “说英文”  "Speak English."

This weekend there was a conference, as I was waiting for my drink, I spotted a student of mine smoking.  This was not shocking for me, everyone smokes in China.  Some of my fellow volunteers tell me that cigarettes are sold in the student store.  Johnson jumped, though, and hide his cigarette.  I shrugged and turned back to my drink.  A few seconds later, here comes Johnson.  He leans on the counter, looks at me seriously and leans in.  "I am sorry Patty."  I looked at him, a bit confused.  "没关系，no problem"  I replied.  "I am really really sorry, Patty."  He says again breathy, worried.  I am pretty sure he was sweating.  "真的没关系, really no problem.  I do not think it is healthy for you to smoke."  He nodded relieved and headed off.  I thought the matter was settled, but sure enough I walk into his class on Wednesday.  Up he walks, his head hanging in shame.  "Patty, I am really sorry."  "No problem, really."  "I am really really sorry"  "It is no problem, I am just worried because it is not healthy.  I like you.  I want you to be healthy."  He perked up when I said this.  "Maybe after class I can get your phone number and then visit you in America..."

Clubs day was Tuesday, all the students were milling about being seduced by various clubs.  The English Club had a terrible location, no costumes and no music.  Alex, who speaks extremely good English, and I did our best to attract some attention.  But to no avail.  Stone, a student who was in my practicum group walked up to me and offered me a rose.  I was touched, I must have gushed "Thank you" about 100 times.  He was embarrassed and made a quick exit afterwards.  I cannot seem to get him to stick around and talk to me!  Damn I love that kid!  He was fantastic in practicum, but I do not get to teach him!  Then I spent the rest of the afternoon, walking and talking with TK.  A senior 3 that Thomas is helping.  TK and I were seen talking, I was holding a rose.  I am almost positive that all my students think we are dating.  They are really funny about dating.  If you ever want students to go crazy just mention kissing, or dating.  It really makes the whole class start giggling and tittering.  It is very amusing.

Then to English Corner, with the privileged kids.  Class 22 is special, only 22 students.  They have 2 foreign English teachers all to themselves.  An older British man named Nick, who is very nice and soft spoken, and a younger (but still older than me) Australian man named Lawrence, who is extremely abrasive.  Lawrence was in charge of the Halloween party and the English corner.  He just never seems to explain things well enough, and then yells at the kids.  I don't like him much.  But I met some really nice students, the girls and I formed a team and trashed the boys.  These kids though are such smart asses, they think they know so much.  At least my senior ones are still impressed by me!

Another student, who has already been discussed, is Challenging.  This kid makes me laugh.  He always tells me what to call the other students.  He is trying to convince me to call a student in his class "Handsome Jackson."  He argues with me about whether I am going to a man's house or a woman's house.  The latest, he told me, mostly through mime, that I should beat up Jack's girlfriend and take him.  Because I am old.  He also informed me that I am not as pretty as Eileen.  What a sweetheart, but really I love this kid.  I am almost positive he is joking with me.

This past week was Movie/Music week.  My classes were good, and they earned a music or movie day.  All the classes chose movie, except one.  Then I let them choose.  4 classes chose Malcolm in the Middle as their "movie".  They loved it, they were laughing at the family dynamics cheering when Malcolm beat up a bully.  I have never seen kids so into a show.  2 classes watched Pushing Daisies, they loved it.  They were on edge during the exciting parts, and giggling and tittering during anything vaguely romantic.  My last class of the week was hilarious.  I was sitting behind this group of girls.  Every time something slightly romantic happened this girl would start twirling her hair, with both hands on either side of her head.  It was extremely comical, after class this girl sent a messenger up to me to ask the name of the actor.  Lee Pace is apparently the epitome of attractive to Senior 1 class 19!  Music was fun, the students laughed when I showed the lyrics to a song that had the swearing left out, and the swearing was replaced by F**king.  Also I never realized that James Blunt swore in "You're Beautiful."  My students cheerfully informed me that there was a bad word in that song.

Today I went to Zhounan and watched my friend's teach their Juniors.  They warned me that their classes can be a little out of control.  Let me just say that the Juniors after lunch were little naughty monsters.  They were playing a kissing game in the back before class started.  Then they were throwing things during class, talking, putting toilet paper on each others heads.  I don't know how Courtney does it.  Let me just say I love Chinese students!

I went to an English Corner at a western style cafe called the 5th tone.  The topic was Wisdom.  "How do you define someone that is wise, foolish?"  "who is the wisest person you know? Why?"  It was interesting to hear their opinions.  Steve Jobs is apparently very wise.  And wise people share their opinions, and listen to other people.  No one said Mao, which honestly I was a little surprised by.

Shaoshan

I live in Hunan, the home province of Mao Ze Dong!  He said the spicy Hunan food gave rise to some of the reddest Chinese people in history.  And it is pretty true for China.  Many famous Chinese communists came out of Hunan, including Mao.  Anyways, his home town is only a hop, skip, and a jump from Changsha.  A mere 81km and an hour and a half bus ride, although it can be 2 if there is traffic or if the bus driver has a friend and drives out of the way to drop him or her off.  TIC

Maureen, Courtney, Kirsten, Dan and I decided to go to Shaoshan.  We met Dan at the South Bus station.  Kirsten's train from Huaihua was a little be late, a mere 2 hours, so we cut it a bit close.  But the invigorating taxi ride made up for it.  The swerving, the beeping, the near misses.  Seeing a cute little yellow car with a sticker in the back window that said "S.W.A.T.  Even cops need to dial 911."  The morning was crisp, and inside the bus station was freezing.  We got our tickets, and headed out to the bus, we were the last people on the bus, so there weren't many seats together.  Courtney got a seat next to a Chinese man, her seat would not sit up, but nor would it lock in place to remain lying back.  A nice Chinese man in the back row scooted over so Maureen and I could sit next to each other.  So we arrived in Shaoshan and were shuffled onto another bus to go to Mao's Guju.  Former residence.  It turns out it was a tour, we said we just wanted a ride and they charged us 2.5 yuan.  They took everyone to a restaurant.  We said, "We don't want a restaurant, we will walk back to the former residence."  But the bus driver insisted on driving us back to the former residence.  Somewhere in this exchange we realized that one of the people in the bus was a foreigner.  His name was Myron, we adopted him into our group.

We commenced the Mao journey, starting at his house.  A small mud house with a thatched roof.  There were tons of school groups, who were more excited about seeing us foreigners than Mao's former residence.  Choruses of children's voices saying "hello" followed us as we tried to figure out where to go.  The big line couldn't be avoided, so we got in line.  We were shuffled from room to room, the first thing we noticed was either Mao had money, or the spruced up his house a little.  There were actual bedrooms, and bedrooms for each member of his family.  There was some particularly nice Chinglish, a sign warning us not to touch or nibble anything in the house and a blurb about Mao's father "He was a hardworking crackerjack man."  Then we followed some signs towards the museum, which were actually signs towards the gift shops.  Some bargaining commenced.  I got a present for my father, the man wanted 38 originally and I managed to get it down to 18.  The trick was when he wouldn't change the price, I walked away.  He had to get my friends to come and get me back!

Mao's school was next, we were informed what a good student Mao was.  And how he shared his meager lunch with other students, his mother supported this and gave him more so he could share.  The school was honestly more interesting, it had a lot about Mao's education.  Then we walked back towards the museum, we were followed by choruses of "hello" from both school children and middle-aged men chewing betel nut.  We watched some exciting flower placing ceremony in front of the Mao statute.  But it looked like you could buy the flowers and the ceremony at a little kiosk nearby.  Which made it a bit less impressive!  Then to the free Mao museum, all in Chinese.  But really cool mementos, like the ancient style guns they were using.  Weird Wax freezes of Mao, following him from when he was young and thin to when he became the man we are used to seeing.  After that museum we went to the next one, which was newer and had English.  This was a museum of Mao's stuff.  Highlights:  Nixon's place tag and wine glass, Mao's giant swim trunks, and the tags.
"These are the accounts showing that Mao always paid for everything himself." "Mao did not like to drink except before swimming" "Mao never believed anything he read without looking into further."  "Mao's cuban friend gave him these cigars"  "Mao enjoyed watching the plums blossom."

After all that we left, trying to find the bus back.  The same bus driver pulled over for us, we asked if he was going to the bus station.  He said yes, we hopped on and he flipped a bitch and headed back towards the bus stop.  I don't know if that is really where he was headed or if he was just being nice.  But the bus was full, so I hope it was the first one.  We went and found a place to eat and ordered some Hunan food, including Mao's favorite.  Hong something chao rou.  All you need to say is Hong and they know what you are trying order!  It is literally chunks of fat and peppers, the sauce is amazing.  But the dish it's self.. I can see why Mao was so huge!

So throughout the day, we talked to Myron a little more, who is Chinese-American from Richmond.  He and his family were just in Guangzhou for 3 weeks, he speaks Cantonese but no Mandarin.  Through out the day people would address him assuming he was our guide, and he would refer them to Dan who speaks very good Chinese.  It often took a few tries to convince the person that yes, the white man speaks Chinese, and the man who looks like you does not speak Putonghua.  So Myron ended up coming back to Changsha with us.  He was staying at the hostel near the Provincial Museum.

So we took him out for Jiaozi at our favorite place, beers at Mix bar (a foos ball place).  And then back to home, before Courtney and Maureen get in trouble.  They have a curfew of 11 at their South Campus apartments.  Later that night I was adding him on facebook, only to discover we have a mutual friend!  SMALL WORLD!

Delicious Fried Jiaozi!

Courtney, Myron and Kirsten are visible!

Mountains, Car Accidents, and a Night Out

Yesterday was awesome!  Really quite awesome.  Thomas and I were invited to climb Yuelu mountain with the other teachers.  If you make it to the top then you receive 100 Yuan.  Thomas and I were told 9:30 to 11:30.  If you made it up there between 9:30 and 11:30 then you would get the money.  We left Yi Zhong at 9:30 and took a bus.  Then we climbed the mountain.  Calling another English teacher!  She kindly waited for us.  Climbing  the mountain does not take very long.  But we didn't know where to meet them.  There are enough nooks and crannies all over it is hard to figure out where someone is.  We had a lack of cellphone reception.  While we paused to get our barrings and try to call the English teacher, Thomas and I were way laid by people who wanted their pictures taken with foreigners.  This happened every time we stopped.

Eventually we found some university students.  We told them we couldn't find our friends.  We said they were at the Yuelu temple.  The students said they would show us the way.  As we walked along we asked them questions.  Most of the students were calm and in control.  Two girls were crazy energetic!  When we asked "What do you study"  They eagerly exclaimed "WE STUDY MAO ZE DONG!! MAO ZE DONG!!"  They were a little crazy.  Eventually one of them called our friend Faye, and explained where we were.  Faye came up to get us.  Then they bugged her with many questions.  Faye is cool as a cucumber, she answered their questions good naturedly and then said we had to be going.  As we waved and said goodbye to the students, the two young women bounced up and down screaming "Goodbye Goodbye!"

We made it to the top and signed the ledger at 11:29!  We received our money and took some pictures.  Then down the mountain, to Lamian (hand pulled noodles).  I went to go get a hot chocolate, and saw some people standing in the middle of the road screaming at one another.  There was a car, and a motor bike.  Then I remembered something Michaela and Teresa told me about.  People won't get off the road, they will continue to block the road and scream at one another.  I watched from a safe distance, there was no resolution, so I returned home.

A relaxing afternoon, that was not as productive as I wanted it to be.  I was falling asleep watching pokemon in Chinese.  Instead of working on my lesson for today.  I got just enough done before meeting my new friend Corra for dinner.  She met me and gave me peanuts, I gave her some hongzi (I don't know what the word is in English).  We walked around, she bought me gloves because she was worried about my hands being cold.  I bought some fried sweet dough for the two of us.  Then we went to street food, we got a hot spicy soup, fried rice, and fried food on sticks.  Then she bought more fried rice.  We were unable to finish this food, but it ended up being about 20 yuan for all the food.  Someone told us we looked like sisters!  Corra is so energetic, she kept asking me when we could hang out again!  We went shopping, she kept asking me if I wanted things.  I kept saying no, i was worried she would buy them for me!  Walking around with her was like having a girlfriend, she was hanging on me, holding my hand and my arm all evening.  The evening ended with me smiling and promising to see her again.  She is going to teach me yoga and Chinese cooking!

BEST DAY EVER!

Words cannot describe the exhilaration of today!  As I sit listening to "Wavin' Flag" by K'naan, I am reflecting on everything amazing that has happened today.  I woke up this morning and made the decision to go to the office to work on some of my papers.  I ended up having an extremely productive morning, and nearly finished my lesson plan for Monday!  Then I met up with Jack and Thomas!  I had a student come up to me and ask me some questions!

Me: "Hey Challenging (that is his name), how are you?"
Challenging:  "Hey patty, I am fine.  Is he your boyfriend" (pointing at jack)
Me:  "No, he is not."
Challenging:  "Do you have a boyfriend?"
Me:  "No I do not."
Challenging: "How old are you?"
Me:  "I am 24"
Challenging:  "Oh.. you are so.. so.. old.  You need a boyfriend." Then Thomas walks up.  "Oh is he your boyfriend?"
Me:  "No I do not have a boyfriend."
Challening:  "He has pretty eyes." etc. etc.

It was very funny, but eventually the conversation ended and we played some basketball with students.  It was fun, exhilarating, and slightly embarrassing!  The students were good, then we switched to kicking a soccer ball around!  Then delicious food!!  Caihua, qiezi, ye bailajiaochaorou.  (cauliflower, eggplant and white pepper fried meat).  A trip to the dvd store, I finally found pushing daisies but need to clean the disc, it is very very dirty.  I might need to return it tomorrow, or exchange for a new one!  But I still found it!

Then out again for dinner with Emily and Mandy.  Then we stopped into the fifth tone to use their swanky western bathroom.  We stumbled into English corner!  I was surrounded by 10 university students.  Some of whom had never seen a westerner before.  Mandy, Emily and I invited them to join us in watching the fireworks.  It was so much fun!  The best part, covering a lantern with our wishes and sending it off!

Our beautiful lanterns with our wishes!

Pharmacies and Medicine

Coming down with a cold!  Went to the pharmacy asked about a thermometer.  They gave me one, I then tried to ask how long I have to wait, they said 5 minutes, I asked what normal temp was and they said 37.5.  They said something else and I had no idea what they were trying to say.  They mimed putting the thermometer in my armpit.  We all laughed.  Then they asked if I had a cold, and I say I think I do.  They then rushed all over the store grabbing medicine for my cold. 52 kuai later I had pills for sniffles and pills for coughs.  Not sure how I feel about taking 4 pills 3 times a day!  But Chinese meds are weaker than western meds.  My sniffles are better this morning but I don't know if I can handle so many pills!

Water, Gas, Electricity.

I believe that people who have running water, gas, and electricity are lucky beyond lucky.  And you never realize just how lucky you are until you go to a place where you don't have it.  My first few months it was a little intense, not being able to drink the tap water.  The water jug was helpful, and I am getting used to it.  But I can't imagine living somewhere where there wasn't any water.
My friends water is no longer running, hopefully that is no longer the case.  But all his neighbor's have running water.  No one is quite sure what is going on.

Electricity is interesting here, the first thing I was told was to never plug in all three heaters at once or it would blow the power.  All the wires are so tenuously put together, they hang down low, and construction sites with live wires are never closed to the public.  I blew my power and was afraid to flip the circuit breaker.  I called my site mate and made him come over and help me switch the power.

Gas, my gas is no longer working.  Not sure why.  But it died in the middle of my foray into making french toast.  Delicious french toast!  Lack of gas.. leaves soggy french toast that is not so good.

TIC
This is China!

Update on gas.  A half an hour of 3 Chinese people arguing loudly in my kitchen and changing batteries.  They said they will come back tomorrow, for something... not sure for what.

Halloween Weekend Changsha!

Happy Early Halloween!  This weekend has been an awesome weekend!  I had some people visit and we partied a lot!  Shopping, and parties it was really fun!  Friday Night we went to Yali, the folks from the Yale program threw an awesome Halloween Party.  There were some fantastic costumes.  I was boiling in my turtleneck, long underwear, socks, pants and a skirt.  Mariah did my make-up in style!  The party was fun, the foray to Soho was also enlightening.  The music is fun, and the atmosphere is thick with smoke, booze and awkward encounters between people.  The people drink whiskey green tea.  It is whiskey mixed with this really sweet green tea.  It is honestly a bit gross.  There is no room to move or dance, but you make room and do it anyways.  People kept asking me for my hat.  5 people must have tried on my hat!  The dancing was fun. 
The next day we were hungover but I invited my students over to my house. We showed them Hocus Pocus, we were unable to finish it.  It was funny to watch their expressions and try to figure out what exactly was going on in their brains.  Then we went shopping!  Shopping was fun, found a piece of my costume.  Which shall remain a mystery until my next blog!!

Sunday morning I went to Martyrs park to see if the leaves were changing.  They hadn't started yet, but there was a yoga group who was finished by singing their ohms.  Then they got up to dance and sing.  They saw me watching and invited me to join!  It was incredibly fun to sing and dance with a group of people I didn't know at all.

These people were so kind, and sweet.  They took many many pictures!  I am pretty sure I was the most exciting thing in ages.  It was really fun.  One of the ladies got my phone number, so she can tell me when they next do yoga!  So maybe I will learn yoga.  I think my back could use it!  Then the evening Lucy Yi (a teacher from my primary school) and two students came over to make Jack o' Lantern.  Explaining about Jack o' Lanterns and trying to turn long tubular gourds into jack o' lanterns was an experience.  I love the fact that I am resourceful enough to figure out how to do it.

Hengshan, the CRH, Travel in China

This past weekend I went on a foray to Hengshan.  Hengshan has a very famous mountain that had Taoist, Buddist and Confucius temples on it.  It is a one of the 5 famous religious mountains in China.  It just happens to be in Hengshan.  My dear friends Tina and Jooik also happen to be in Hengshan.  Tina's birthday was on Monday, so it seemed like a good weekend to go.  Hengshan is the mountain, the town is Nanyue.  Hengshan is 120km south of Changsha.  But the shortest part of the journey was taking the train from South Changsha to West Hengshan, it took a half an hour by bullet train.  The CRH is without a doubt the cleanest form of travel in Hunan.  No beetlenut was spit out, no one was smoking.  They also give all the instructions in English and Chinese, every car has a light up sign that tells you how fast you are going, and what the next stop is.  It would alternate between English and Chinese.  The CRH was easier to navigate than the TGV!  Maybe it has changed, but when I last took the TGV they only spoke in french.  I speak pretty good french, but they spoke so fast I spent the first section of the ride worried I was on the wrong train!  No such problem with the CRH!  All the trains are labeled with Alphanumeric labels so you can find what gate you have.

Once I got to Hengshan Xi Station, I was worried about being able to make it to Nanyue.  But a woman named Free showed me the way, I continue to kick myself for not getting her contact information.  She is a student at Hunan Normal University.  Once I got on the bus, they asked me for 4 kuai.  I had 3 kuai and a 50.  They wouldn't take the 50, so some nice person gave me the one kuai I was missing.  The bus had no suspension and the road had major cracks.  It was a bumpy ride, but the country was beautiful and there were tons of incense shops.  The bus stopped in Nanyue and everyone got off.  I decided to walk around, I picked a direction and started walking.  Half looking for a bathroom, half looking for food.  I asked some people where to find Tina and Jooik's school, they said "Follow us we will walk there with you."  So I followed them.  "Are you a teacher there?"  "No, my friend is"  "Oh the teacher who runs."  Tina apparently is famous for running around town, she is training for a marathon on the great wall in may!  So they led me to the School.  The school is nestled in the mountains.  If you sit on the football field and look up, you see forest covered mountains.  And a tiny temple that lights up at night.

It turns out a ton of us showed up to celebrate Tina's birthday.  There were 11 of us.  Her liaison reserved a place at a restaurant for us, and ordered for us.  It was a fantastic meal.  Jooik and Laura snuck off and bought some cake on the way back!  So we had a mini late birthday celebration.  Including a flower candle that was supposed to open and sing.  But didn't work so well.  It ended up being a melted mass of plastic!  On top of an angel food cake, with whipped cream like frosting.  There were grapes, kiwis, dragonfruit, pineapple and tomatoes on top of this cake.  Strips of pink white chocolate surrounded the cake.  It was extremely sweet.  So after we all caught up, we crashed in preparation for climbing the mountain.  We had been warned it would take a long time.  But we were not quite prepared for how long it would really take!  But not because we hadn't been warned.

So we started climbing the mountain at about 9am and left the mountain at about 6.  It took a really long time. We took a round about way, to avoid most of the cars and buses.  The hike up went through several different stages.  We started in temperate rain forest, went into conifers, and then up to shrubs and then up to conifers again.  Although I think the last layer was planted.  The hike was beautiful and the temple at the top was pretty amazing!  After all the climbing, we ate dinner.  Cait and I headed to the train station in a cab that had to stop and shove his headlight back in.  It was amusing!  Then we bought our tickets, for some reason mine was way more expensive than if on the way here.  I think that is because I only had to wait 20 minutes.  I managed to catch the last bus to Yi Zhong, something I was very happy about.  I made it home and took a hot shower.  The next day, I felt like I was 100 years old.  I could barely move!

Chinese Lesson

Just had my first Chinese lesson, and I believe everyone who wants to teach English should try and learn another language.  It gives me a new appreciation for what all my students go through every day!  Not understanding every word the teacher says, maybe only understanding the gist.  It is one on one for me, I luckily don't have to worry about my peers mocking me!  I can't imagine what they go through.  But an hour of reading aloud was plenty embarrassing for me.

Animals in China

The cat at the Hostel in Zhangjiajie!  Tianzi Hostel

The dog at the hostel in Beijing (Ming Courtyard)

One of the things I was really worried about coming to China was how animals are treated!  Animals place in China is stuck between the old world and and the new.  When you walk around in the morning you see dogs on leashes, immaculately groomed wearing bows and sweaters being proudly displayed by their owners.  You also walk by stores that have cats on leashes, not quite as endearing.  These felines are relatively well cared for.  Both hostels I have stayed in had a pet of sorts.  In Zhangjiajie, there was a cute orange and white cat prowling around, who had a litterbox (first one I have seen) and food and water.  The dog in Beijing was an accomplished beggar and thief, even though he was well fed and well cared for.  His toys were scattered around the common areas.  As far as other pets go I have seen pet birds in cages, very similar to the US.  But not very many of these.  There are places where they sell gold fish in tiny little terrariums.  Almost every toy store sells live turtles, not in little terrariums but in tiny little plastic balls with some water in them and holes for air.  At first I thought they were fake, then I realized they were moving.

The other group of animals are the animals for eating.  They are everywhere and include everything.  In smaller towns this is more obvious, but I do see people carrying around live animals to sell.  A teacher at my school stopped by the English office, and dropped something off.  It was a live chicken in a box, the poor thing was rustling around trying to get out.  I would have laughed if it had gotten out and away.  That being said every time you head to the market you run the risk of seeing a fish being scaled alive, a chicken being killed or any number of unkind killing methods.  The really horrific part is seeing dead dogs and cats hung up for sale.  Although seeing ROUSs in cages can be equally horrifying.  The variety of things that they eat here is impressive though!!

Rodent of Unusual Size

Saturdays in Changsha

Saturdays are so nice, lazy mornings in Changsha.  A late morning of delicious soy bean smoothies, a bread roll and a 9:30am stroll to Martyr's Park.  Martyr's Park early in the morning has groups of people practicing dancing and martial arts.  But at 9:30 they are all done, and moving off to make room for the parents, grandparents and children!  The children are given balloons, bubbles and other things to keep them happy and well behaved.  Strolling through to see the rides slowly come alive.  Roller coasters, bumper cars, haunted houses.  Simple pleasures like feeding the Koi fish are doubly enjoyable when watching little kids shriek as the fish swarm around the small pellets of feed.  Walking around the lake, watching the trees that are beginning to turn.  Smiling at people, waving at children, hearing the customary "Waiguoren."  The sun, the breeze.

Then a nice game of soccer at Yi Zhong.  Senior 3's and Teachers versus Senior 1's.  I am terrible, but I get better every time!  Then over to fireworks!  The "Hooray for Saturday!" fireworks show was new and different!

Fireworks, Yuelu Mountain, Scooters and a Chinese Teacher!

First of all I was hit by a scooter!  on Saturday October 8th!  I was crossing Qingshuitang road, didn't look both ways hear a guy yell, I stepped back and he ran over my foot.  He screeched to a halt and turned to yell at me.  But I started saying "Duibuqi!"  He rushed to reassure me, and went on his merry way.  This reminds me of high school, someone would bump into me and I would say "Sorry".  But regardless I was ok and continued on my way.

So it was beautiful on Saturday, just gorgeous.  I spent the whole morning working on lesson plans and visual aids, so I figured I needed a break.  I invited people to climb Yuelu mountain with me.  Everyone was really busy!  So I hopped on a bus and went to the mountain my self.  This is my second time at Yuelu mountain.  I still haven't found any of the cool temples that are on it, but it is beautiful.  It was fun to hike it, and watch people staring at me as I huffed it up the mountain.  The leaves are starting to change it was quite beautiful.  Half way through I realized I was taking pictures of trees that I want to send to my father to have him id them.  Not knowing the local flora and fauna is weird and off putting.  The hike is paved the entire way, like most hikes in China.  But there are off cuts here and there were you can see more of the mountain.  There is also opportunities for LPT (Lazy person Travel) a chair lift and a bus that brings people up to the top of the mountain!  That being said, once you get off the main road it is easy to find a spot to be alone and relax.  I might bring my sketch book and my pencils.  I haven't tried to sketch landscapes before.

So after the mountain I met up with Maureen and Courtney!  We went to a restaurant and ordered something I just learned how to order.  Chaomian!  (Fried Noodles)  rou si chao mian!  (Pork fried noodles) 肉丝炒面！  Oh so delicious!  Then to the 5th tone (a coffee shop near the mountain), I got a chai latte, it wasn't very good.  Then to the river front and a fireworks show.  The "Hooray for Saturday" fireworks show!  Every Saturday they put on a show that shames our piddly little 4th of july fireworks!  The fireworks were amazing, I was about to buy a lantern then I realized that we didn't have enough people to send up the lantern and document.  So that idea fell by the way side!

Monday was Teresa's birthday.  Teresa is our Field Director.  She has been so helpful, and kind.  We went to a place called "O'Malley's" where you can get a huge burger!  Seriously finishing one of those was tough!  Her party was really fun and gave me one of those "look at all the nice people I have met in China" moments!  I want to thank Teresa for making my adjustment to China so simple and awesome!

Me and Teresa!

Then the best thing ever happened last night (Tuesday October 11)!  I have a Chinese Teacher now!  Twice a week I will go to her office and study Chinese for an hour.  I am inspired, I have started making flashcards of words that I learn.  Today I learned Shanzhu (Mangosteen)!  Now can I figure out how to eat a shanzhu? 怎么吃山竹？

Conversation with a Student: The People of my Generation Knows how to use Rights!

Skittles_Patty   08:53:14
you are excited for your test?
Minimum of Max   08:53:18
GREAT
Minimum of Max   08:53:21
no
Minimum of Max   08:53:35
i'm still in bed now
Minimum of Max   08:54:58
but some of(i think it is lots of)students report it to goverment and some tv station
Skittles_Patty   08:55:19
wow
Minimum of Max   08:56:11
we have 7 days off during national days
Minimum of Max   08:56:36
but school cut two days
Skittles_Patty   08:56:48
oh no! to make you take a test!
Skittles_Patty   08:56:58

Minimum of Max   08:58:35
but we use our rights just like american!
Skittles_Patty   08:58:46
and tell the news people?
Minimum of Max   08:58:53
yeah
Skittles_Patty   08:59:36
cool!
Minimum of Max   08:59:39
some students called the tv station for 2 hours
Minimum of Max   08:59:45
one by one!
Skittles_Patty   09:00:15
wow, the tv station must have been surprised to hear from so many students
Minimum of Max   09:02:13
not our school,other school also have to give back the 2-days-off
Skittles_Patty   09:02:46
so you do not have a test?
Minimum of Max   09:02:52
so all the students in changsha don't have to go to school!
Minimum of Max   09:02:54
yeah
Skittles_Patty   09:02:57
wow!
Minimum of Max   09:03:31
this was our first 7-days-off sice junior 1
Skittles_Patty   09:03:44

Minimum of Max   09:03:49
it's meaningful!
Skittles_Patty   09:03:58
very
Minimum of Max   09:06:16
the people of my generation konws how to use rights!

I don't know what else I can say.  This is interesting and amazing to me, I don't know how American students would react if their vacation was shortened but I am almost positive they wouldn't do this.  Their parents might.  But interesting to think that the 15 and 16 year olds I teach are using their rights in a way that never would have dawned on me at that age.

Beijing Cultural Hub or Rip Off Market!

Matt, Sarah, Mandy and Tony in their room!

On October 1st, which was a terribly rainy Changsha day we packed up our bags and met at the Changsha HuoCheZhan (Train Station).  Mandy, Mariah, Sarah, Matt and I met, gave our tickets and walked in.  We walked to the appropriate waiting room and a half an hour later we were on the train in our rooms.  Mandy, Sarah and Matt were sharing one room with a young man named Tony.  Who turned out to be an alumnus from the school where I teach.  He is now going to university and studying mechanical engineering.  He is very good at speaking English and I am looking forward to getting to know him.  Mariah and I were in another room, for a while we were hoping that it would just be the two of us.  But then we got a roommate, a silent Chinese man who snored really loudly!  We played some Egyptian Rat Slap, Slap Jack and some speed.  But soon it was time to crash.  They give you a pillow and blanket, and small beds that weren't that bad.  Trains (at least sleepers) are a very civilized way to travel.  We left at 6pm, fell asleep around 10pm woke up at around 7:00am and we were arriving in Beijing.  The sun was coming up, and the sky was blue, a deep enjoyable blue.  The air was a crispy 40 degrees.  We walked around and found the place to buy everyone's return tickets.  The one counter that spoke English.  Ate some baozi and then followed the crowds onto bus 22, got off at the subway stop.  We hopped on the subway 2 yuan from the Military Museum to BeiXinQi our stop.  We climbed the stairs and arrived in a cute neighborhood.  It was so much quieter than the average street in Changsha.  There were no scooters on the sidewalk!  We walked along looking for our hostel and we ran into a wedding procession, which was beautiful.  Eventually we found the Ming Courtyard.  It was down a cutesy little Hutong, the people there were very nice.  There was a huge courtyard that had people lounging and sun bathing.  There was a restaurant and bar where they served western food, and had fairly cheap imported beer.  I was staying in a four room girls only room, my friends were in a four person room together.  We checked in, dropped off our stuff and went in search of food.  (We of course made a quick stop across from our hostel and got Xiaobing (fried bread).  Then we went to the main road and looked for a restaurant.  Ordering is always a bit stressful in China, especially if there are no pictures.  We managed to find a Zhege (a restaurant with pictures that you can point at and go "Zhege" that one) restaurant, and they over charged us.  A quick recommendation if you go to Beijing never eat at restaurants that do not have their prices listed and write down the prices of the dishes you order.  That way you won't be surprised.  But they charged us 5 yuan for the plates, cups and bowls.  Yeah really.

Then we walked to the Forbidden City, using my incredibly useful map I brought from the US!  There were thousands of people and we arrived around 2:30.  We paused to snap some pictures and were surrounded by Chinese people who wanted to take our picture, this became a game for us.  Spotting people who were taking our picture.  Some people were outright filming us!!  But the best thing we came across was a family who gave their baby to Mariah so they could take a picture.

This baby was so cute, other parents tried to do this later but the children would freak out.  We might be the first non-Chinese people they have ever met.  Crazy to think about.  We bought our tickets and went into the Forbidden City.  It was huge!  Words cannot describe how huge it was, it was full of people from all over!  Mandy, Mariah and I strolled through, not really bothering to go inside of any of the buildings.  We enjoyed the walk and the gardens.  Sarah and Matt wandered off to take their time walking around, really seeing the Forbidden City.  Mandy, Mariah and I left the Forbidden City and I practiced my bargaining skills.  I was offered several charms, the original price was 1 for 35yuan.  I managed to get 4 for 10.  Mandy managed to get 5 for 10.  Then she was addicted to Bargaining.  She became the bad cop when I bargained.  We walked around and eventually met up with Matt and Sarah.  We tried to cut in front of the Forbidden City to get back to our hostel, but police were pushing people back.  Then we went under the road to Tiananmen square, but we were unable to cut through that.  Lines of police officers were making a no pass zone in the middle.

Tired and hungry we wandered back up next to the Forbidden City and found a Jiaozi, Baozi, and Mian place.  (Pot stickers, steamed buns, and noodles)  We got pork jiaozi, veggie and egg Baozi, beef noodle soup, egg noodle soup, and Chaomian (fried noodles). This was the a wonderful meal, it was warm, filling and it gave us what we wanted.  They made fun of us because we all added Lajiao (hot peppers) to our food.  Living in Hunan had made me addicted to spicy food.  I am going to have to start cooking with my own peppers.  I need to learn how to cook Hunan food so when I return I can keep eating it!  But the Chaomian was wonderful, I am going to have to see if I can find a noodle place near me that does this.  Refueled we returned to our hostel, taking the subway to our hostel's road that was covered in red lanterns.  Being in Beijing for GuoQingJie (National Holiday) was awesome, there were lanterns everywhere and flags everywhere.  There were also people everywhere!  Tons of people, just crowds everywhere.  So we made it back to the hostel, did some walking.  Matt and I went to the bar at the hostel and drank some booze and spoke to people from all over the world.  We met a German who was heading to North Korea. (Sidebar, did anyone else know Kim Jon Il's son and grandson were on facebook?  I just saw that on BBC).  We also met an American who was planning on traveling around SE Asia and by an odd twist of fate ended up in Beijing!  It was nice and relaxing.  The hostel had western toilets and mattresses, it is weird to think that the hostel was "nicer" by western standards but all I wanted to do was sleep in my bed!  So we woke up early to go on a tour that our hostel offered:  The Summer Palace and the Great Wall, shopping time and lunch included.  180RMB.  Amazing price, but uh when a tour says it has shopping time that means it has a deal with a store.  There were 13 of us.  5 World Teachers, 5 Teachers with another program, a couple the man was German the woman was Chinese, and a German Backpacker who is living in Bangladesh.   The 5 teachers from the other program were so young.  One was our age, the others were all just out of high school.  I felt so old and responsible in comparison.  Our tour guide Judy, was from Hunan!!  It was such a pleasant surprise!  She got very excited and asked us what we thought.  She laughed when we told her we missed the Lajiao.  She said she missed it as well.  We loaded up in the bus and  went to the summer palace, it was too crowded to get into the actual palace, so we took a boat ride on the artificial lake.  The summer palace was gorgeous!

The Empress' Marble Party Boat

  The summer palace was burned down during the Opium wars.  The Empress Dowager Cixi, the dragon lady rebuilt it.  She ascended to the throne when her husband died and she was the only wife with a son.  Her son was 6 or something, so she ruled behind him.  He died at 19, and she picked her nephew to rule.  Who was 4 years old, so guess who got to rule behind the scenes!  Yup Dragon Lady.  She would use the pearls from the man-made lake to grind into her makeup.  The summer palace was beautiful.  I wish we had gotten a chance to walk into it.  So after an hour of walking around the outside, we boarded the bus again.  I managed to sneak some bargaining in before we boarded the bus, and got a hat for 10yuan, when the original price was 35.  The traffic was so bad it took us 2 and a half hours to get from the Summer Palace to the Jade Factory, we were given a tour by a woman whose name tag said "Sweety Ass."  Then we were given a half an hour to shop around.  I don't think anything was under 300RMB.  It was beautiful but honestly we were ready to go in about 10 minutes!  But lunch was served in a restaurant next to the shop.  We were given "Chinese Food", no lajiao, and there were french fries.  Nothing had any flavor.  It was so boring and there were forks.  My fellow Worldteachers and I were eating with our chopsticks in true Chinese fashion.  The others were using their forks to scoop food onto their plates.  Judy ate with the workers and probably had a better meal than we did!

 We pressed on to the Great Wall.  The traffic was so bad we couldn't even make it to Badaling (the main tourist area) we went to a different area, that was pretty crowded anyways.  We were given an hour here, and it was impossible to get up high enough to get a good view.  But it was amazing to walk on the stairs, they were high, and worn down there were tons of foot grooves.  People were everywhere.  The further parts of the wall there was no one but we didn't have time to make it there.  It was a bit disappointing, if I end up in Beijing again I will go to a further site and hike it.

Mandy, me, Sarah, Matt and Mariah

After the wall, we waited for forever for the others who were extremely late.  I built some Guanxi and bought the driver a pack of cigarettes.  I am sure he was confused, but was grateful.  We tried to buy another hat but they would not bargain down past 25yuan.  It wasn't worth it.  So back on the bus, and back to traffic. We drove past the Birds Nest Olympic Stadium and to a pearl factory.  By this time we were starving.  The German couple bounced.  The younger teachers were buying stuff at the pearl factory, at the jade factory and at the wall.  The tour let everyone off to go to the Birds nest and took us back.  We tipped both the driver and Judy, thanked them and told Judy we would have to meet up if she came to Hunan again.

That evening we went to Wangfujing, and I got scammed!  Majorly scammed, this could have been a huge downer if Mariah wasn't there to make everything better!  We laughed about it and looked on the bright side.  Watch out when you are in Beijing.  People there are really good at scamming tourists, and every time they offer you a price you should pay at least 1/5th of what they are offering.  Check the prices in restaurants and keep in mind how much you paid.  You should never have to pay for plates in a restaurant.  Most important, never follow nice people!  They are lies!  There are nice people who will give you directions or help you buy a subway ticket.  But if someone says "hey there is a cool place near here..." don't go!!!

Mandy, Sarah, Matt, Mariah and I

The temple of grain!

The next day was one of the best!  Temple of Heaven, which is a huge park with gardens.  Local people dance and play with their children.  We walked into the temples and made idiots of ourselves posing in pyramids, to give the people something to look at.  The temple was beautiful and not as crowded as the other places we had been.  It was a nice reprieve, the buildings were ornately carved and painted.  There were people posing for wedding photos, and people from all over the world.  It was weird to hear different languages.  I ended up speaking french to the gentleman who took this picture.  He thought we were bizarre, but eh who cares.  I love this picture though.  Mariah was the instigator of this particular pyramid scheme.  But it ended so well who could complain!  We definitely got some looks!  But it was so much fun.  We walked around the rose gardens and caught some live music in the park.  We decided to pass on the other temples and split up to do some shopping.  Mandy, Mariah and I stayed together and went to Qianmen, the tourist shopping district.  We walked up to Tianamen and spent a bit more time there looking at everything.  It was a little odd to be smiling in pictures on Tiananmen square.  To think about all the history in that place.  All the Communist propaganda, and the giant group of police vehicles.  Then it was back to the hostel and off to Sunlitun, the giant western street in the Embassy district.  We met Tommy, a friend of my brothers.  We went to Biteapita (a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant)  My dinner of Eggplant Moussaka and humice was delicious!  Tommy told us about Beijing, as we left the Sunlitun district the girls and I reflected that it was too western.  It wasn't China.

We took the subway back, I tried desperately to meet up with some other WTers, but the subway was closing.  As I was running to catch the last train, I got a call from Mandy saying they had changed my room at the hostel.  She wanted permission to move my stuff.  Almost in tears I gave it, she moved my stuff into her room.  I luckily caught the last train that got me 2 blocks from the hostel.  Someone gave me directions and I walked the rest of the way back to the hostel.  Matt, Mandy, Sarah and Mariah listened to my rant about Beijing, Matt bought me a beer.  We sat and talked about things that were going on, good and bad at our sites.  And bonded.  At midnight we threw balloons at Matt and wished him a happy birthday.  I gave him a map of Changsha, and we sat and realized all together that although the trip was fun.  We missed Hunan, and our sites!

My last morning, Sarah left before I woke up to do a hike on the great wall.  I went to the Lama temple.  I waited outside for it to open with a crowd of Chinese people all carrying giant packages of incense.  I asked one of them what it is was.  They told me the word and told me it was a holiday today.  I couldn't figure out which one.  So when the doors open, people rushed in and lit their incense praying for whatever it was they prayed for.  The lama temple was smaller, more intricate, and full of relics.  It was amazing.  Just beautiful, there were monks walking around.  I really liked the Lama temple and I recommend it highly.
Then I returned to the hostel.  Mandy, Mariah and I took Matt to a birthday breakfast at the hostel restaurant!  Then we went to Wangfujing, and finally met up with Andy, Emily and Nora just as Andy was leaving.  We went to Snack Street again, which has live scorpions on sticks.  They deep fry them for you and then you eat them off a stick.  I didn't go for it, I should have.  I was looking at some stuff with no intention of buying and this woman started bugging me.  We started bargaining, she wanted to sell me a fan.  I really didn't want it (which is an amazing bargaining tool).  She started at 85, I got her down to 20. Then gave up, and bought a fan I didn't want.  That was the end of my beijing experience.  I will keep the fan as a reminder that I might get ripped off, and need to be more careful.  I left the others and headed to the train station.  I was helped by some kind people.  My roommates were very kind.  I played some solitare and one woman got really into it and kept telling me where to move!  Then I taught the other woman how to play speed.  She got pretty good.  I wonder if she will play it again.  But I fell asleep and when I awoke I was back in Changsha.  Sweet Changsha!

Overall thoughts, Beijing is something you need to do.  But I wouldn't ever want to live there, and get really used to saying "Bu yao"  I don't want!  But Beijing is an ancient cultural hub and a rip off market so watch your pockets!