Resident and Tourist Part 2

Xi'an Soldiers
Classes were canceled on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week and it didn't take more than a few minutes for my roommates and I to decide to travel together. Our destination was Xi'an, the home of the famous Terracotta Warriors. With limited time, and even more limited money, we put together the cheapest and fastest trip possible. We left Beijing Monday afternoon at 5pm, on a 13 hour overnight train that put us in Xi'an at 6am. The train ride was eventful- Diana and I played rounds of Speed, we befriended a great young woman, and I spent the remainder of the evening talking to a Chinese professor who's top bunk sleeper bed was directly across from mine. Our conversation ended when an old Chinese woman reprimanded us in slurred Mandarin and told us to fall asleep. We silently laughed, but immediately obeyed her. The elders rule this country- respect!
Some local friends picked us up from the train station and took us to their home for showers, breakfast, and lots of coffee. By 9am, we were on the road- bound for the warrior's archaeological site. The area was split up into 4 different discovery sites, each with specific significance. The most impressive were the layers of soldiers protecting the Emperor's Tomb. They stood with weapons and chariots prepared to symbolically defend their leader in the afterlife.
The highlight of the 2 hours walking around looking at human and horse pottery was when I (with a great concerned face) told Diana that I accidentally dropped our giant China Lonely Planet book into the tomb and broke a clay soldier. Amazingly funny, I got a video of her reaction. Seriously though, the Warriors were interesting, but I couldn't help but think of dozens of ways to improve the museum. I think Chinese museums have more of a "look from a distance" approach. There is no interaction/experience component, no video component, just poorly translated informational posters. I've learned to visit a Chinese museum after I've studied the contents beforehand.
After the Terracotta Warriors we explored the vibrant Muslim Quarters for the reminder of the afternoon and then made our way to the train station for another 13 hours on the train back to Beijing. As I climbed onto my hard-sleeper bunk that night, I definitely didn't need a Chinese grandma to tell me to go to bed.

Resident and Tourist

I live in a rich culture, one I do not claim to understand. And although I'm in my second year here, I sometimes approach my daily surroundings with a renewed sense of awe and amazement. When I see a sidewalk haircut, or an extremely crowded subway, I'm reminded that I am, indeed, a foreigner.

The last couple months have afforded me the amazing opportunity to be a tourist in this giant city. I can't really describe the sheer size of Beijing, but trust me when I say it's BIG.

Hutongs


In small clusters all around Beijing there are 'hutongs' which literally means alleyways. These alleyways thread together to created a unique tapestry of traditional Chinese homes. Four homes face inward toward a center courtyard, where meals are shared and people relax in community. My friend Katie and I spent an afternoon navigating these one of these preserved communities. Many hutongs are being replaced by more profit-making high rise buildings.

Padres Baseball


Major League Baseball made it's debut in Beijing on March 15th and my friends and I were there to witness it! Most of the game's attendees missed the first pitch- in fact most of the first inning had empty stands due to a bottleneck at the security check. We took it in stride knowing that this was just a kink that needed to be worked out pre-Olympics (when much more is on the line). The most fervent Padres fans (besides yours truly) were a group of Korean and Japanese exchange students that chanted just behind us. Parellel with the 3rd base line, planes took off and landed at Beijing Airport. The wind cut through every layer of clothing, and the blue sky glistened up above. I've said nothing of the Padres performance, which wasn't exactly exemplary. I think the real joy of the game came from the overall experience of baseball in China. Watching young Chinese boys shove a hot dog into their face, hearing baseball chants in other languages, seeing Fox News cover the event, and contemplating the use of cheerleaders in baseball were much more entertaining than the Dodgers and Padres 2nd string players. The final score was 3-3.. a tie..so collective and ultimately very appropriate, I suppose.

the The's

Lately, there's been quite a bit of wedding talk in China...
The Ring, The Vows, The Reception, The Honeymoon.
I'd like to this opportunity to publicly congratulate my peers on their recent engagements! It's looking like a summer of weddings ahead!

Ryan and Amanda
Jev and Rachelle
Dan and Jenny
Peter and Shannon

A huge congratulations! I'm stoked for your lives together! Also, Emily Chernekoff and her recent engagement in California!

Padres in China!

I've been excited for this game for weeks! The Dodgers and Padres will play the first professional baseball game in China, this weekend.

Today the players, staff, families and media of the Padres climbed the Great Wall at Badaling. They couldn't have picked a better day. The sky was cloudless and deep blue, air quality was excellent, and the sun was really shining. I read on a MLB.com blog that the Friar mascot confused Chinese tourists at the Great Wall. I must admit, the bald, robed, double-chined Friar is a bit strange without context.

Six of my closest China friends are making the 12 hour journey to Beijing on an overnight train to spend the weekend with me! We're going to the game together on Saturday afternoon and then the plan is to celebrate Michael's and my birthday (we're just a day apart in age).

With no real "home team", I wonder if AC/DC's "Hells Bells" will come on in the 9th when Trevor Hoffman gets on the field to close the game. And I wonder if anyone will be with me to stand and cheer?

Shiny Black Shoes and Crickets

I go to a gym in China. I'm the only foreigner that goes, so I don't need to show my membership card, everyone knows who I am. I basically stick to the treadmill and elliptical because I'm also the only the girl that goes to this gym. I wonder if it's males-only and they just didn't have the heart to reject me in my broken Chinese? Or, perhaps they told me and I just nodded and smiled? I wonder this mainly because this week I saw something really funny.
On the treadmill I was rocking out, when a businessman walked in, in a full suit. He started to work out.. suit, tie, shiny black shoes and all. He was building up quite a sweat so he left for the locker room. He returned wearing only his long underwear and shiny black shoes! He continued to work out (through what I'm assuming was his lunch break). When he got on the treadmill next to me, I moved to the elliptical, I just couldn't do it. I could feel the laughter rising and knew I wouldn't be able to stop if I started.

This week I rode the bus to Beijing to meet up with my new (awesome) friend Katie. On the bus I sat in the very back row with two old couples. I wish I had a picture of us. 5 of us crammed into the back, me in the middle, with a couple on each side. Every time my iPod lit up (changing a song, turning up the volume) they'd lean in to see my gadget. When my phone rang they unashamedly stared as I spoke English. When I hung up the nearly toothless woman on my right nodded and said "hen hao, hen hao" (translated very good, very good). The only annoying thing about the ride was there was this consistent sound coming from the left side of the bus. Every time we hit a bump it would stop and it'd only start again when the bus slowed down or got stuck in traffic. I couldn't place the sound and even looked around to find it's source. The mystery was solved when the old man on my left fell asleep and his jacket popped open. Inside was the source of the noise..his pet cricket in a small wicker cage. The sound is apparently soothing to the ear and a source of good luck and entertainment for the older generation in China.

I love China. Today I'm exploring the hutongs of Beijing with above-mentioned Katie. We're collaborating on a Beijing Bucket list, there's so much to see in this city.

Mighty to Save

I love Hillsong's "Mighty to Save". It's my jam! Download it from iTunes, it's worth all 99 pennies.

brothers

The biggest appliance company in China is Haier. They make everything from washing machines to TV's to phones. I can't go a day without seeing a Haier product, specifically their logo- the Haier brothers. They wear Speedos, eat ice-cream, and give a big "thumbs up" to the 1.4 Billion Chinese citizens.

I think the Haier brothers look a lot like my friends Vince and Sean. Gnar-shredding, steezy brothers in their own right.

Do you see the resemblance?

the kids

i taught kids classes today for the first time ever. this is not a new job, i was just covering for a friend that's out of town. elementary substitute teacher, if you will. this is a brief summary.

the morning class: a group of seven, ranging in age from 6-10. our topic was 'sea creatures' which was less than thrilling. the lone 6-year-old gave himself the name Bush (like the American guy). this kid is the classic Chinese "little emperor". and he was a flirt! this little guy even knew how to wink. we sang a song about fish, we colored fish, we pronounced different fish names. basically it was all about fish for an hour and a half. the fish song was the biggest hit of the morning, Bush was all about the song.

the afternoon class: a group of four, middle-school aged kids. this group was definitely there against their will. it was visible all over their faces. i think every teacher hopes to be the one that "makes learning fun", the inspired teacher that turns the bored into the engaged. with this group of four miserable middle schoolers i just hoped to entertain.
the first kid to come into the classroom was Jack. He was a tiny guy, with huge eyes and an adorable smile. he entered with a yellow racecar in his hand- the kind that clicks when you reverse it, and self propels once released. Jack was using the walls of the classroom as his racetrack, zipping around the perimeter of the room as fast as his little legs could take him.
about 10 minutes into our lesson, i asked Jack a question while the others were attempting a worksheet. his eyes rolled up, he sat completely still and became completely non-responsive. i thought, "kids are funny and they do strange things to express boredom". i said, "Jack, come on, answer my question." I touched his arm. Jack wasn't faking it. he wasn't with us. i had learned about seizures while taking a WSI course through the Red Cross and i knew that i shouldn't interfere, but just to make sure he didn't hurt himself. probably 30-60 seconds later (but seemed like 5 minutes) Jack just snapped back into things and it was as if nothing had happened. i said "Welcome Back Jack". that's the only thing that came to mind.

Here's what I found on Google:
An absence seizure causes a loss of consciousness that is usually very brief — 30 seconds or less — and barely noticeable, if at all. The person simply stops moving or speaking, stares straight ahead blankly, and does not respond to questions. The seizure is so short and hard to even notice that a person can have 50 or 100 absence seizures a day, without them being detected. When the seizure ends, the person goes back to his or her normal activities without realizing that anything has happened; he or she also does not have any memory of the seizure.

i think i'll stick to kids swim lessons for now. it's way more interesting to teach them to swim "like a fish", than to pronounce different fish names.

Randomly Meeting Matt's in Asia

Meeting Number 1:
I was horribly jet-lagged from two weeks in America and found myself wide awake at 4AM in Hong Kong. I threw on a hoodie and some shoes and went for a sunrise walk through Kowloon and HK Island. One of my favorite spots in HK is the Pacific Coffee near the Central Station, exit J2 in the Financial district. I walked there and along the way saw the paper delivery routes of hundreds of workers. It was pretty amazing to see hundreds of thousands of newspapers being distributed. (That was a sidenote, and regretfully I was too embarrassed to be a picture-taking tourist. I felt like pretending to be a local.) Pacific Coffee offers free internet, so after checking my email in an empty coffee shop I decided to browse some of my favorite blogs, one of them being that of my friend, Matt Slack. He's one of the most honest/hilarious writers I know. His blog talked about being in Hong Kong for just one night, among other funny things. I emailed him and we met up. So random that we were both on a HK stop-over. I took him to Victoria Peak and he met my China friends. When we were there, I ran into another friend, Michael, that I didn't plan on seeing! Jaw-dropping, I know.

Meeting Number 2:
Early yesterday morning my friends and I took at tuk-tuk to Angkor Wat (in Cambodia) for what they call "Sunrise at the Wat". When I got there I realized that the battery on my camera was dead! Huge bummer when you're at a 'world wonder'. So I ran to the motorbike guys and asked one of them to drive me to our hotel so I could get my back-up battery. Needless to say, I was bumming that I couldn't capture the Wat Sunrise with my trusty little Canon. My friends explored for an hour while I was zipping through Cambodian early morning traffic with the most impressive motorbike driver I've ever met.
When I got back, we walked through the Wat, sat and journaled, and took in the vast ruins. (I'll post pictures soon.) As we were leaving through one of the many exits, I happened to look over to my left and there was an old friend, Matt. Matt and I were both a part of a CCC Tsunami Relief trip in 2005. There were only 8 total Californians on the trip (there's a pattern of Californians sticking together) and they put us in charge of digging and constructing latrines (that's a fancy word for toilets.) Anyway, in the dead center of Cambodia in the middle of January, there was Matt with his wife! We chatted for a little while and they're actually coming through China this summer, spending 6 months touring around Asia! I look forward to hearing about 6 months of Asian adventures.

Anyway, this probably isn't very exciting for you unless you know them.. and I guess the only person that knows both people is Vince Garvey. So there it is, Vince. Pretty cool, huh?

Just makes me think that jet-lag and a forgotten battery aren't really set-backs afterall.

America and Back Again

On Christmas Day I was sick. Annoyingly sick, the same sickness that has dragged on for 5 months. So, I went to SOS International in Beijing and eventually was recommended to see a specialist. In what seemed like a whirlwind, I was put on a plane and sent to California on New Years Day. I celebrated New Years Day twice, once with my roommates in China and the other with the people next to me on the plane.
So, for two weeks I had doctors appointments, 'procedures', a biopsy, lab results, follow-up appointments, etc. And then, when it was determined that I have giardia, I was put on 2 months of antibiotics. Two months on strong antibiotics should do the trick. I'm glad it's over.
Once I knew that everything was ok, I was able to spend 3 solid days in San Diego. We went rock-climbing in Santee and I got a rock named after me (actually it's already named Carousel, but a side is named after me). Sean named it "Take THAT parasite!" because I was pretty weak and wasn't really feeling the rock-climbing. I also went on a yacht from Seaport Village to Shelter Island and back...it's a long funny story...ask Lucy.
I saw Rudy Francisco feature at PoeticBrew, had a Vietnamese Iced Coffee with Kate at Java Jones, walked from First Pres. to Ichiban with Sean, hung out at LAX baggage claim with Mullins, had couch time with Cori, drove around town with Ariel, watched Lotus perform card tricks at Boba, had lunch with Becky at the Cheese Shop and sat around the dining room table with Drew, Kyle, Wendy, Misty, Reid, and baby Emma.
Not to mention that during my time in Clovis with family I was able to see plenty of aunts, uncles and cousins that put a huge smile on my face. I look forward to the day that I can hang-out with my family for longer than a couple hours every 6 months.
Cynthia came down and we pretended that we were best friends that actually lived in the same country. She's a fun one. She tells me about married life and I pretend like I get it.
Reflecting on my time in America, I spent a whole lotta time with married friends and family. I was able to visit the Collins' and Starr's in their new homes and hear about lives as newlyweds. I observed with wide eyes as I spent an afternoon with my aunt and uncle as they raise 4 kids ranging from 11 to 3 years old. I helped the Wielands take down their Christmas tree and watched old episodes of The Amazing Race. In all, America was great.
The next time I'll be back will be sometime in September. I felt that reality as I said goodbye to my mom at the San Francisco airport. I was teary as I got to security screening and I appreciated the sympathy as the guard asked, "Are you alright honey?" I nodded and wiped away a tear. Then he told me to take off my shoes and belt and pull my laptop out of my carry-on. We both laughed.
Today at 3 o'clock I'm saying goodbye to the high-level students as they leave to go change the world. Nothing I can say will do justice to how much I love/respect/admire these students. I need to go write good-bye letters.

She was really tired...

Sheng Dan Kuai Le

That's "Merry Christmas" in Chinese. It literally means "Happy Holy Birth", I like that.

Holidays overseas are always interesting- a patchwork of your teammates traditions until you have a celebration that is unique while still resembling something familiar. It's beautiful to live in an international community- like hearing the Christmas story in 5 different languages at your Christmas service.

Granted, there's moments of difficulty and Christmas is the hardest. I called a friend today and he was playing Dominos with his family and I found myself being jealous. I wanted to be with my family playing Spoons or football on the lawn.

Last night though, we had a Christmas program with our students- 4 hours of thought-provoking skits, dances, and songs. With no budget for props I really enjoyed their creativity. At one point the lights went out for the three wise men to follow a star. And then I watched as an arm with an Indiglo watch was raised into the air. I thought "Oh no, that's distracting." But that watch started to move, and the wise men followed. And then it registered, and I just had to grin. What did the planning look like for that? "Wait, what will we do for a star?" "Don't worry, I have a watch that stays lit for a full 5 seconds. I can just hold my wrist up really high".

So, whether you're playing Dominos in America with your family, or making new traditions in other parts of the world, Happy Holy Birth, friends.

Massages in Asia

Asia is famous for having goods and services at a low price. You might think of food first- yes, I can go out for dinner and my bill will be less than 50 cents. But, I think the real bargain is in massages. I used to get discounted or free massages through Aveda, but you just can't beat an hour massage for the consistent price of 40 yuan (5 dollars).
As a group, the 3 of us roommates splurge on massages about once a month. It blows my mind to think that I used to spend 5 dollars on parking or on a cup of coffee.
Today Diana and I decided on our walk home from work that we 'deserved' a massage. So we stopped at the blind man massage parlor near our house. At one time in Chinese history, blind men were trained in the trade of massages. I've heard that nowadays, some sighted guys fake being blind. Why? Apparently, it goes with the territory- if you're a massage guy, you're also blind. A little cultural note for you.
Our massages began by being greeted by clearly sighted massage guys. I almost wanted them to fake it for us, maybe stub their toe or reach their hands out in front of them. But alas, they made eye-contact and pointed to which table we'd spend the next hour. Now, I'm used to tough massages, when they use their elbow in your lower back or plunge their thumb into the space between your spine and shoulder blade. But this guy, I'll call him Steve, was of a different caliber.
You know those times when you begin to laugh and you just can't stop? You try with every ounce of self control..you mentally scold yourself...but nothing helps? And then the tears flow and you gain a second of composure.. only to burst again with laughter?
I think the only thing better is when a friend is in the exact same predicament. You spur each other on towards laughter and embarrassment.
For a full hour this happened- face down on a massage table, tears flowing, screaming in pain with a bony elbow in our backs.
And let me tell you that laughter doesn't need to be translated. Our massage guys started laughing too. The words "Ouch!" and "Ow!" don't need to be translated either, but it didn't seem to stop them.
As we walked away Diana exclaimed, "Now I need a massage to recover from my massage." So true.

The guy in the blue.

Conversation this morning on the way to work...

Diana: I think the guy at the vegetable market, the one that wears the blue coat, tries to flirt with me.

Me: (Slight pause, with a voice of total concern) You know he's mentally handicapped, right?

Diana began convulsing with laughter and I had no idea why. Turns out there's two blue coat guys at the same market. Likely story, Diana. On a team of 3 girls in the middle of nowhere it seems that the vegetable vendor is newsworthy.

(Sidenote: My grandma taught Special Ed for 30(ish) years and I was always taught to say 'mentally handicapped'.)

Wild, Draw 4!

This morning I wanted to reward the students and play a game of UNO for awhile to give them a break from the textbook. The only rule was if I heard any Chinese, the game would be immediately over- I'm trying to crack down on Mandarin in class. One of the students named Charity is a giggler. If she feels uncomfortable, she giggles. If she doesn't know the answer to a question, she giggles. If she is corrected in pronunciation, she giggles. It was discovered 20 minutes into UNO that Charity had no idea what she was doing. Even if the current card was a blue 4 for example, and Charity had plenty of blues and even a red 4, she'd still put down a Wild card. Once she even put down a Wild Draw 4 and then another regular Wild on top of it! No one could understand the careless use of the precious Wilds. We corrected Charity and tried to explain the value of the Wild cards. She just giggled. This continued again and again. I was starting to wonder if Charity understood what we were saying in English.
This is the kicker...Charity constantly had at least two Wild cards in her hand at all times! She had no idea that they were rare. And the victim of all the Wild Draw 4's was Amy, ever competitive Amy. I'd watch her grit her teeth with each round. At one point I asked Amy, "How do you feel?" She said in a low voice "I want to hit Charity!" I laughed and Charity giggled, Amy's eyes just remained on her 15+ cards. The next round Charity put down a green skip on a blue 5- totally random. People were about to throw their cards in the air. I interjected with "No Charity! Wu or lan... that's all." (Translated: No Charity! 5 or blue...that's all." Ruth, the constant rule-keeper exclaimed, "Miss Allison you just broke your rule!" What's more Charity just giggled, picked up her card and put down another Wild Draw 4 for Amy. Poor Amy.

6 Months of Sweat and Tears

Cutting and pasting, one picture at a time...

I kid, it's a program for Mac's that did it for me. Amazing, isn't it?

Famous Fish Tacos

One day last week Nick,my roommate's brother came over for lunch. He's studying Chinese at Peking University on a study abroad program as a political science major at Harvard. We were talking about candidates in next year's presidential race. Nick mentioned that Steve Colbert (a Bush and O'Reilly basher) entered himself in the race. He also told us about a funny incident at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government where Steve Colbert took down a portrait of JFK and replaced it with one of O'Reilly (his political commentary adversary).

Me: So, Harvard, Nick? I mean that sounds impressive alone, but then you have the "John F. Kennedy School of Government". Was Harvard JFK's alma mater?

Nick: Yeah, it was.

Me: Hmm, I wonder how many US Presidents graduated from Harvard....Megan, you had some famous graduates from Wheaton, right?

Megan: Billy Graham would probably be the most famous. What about from San Diego State?

Me: (Long pause) Uh, Ralph Rubio from Rubio's- the restaurant with the famous fish tacos? You don't have Rubio's on the East Coast? Ah, it's good stuff. (Feeling pretty dumb.) And maybe a couple astronauts, maybe? Sometimes if we win a basketball or football game you can get a free taco with your ticket stub. (Laughing at the comparison and hoping the topic of conversation would change.)

Nick: Wow, free food when you win a game?! We never get that from our alumni...

Me: Yeah, uh, they're pretty good tacos. (Insert some genius and seamless change of topic.)

For the record, I Googled it. There were 7 US Presidents including Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and even our current President George Bush. Other graduates include T.S. Eliot, Al Gore, Tommy Lee Jones, and John Updike. But these guys don't give out free tacos after a victory, do they?

Did I mention that our school library is named The Love Library? And that a common past-time on campus is to sub-bathe on the grass by the pond? Who wants to join politics when you have the Love Library and California sunshine? You'd much rather have a fish taco at the beach, wouldn't you?

That Early Morning Stretch

Jenny is my Chinese teacher. She's also the administrative assistant of our school. Her English is quite good, and I took it upon myself to help expand her vocabulary and to introduce some slang. I started with the very feminine, eloquent word...'sucks'. That's right folks I chose to take Jenny's almost British accent/vocabulary and defile it with the word 'sucks'.
She giggled in delight when I started to tell her how to use it. I explained in a hushed tone, "You can say, 'This weather really sucks' or 'You feel sick today? That sucks!" I even taught her how to draw out the 'u' and use a valley-like intonation- suuuuuucks. I told her to immediately practice it with Megan and Diana. As I stood in the hallway one cold November morning I heard Jenny exclaim, "This cold weather really suuucks." Diana agreed, completely unaware of the usage. I'm not gonna lie, I was proud of Jenny. My mind reeled with future words I could teach her.
The best usage came a couple days later during our bi-weekly Chinese class. We got on the topic of the Beijing dialect and how some of the endings of words sound similar to the 'argh' a pirate would make. Jenny excitedly told me that she could teach me a few words from her dialect. I know that she considered this an equivalent to my slang lesson. She started with the word for tomorrow "ming tian". In her dialect it sounds something like "me-er-tean"-similar to the noise you make when you awake in the morning and slowly stretch your arms over head and grunt an incoherent sound from the depths. I tried once to repeat her, but I got a shake of the head and a repeated groan. On my second try Jenny just chuckled, shook her head again, patted me on the back and exclaimed, "You sucks!".
How perfect is that? My Chinese teacher just told me that "I sucks" at Chinese using an insult word that I taught her.

Let me tell you what doesn't suck...free espresso at Mars Chocolate every Thursday...it's "the bomb". (Can't wait to hear Jenny put 'the bomb' to use!)

Your slang feedback is always welcome. If you could teach an eager 23 year-old Chinese woman some American slang- what would it be?

YMCA, Invisible Children, and Frogger

Explaining your own culture can be hard. Unit 9 of our book had me trying to explain fads. We usually can’t explain fads even when we find ourselves in the midst of them! The 1950's Hula-Hoop went well; they got the idea through a picture and my ever-so-graceful example from the front of the room. Next were the Beatles. I burned a CD and played some of the classics. This was rather disappointing- I don't think my students were that impressed. They kept thinking it was country music, and I had to explain that they were rock ‘n’ roll… one of the first to start the pop category. C’mon, they were a boy band, a teen sensation- Beatlesmania, with some of the most recognizable songs ever! I got polite smiles in return; it was time to move on.
The next fad was Disco and I was ready with a sure Chinese crowd pleaser. I don’t claim to have a formula for the Chinese people’s taste, but this I know- take simple English lyrics, pair it with cheesy movements, and add a splash of femininity…you’ve got a winner. And so, I chose to teach my students the YMCA. After 3 minutes, I knew we had a hit. My students gleefully made letters with their arms, and clapped until it was time to throw their arms into a ‘Y’ again. Walking away during our 5-minute break I couldn't help but think, “Why do we think it’s such a great song? People play this at their wedding receptions?!”
Explaining a Rubik’s Cube without one on-hand was daunting. The little thumbnail picture in the book didn’t help much, either. Finally, one of the girls piped-up with a Chinese equivalent and I heard lots of “Ah, yes, I see…very difficult toy”
The last fad the book mentioned was Madonna. I don’t know about you, but I wondered- should I put an end date to Madonna? Isn’t part of her legacy that she is never really done? Doesn’t she always come out with something new, sending record sales soaring decade after decade? I played “Material Girl” and silently sang along. I couldn’t stop her arrow on our timeline, I just kept it pointing into the future. Does that mark that I’m a child of the 80’s? Probably.
So the fads lesson was yesterday, but we moved on. (Pun intended.) Today we talked about social movements and I used this as an opportunity to show the Invisible Children DVD. This movie rocked my students this year, much more than last year. There was sobbing all around the room- it’s a compassionate and empathetic group. When the video ended, we sat in silence for a while. I asked if anyone would like to Think for the children in Africa. Quickly, Anna stood to her feet. Fervently and through tears, she talked to the Father. I don’t know everything she said in Mandarin, but I knew that she wanted the children to be safe and for America to help stop the war. We ended the class in agreement.
In final news, I was almost killed today on my bike ride home. This is nothing new. I live in a city of 17 million people. Many of them truly don’t know how to drive. Riding my little one-speed pink bike in Beijing is like playing the old video game Frogger, circa the Pac-Man era. The sole goal of it all is to just cross the street without the cars/motorcycles/wood logs hitting you. And it’s always the last second dodge that saves your life. I’m alive today, but I could never get a very good score on Frogger.

A Case of the Mondays

Monday. Most people hear 'Monday' and react the same way they would to the word 'vomit'. They cringe at the thought of another day of work or school or anything else that kicks off a week of unpleasant exertion. I used to be that way. But this year's different.

On Monday nights I teach at an aluminum can manufacturer to about 19 business professionals. It's seriously hilarious every time! Last week I was teaching how to ask follow-up questions. One of the students Everest asked, "Allison, I hear in America many people have credit cards. Do you have one?" I answered, "Yes, I have a credit card that just pulls money from my checking account." (Time for the follow-up question) Everest smirked and with his pen to his notebook said, "Hmm, ok, and what is the code?" Nice try, right?

Tonight's lesson was on interpersonal communication in the office, with a portion devoted to office gossip. I thought for an activity it might be a good idea to play the childhood favorite game of Telephone. For a refresher to those that might have forgotten this classic, a message is whispered from one person to the next in a line of people. Simple enough. Wrong! This game is FAR MORE entertaining with ESL students. Take poor pronunciation, mediocre listening skills, and you've got a whole different level of enjoyment. I was crying laughing and so were the 19 other people in the room. The girls were having to fan their false eyelashes because if they cried laughing, their eyelashes would literally fall off. Quite the dilemma...

The best part of this enthusiastic crowd is that they clap at the end of the lesson and say "Sank you!" (Thank you!) We've worked on the 'th' sound, to no avail. The clapping throws me off every week, as if I've performed. We did grammar and played Telephone- I didn't dance the Nutcracker. And this is yet another reason why I love my job...and Mondays.

Wait, it's not cold yet?

I'm a cold weather wimp. What was I thinking as a Californian moving to Beijing, China? Currently, I'm sitting in bed below a down comforter, electric blanket underneath, and enough layers on my body to make you think I was living in the Arctic. The government-controlled heat comes on November 15, until then we just need to wear our outdoor clothes, indoors. The other day I stooped rather low and wore my knee-high Ugg boots to class. My student Lucy gently asked, "Allison, if you are wearing those boots now.. what will you wear when it gets cold in the winter?" Wait, it's not cold yet? This isn't winter?! I just scratched my forehead and cracked an embarrassed smile.

In the classroom last week I taught my students the popular song "You Said" by Shane Barnard. It was one of the greatest moments I've had in China- they all were belting it out. "Distant shores and the islands will see your Light as it rises on earth"...amazing.

I had the chance to teach at a dog and cat manufacturer last week- Pedigree and Whiskas. It was so interesting! They had dogs lounging all around the office, near the copy machine, next to employee's laptops, in the break area. And a rarity in China- they had a grass lawn for the dogs and cats to run around. I stared out at the lawn throughout the entire lesson. For a brief moment I wanted to be a dog in China, but then I quickly changed my mind when I considered the typical 'menu'.

This is the time of year that people typically get a little homesick- with the holidays around the corner. I'm so thankful that Cori and Christine will be visiting in just a week! I'll be picking them up in Hong Kong and bringing them to Beijing for my workweek and then we'll take a train to Nanchang for a weekend. I seriously can't wait.

October Fires

Four years ago I was a Sophomore at San Diego State when fires struck San Diego County. The sky became dark with ashes and thousands were forced to evacuate. As I caught up on World News yesterday at abcnews.com, I couldn't help but be reminded of the 2003 San Diego October Fires.

I remember waking up and looking out on our patio to a glowing sky. The sun was attempting to peak through thick gray smoke.. the result was a glowing orange sky. At the time I lived directly across the street from Qualcomm Stadium, so that first night my roommate Carly and I went to offer a hand to all the evacuees that filled the Qualcomm Stadium parking lots. What we found was pretty alarming. No one was in charge. Red Cross hadn't shown up yet and were instead focusing their efforts at a shelter in Balboa Park. Carly and I happened to be wearing matching t-shirts and a man put us behind a long table and said to do what we could to help. I remember that look of pure inadequacy that we exchanged. "Help people? How? We're supposed to organize this?"

Resources started to come together.. donated water from Costco, coffee from Starbucks, dog food from Petco, blankets from families and local businesses. Before too long, there was a system in place. I remember the hours passing quickly as cars continued to fill the parking lot. After about 5 hours a Red Cross representative came to take over and we were grateful.

Carly and I still shake our head when we talk about that night at Qualcomm. How did that happen? Were the matching t-shirts enough to give some sense of organization and order?

From what I've read, the fires in San Diego right now are much worse than 4 years ago. I called my friend Sean Lynch to get an update and he was.. of all places.. at Qualcomm Stadium offering a hand.

This morning in class we Lifted up the San Diego and Malibu area. We asked for safety for the residents and firemen. Email me if there's specific things we can Petition for. Please also Lift up my family in Malibu.. they're about 5 miles north on PCH.

just read a book

In the evenings I teach at nearby businesses- one of which bottles beverages. There's a huge factory on-site with rolls of aluminum to make soda and beer cans. So, twice a week we sit in the company conference room after they get off of work and speak English. It's really pretty fun.

Tonight we talked about the different ways that can learn new things. I would say, "I want to learn how to speak Mandarin. What should I do?" And they would give me advice like, "The best way to learn Mandarin is to spend time with a native speaker." The book we use had a list of recommendations which made the exercise easier.

It came time for Everest to give me advice. Everest is one of the most honest Chinese people I've met, but quite the revolutionary. He works for sales, which explains a lot to me. If I want to know the truth about culture, I can ask Everest. Tonight I said to him, "Everest, I want to learn how to fly a plane. What should I do?" I saw as he glanced down at the first line of advice in the book. With a straight face he replied, "Just read a book about it. Then, give it a try." I told him I'll get a book from the library and then borrow his plane next week.

putting flesh on the bones of my dreams

As the bell must strike the hour
as the west must stab the sun
so our hearts
must heed the flow
of deeper tides that run
far beyond the bare indifference
that prosperity esteems
where the spirit
raves and dances
through our very veins

At winters edge you found me
by the fields of wild gold
my hands still filled with ashes
from fires long cold
you pulled me from the wreckage
of bitterness and blame
flung open the page
and put some flesh on
the bones of my dreams

On the streets
the blossom snowing
and the drum is beating slow
and I hear you speak so clear
well I’m slicing through the fear
setting all the beacons
blazing, baby oh!
it's staring out plainer than ever
brighter than all the fools
gold that gleams
it's simply now or never
putting flesh on the bones
of my dreams

Putting flesh on the bones
of my dreams
putting flesh on the bones
of my dreams

And they can plunder
the cave of sorrows
they can strip the gallery bare
try to build a fence
around the visions
in our heads, choke every spark
in a cloak of despair
but we got something
they can't stifle
with their price tags
and picture frames
got a flower for every rifle
putting flesh on the bones of my dreams

-Lyrics of David Gray's "Flesh"

Luck

Even when I was young, I didn't like the concept of luck. When people wished me "Good Luck" I felt like it cheapened things. Did people really believe that they won a game of cards because of luck? Or that 'the forces of the universe' worked in their favor because they performed a good luck ritual? I always was intentional about pointing out how my Friday the 13th was an especially good day.
Isn't it ironic that I now live in a culture obsessed with luck? Hotels and highrises completely eliminate the 4th and 14th floors of their buildings because it's bad luck. Cell phones numbers with the numbers 4 and 14 are significantly cheaper. The number 8 however is extremely lucky. It's not surprising that the Olympic games will be 08-08-08 in Beijing. Bring on the luck!
The other day I was helping a friend barter for a purse she really wanted. I don't want to brag, but I've become well known for my bargaining skills. Anyway, she had gotten the storekeeper down to 80 yuan ($10) for a knock-off purse. His sales tactic was "It's good luck!" Nice try. I told him, "I'll risk the bad luck and pay 40". Everyone got a good laugh and we ended somewhere in the low 50's.
Today, when I got home I started to think about my life. I thought about the joy I have in my job this year and how undeserving I am. Shaking my head I thought, "I'm just so... so.. lucky.. ugh.. fortunate..ugh" The truth is, no word fit into that sentence. I don't deserve this, and that's the point. I haven't made any 'universe' happy. I haven't become the recipient of good karma. I'm a child of a great Dad, and he gives me gifts that I don't deserve. And that is the point.

A Year in Pictures

I'm definitely not a photographer, but I've enjoyed documenting this past year in Asia. The link to the Flickr photoset is below. Your comments are welcome.

Click here

stream of consciousness

i need to lesson plan for tomorrow, still haven't even looked at unit two yet. windsor pilates, my core is sore. need to water this ikea plant, i wonder if it'll make it all year. this is a great song, i never get sick of third day. hmmm. can't believe i still haven't seen them in concert. are they even still a band? will i ever get the chance? i heard they put on a good show. i need to get a new visa, so that i can apply for olympics tickets. priority? opening ceremony and swimming finals. the swimming facility looks like a big ice cube, that'll be interesting to see in person. i hope cori's having an amazing time right now in india. shoot, i need to find a stellar hong kong hostel for us. showing her and teeny around china will be so much fun. i need to figure out the subway system before then too. i have a lot to do, and it starts with the lesson plan. now.

and it hit me...

there are moments, brief moments, that i forget i live here. when i forget that my closest family member is a 12 hour plane ride away, that my dinner options are noodles or rice, or that i live in a country that i have a 3 year-old's proficiency in the language. those moments are usually snapped back to reality pretty quickly.

my grandfather loved the outdoors. my memories of him are in his suspenders, tending his prized garden, sweating, and telling me stories that i'd heard before. summers in kerman could reach the upper 110's and that made for a sweaty and therefore smelly guy. i learned last year that when it comes to our memory, smell is more powerful than all the other senses combined. the point of this is coming soon.

the other day i got onto a crowded bus headed to beijing. i put my ipod in and settled in for the 80 minute bus ride. with "meet virginia" in my ears-i closed my eyes. i had tuned out sight and sound, but i couldn't stop the smell that filled my nasal cavity. it was what grandpa smelled like before he jumped in the pool to cool off. frankly, it was the smell of body odor. chinese people don't wear deodorant, but they also don't have b.o. i couldn't help it, i had to open my eyes and figure out the source. i looked around and in the very back of the bus spotted 3 hippie americans. how did i know they were americans? all i had to do was pause my song for a couple seconds and their loud voices filled the bus. they had just climbed "mu tian yu"- the famous great wall site right by my house. ten rows up i heard all about it. how is it that i smelled an american before i saw him? that's amazing. it hit me, i live here, i'm not a tourist.

the other moment was today. i was headed to work- left the apartment on time, went down the stairwell, and as soon as i stepped outside realized that the rain had really picked up. i usually ride my bike the two miles to work. the dilemma did not lie in- should i take a taxi or not? that part was clear. i should- i was in a skirt, our dirt road had turned to mud with small lakes. the question was- could i pull it off? could i successfully communicate to a taxi driver where i wanted to go? and to be honest, i froze. i stood in the rain without an umbrella for a good minute running through the scenario... and the vocabulary. and it hit me, i live here, i really need to learn the language.

the more i write this out the more examples i can think of. last one.. because it's funny. yesterday i went for a business meeting at dove chocolate. when i got inside i saw the factory. everyone was in white jumpsuits and it was all very white and organized. chocolate bars rolled down the conveyor belt... i started playing 'umpa lumpa' in my head. you would too, trust me. anyway, after our meeting was over i made a reference to "Willy Wonka and the Choc...olate....Fac... tory." Blank stares from 7 identically dressed white jump-suited, middle-aged, chinese guys. the comedy of it all was too much to take. i started to laugh and no one laughed with me. and it hit me, i live here, and sometimes my jokes hit cultural walls. those jokes are never worth explaining, it's better to just laugh alone.

and just when i thought my candle-lit blog gave me some escapism, the man who lives on the other side of this wall just hawked a big loogie...the same ones that fall at my feet almost daily in the city. another reminder that i definitely live here. and i've learned to like it. hmmm, goodnight.

unforced rhythms of grace

"Are you tired? Worn out? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
-The Message (Matt. 11)

Noodles of the World

On the plane I sat next to a Mexican dentist named Cristina. She's visiting China for the first time. She said she loved Europe and I told her I'd never been. On the plane they served us instant noodles and she leaned over and almost secretly told me that in Italy they put noodles with tomatoes and call it 'spah-hetti'. With raised eyebrows and nodding of the head she said, "itz bedi goud". I didn't have the heart to tell her that I knew. I just looked down at my chow mein and said, "Huh, with tomatoes..."

(All that to say- I'm back, safe, and waking up at 5am every morning.)