Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The losers eat the porridge...

Today's Christmas in Taiwan, although I'm not sure what day it is for all of you... For Christmas this year, I went to class, yay! Our teacher said that it's only fair, as during Chinese New Year in the States, people still have to go to work. Ok, fine. Taiwan, in line with mainland China, seems to think that the 24th is the celebration, and the 25th there isn't really much happening... except sleeping off the parties on the 24th. Yesterday (the 24th) I went to church with my homestay family (and grandma and cousins and aunts and uncles)... none of them are Christian, but they print all the programs for a church close by, so we were invited to their potluck and following service. The food was tasty, but the cousins decided the service was boring, and we left early to come home and play silly games where the loser had to eat a spoonful of eight treasure porridge （八宝粥）mixed with mustard. Mmmm.... I didn't lose, so I'm not exactly sure how bad it tasted, but I didn't really want to find out.

Pictures with the cousins

Yesterday was also one of the Hong Kong cousin's (him and his younger sister are here studying, I think) birthdays, so we ate chocolate cake and blew out candles. Then the santa and party hats came out, the family gave grandma gifts, and we had a marathon picture-taking session. Poor grandma didn't really know what was going on, but it seemed important to everyone else that her santa hat was on straight and that she was looking at the camera. All of the different relative combinations also had family pictures taken... me and the cousins (there were nine of them last night... I'm not sure exactly how many there are total yet) also got our share of picture time, but ours were more creative.. We got the boys to be reindeer with red ribbon reins and their new gloves as antlers. :) To finish the evening, there were, of course, performances. Because most of the uncles and aunts are deaf, we got more creative performances than singing (although there was still singing - I sang in Chinese). One of the uncles juggled oranges, danced, and told some very long story about cutting down a tree that I didn't entirely understand... My homestay Mom danced, U.S. 50's style, and the cousins did stupid human tricks.

After the party, my homestay sister and I went upstairs to go to bed, but she got a phone call from a friend around midnight and headed out to another party. I opted to stay home, and I played santa and delivered presents to my homestay family while they were all still partying... :) This morning, my homestay sister told me that I didn't miss too much, she went to a bar with friends that was free for Christmas, but it was smoky, and most everyone was drunk.

On the 23rd I also went to a Christmas costume ballroom dance party. I was a cat. There was dancing, and it was a unique cultural experience of ballroom dancers social dancing. I think I'm starting to like their waltz, and the ballroom salsa and cha-cha are fun, but I still giggle at ballroom tango and can't quite fit the ballroom rumba with their music. In time, in time...

For my Christmas present this year, I would really like to take out my trash. In Taipei, there is a trash truck that comes by, playing music that sounds a lot like an American Ice Cream Truck. I get all excited for ice cream, and it just doesn't happen... Supposedly the trash truck comes by my street around 7, and again around 10, but never at exactly the same time every day. You have to use special trash bags, only sold behind the counters (the first time, I bought the trash bags on the shelf). And then, I've been told that I'm supposed to listen for the trash truck, and when I hear it, run out with my trash real quick and throw it on the truck. So far however, I've been unlucky, and I'm starting to wonder if I should just take my trash to school with me where there's a trash can I can put it in. I don't want to give up on the trash truck quite yet though, as everyone else in Taipei seems to be able to successfully dispose of their trash, so it seems like a challenge I need to overcome... And today, it's almost time, so wish me luck.

Studying and Dancing

Classmates: Abe, Cheng Zhong (who has a Vietnamese name I don't know), Me, Ian, Satoshi

I've finished two weeks of classes in my intensive Mandarin course, and it's been great! I'm learning a ton - there's a lot of homework, a small test everyday, and a big test every three days. My teacher is also not much older than I am (I think... maybe she just looks really young), and is really nice. There are only five of us in the class - 2 Japanese guys (one with a Taiwanese father, one with a mainland Chinese father), a Canadian guy, a Vietnamese guy, and me. We usually go to the cafeteria after class for dinner, which is great practice for our Mandarin, because that's the only common language between all of us. The other students look at us kind of funny because of our sub-standard Mandarin, but it's all good. One of the Japanese guys has also now acquired a ping-pong paddle, so we're going to start playing at the student gym next week.

My life also seems to have gotten exceedingly busy these last few weeks. I'm not technically allowed to work in Taiwan, but an English teaching school wants to hire me, so I've been working on changing my visa... a process which has included too many chest x-rays for my liking. I also have private students that I tutor, and have been learning a lot about English grammar to prepare for my lessons! I will also hopefully be performing a lindy hop dance piece on Valentine's Day with another local dancer, which will be awesome (assuming it actually happens)! With all of this "not working", I'm not losing money yet, but I think I may be going dancing too often to actually be making anything... Maybe when I start working at the real English school then that will begin to change...

I went to my first ballroom dance competition (to watch, not to dance) last weekend, and it was amazing! People here seem to be really really good at what they do, and these dancers were no exception. Evidently, one of the latin dance couple's there was the number 4 dance couple in the world (in some category), and they were amazing to watch. They were from mainland China, and there were also a few other guest couples from mainland China and Japan. The Taiwanese dancers were also fantastic, and my harmonica-playing dance friend seemed to know all of the winners.

I also went to my first milonga (tango dance) here last night, and there the dancers were, also, amazing. Unfortunately, dancing doesn't seem to be a good way to make friends with girls, but all the guys I danced with were really, really good. The Taiwanese guys had also learned tango all over the place - one in Paris, one in Italy (he kept trying to speak to me in Italian), and there was even a guy there from Buenos Aires who said my Spanish sounded Argentinian. :) There is a ton to learn here, and a lot of people who seem eager to teach me. At another of the latin dance clubs, one of the singers is from Paraguay, won some music competition in Buenos Aires, and now plays music in Taipei... very cool, and my Spanish certainly comes in handy!

My homestay sister and I also language exchange twice a week - on Tuesdays she teaches me Chinese, and on Thursdays I teach her English. So, to teach me Chinese, she's been taking me all over Taipei pointing at things and telling me what they are, and feeding me all the street foods that she thinks are the tastiest. Not a bad way to learn! It also gives me a lot of time on the back of her motor-bike, and I'm glad she has an extra helmet for me! In Taipei, there are a lot of night markets - concentrated street vendor areas with all sorts of good-smelling things to sell. I live right between two of the biggest universities in Taipei - Taiwan National University (TaiDa) and Taiwan National Normal University (ShiDa), both of which have a lot of food vendors and cheap shops around them. The ShiDa night market is also famous, and it's only a few blocks from my house.

Also, the new Taipei mayor is from the KMT party - who feel more closely related to China. Last Saturday (election day) I hung out with some friends, one of whom supports the KMT party. We got food at the night market near their house and then watched the election results on TV, with my KMT friend squealing whenever the numbers got too close for comfort. There's of course scandal at the election results, but I'm not sure if anything will come of it.

Off to do homework and learn the rumba.

mmm... Chinese tests...

Taipei!

I'm in Taipei! The Chinese characters here are definitely traditional, the people are amazingly friendly, and the glutinous rice and red bean paste is just as tasty as they were in Ningbo! I flew in Wednesday at 6am, got myself on a bus to the city, checked in at a hostel, registered for Mandarin classes at NTNU (National Taiwan Normal University), took a placement test, and then tried really hard to stay awake past 4pm. I think I've gotten over my jet-lag on the going-to-sleep side of things, but I still seem to wake up at 7... strange.

In my 3 days here, I've been hunting for rooms to live in (the hostel I'm in is fine, but living in a cheaper place with Taiwanese people in a less-polluted area, sounds much more appealing to me). The room-hunting experience has been an exciting course in practical Mandarin, Taipei geography, and Taipei public transportation (the bus system and the subway are both fantastic!). And as of a few minutes ago, I have a place to live, yay! I'm renting a ridiculously cheap room about a 10 min. walk from my school. I'll be living with a Taiwanese girl about my age who's studying to become a Chinese teacher, her parents (who run a lottery shop and are deaf... maybe I can learn Taiwanese sign language?), and another girl who's also studying Chinese. I also have a bunk-bed. hehe, so now if I make any friends, I can have slumber-parties (my new family even said it's okay!).

I've also found a fantastic website for foreigners in Taiwan (called tealit Teaching English and Living in Taiwan). I found postings for rooms to rent, and there are a gazillion posts by Taiwanese people who'd like to get together and language exchange with people who speak English (or Spanish or French or Italian or Japanese). I searched for people who liked dancing and sent emails, and I got to go to a vegetarian dinner last night with an artist girl my age! I also emailed a guy who teaches ballroom dance here, and I went dancing with him at a latin dance club last night. Whoa. Crazy Taipei ballroom dance. They shake and shimmy in very ballroom fashion to a Taiwanese guy singing songs in amazingly accent-less Spanish. And my new dancey friend even played a Viennese waltz for me on his harmonica after the dance. Not sure why he had a harmonica at a latin dance club, but, awesome.

So far everyone has been extremely nice to me. Even the people whose rooms I don't want to rent have invited me over to cook Chinese food, or chat and drink tea! The little old couple who have a small restaurant outside my hostel make me special tasty vegetarian things to eat and seem to get a kick out of talking to me... although their accents are a little hard to understand, but I get to listen to their Taiwanese! Overwhelmingly though, people here speak Mandarin! In Ningbo, I didn't understand much of what other people said to each other on the street, because it was usually in a dialect I didn't understand... but here I can eavesdrop on people's conversations and understand things! :)

I also haven't wasted any time in asking people what they think of the Japanese, and whether or not Taiwan is a part of China... :) In an interesting hypothesis presented by my new artist friend I ate dinner with last night: people are very divided on both those topics depending on when their ancestors came to Taiwan. *ahem* The people who came here about 400 years ago were colonized by the Japanese and integrated into Japanese culture somewhat. Consequently, many of them are grateful to the Japanese and don't feel a part of China. However, then there's the group of mainland Chinese who came here in the 1940's with Chiang Kai-Shek. Their ancestors fought the Japanese in the second Sino-American war, shortly before they came to Taiwan. Consequently, many of them have views on the Japanese more in-line with mainland Chinese views ( i.e. dislike to hate), and they consider themselves Chinese as well. No idea yet on what the aboriginal Taiwanese people might feel about all this. I have yet to test these theories on the unsuspecting people of Taiwan, but I have six months here, so we'll see what I learn.

In more exciting news - Taipei mayoral elections are next Saturday! And support for the current Taiwanese president is also evidently very low, so there have been a few anti-president protests wandering down the street, and there are lots of political fliers and people who yell things (not exactly sure what they're saying yet) at folks waiting on their motor-scooters at red lights.

Well, I'm off to move into my new place, make some friends, and get some much-needed sleep before my classes start tomorrow. Take care!

Food, Futbol, and Protests

Happy day after Thanksgiving!!

I've left the land of cow and tango to spend a wonderful Thanksgiving with my brother and friends at Evan Parker's house (thanks Evan!) in California. I flew in the day before yesterday and am attempting to adjust to the time change while hanging out with Chris and Cheryl - my friend from Ningbo who's magically at Stanford! I'm also still walking off the extra chub I've gained from a tasty exploration into Buenos Aires ice cream. The Lonely Planet lists 6 top ice cream stores in Buenos Aires, and I decided that my last week in BA would be a good time to sample all of them.

Jimmy and Katie and Ice Cream

Mmmmm.... Ooooooohhh.... Owwwwwww..... They give you itty-bitty little cones here and pile them super artistically high with two flavors of ice cream! And at a fair we went to last Sunday (more about that later), they sold a 1/4 kilo of ice cream for 2.50 pesos - about 80 cents. I think I've decided that the fruit ice cream here is fantastic, the mint is terrible (a different interpretation of what mint is supposed to taste like, I guess), and if you like dulce de leche (caramel) then BA is certainly the place to be.

Marlboro Man!

So, the "Feria de los Mataderos" (Fair of the um, killers?) - there were horses and lots of leather and dances in a very different vein than tango (folk dances with scarves). Supposedly it's about gauchos (like, cowboys) and there were costumed and wizened old Marlboro men looking guys on horses. The horsemen (no girls) were playing a game where one at a time they'd race their horse down the street as fast as they could, holding a metal stick-like-thing which they were supposed to get into a tiny tiny ring hanging from a stand. If the stick goes in the ring then the ring pops off and the horsemen holds up his prized ring-on-stick and the crowd cheers, yay!

Little Boy on a Big Horse

My favorite was a tiny boy riding a big horse - he must have been about five years old (they had to lower the ring a few feet for him because he was too short to reach the big people height) - and the first time he hit the ring, while the second he perfectly skewered it on his stick, hurrah! Definitely skills I don't possess...

Jimmy Meets Argentine Food

My last week in Buenos Aires Jimmy Chu also came to visit me! Well, maybe he came for work, but eh, same thing... Jimmy, a friend of mine from decadance, came down to BA with Google and discovered that the Argentine tax system is ridiculously complex. Aside from that though, we went and saw an amazing Boca Jr. game.

We All Love Boca Jr.

Boca Jr. is the big soccer (or futbol) team in Buenos Aires and the fans are crazy! We sat in the cheap seats with the rest of the hooligans and therefore got an excellent view of the BA fans at work. They didn't seem to care very much about watching the game, as there were blue and gold banners hung strategically to block one's view of the field. Everyone was also standing up on anything they could (including bars about four feet off the ground), singing (yes, yes, for 2 1/2 hours) Boca Jr. songs (the only one I really understood was about how much we all loved Boca Jr.) to the beat of drums (yes, real drums), and jumping at intense moments. There were also a number of fans who were turned around, facing away from the field the entire game. I'm not sure what the score was, but the Boca Jr. songs are still stuck in my head.

Protesters Coming

We had the opportunity to hear the same melodies again at a protest a few days before I left BA. I wonder if the protesters were the same crowd as the Boca Jr. fans? Between 1976 and 1983 (yay wikipedia!), there was a state-sponsored "Dirty War" that left 10,000 - 30,000 people "disappeared." The generals from the military government of that era are now being tried for their crimes. However, the day before a key witness, Julio Lopez, was supposed to testify, he "disappeared." Hmmmmm.... On the 2-month anniversary of his disappearance, Jimmy and Google coworkers, and me and Dustin, were hanging out in downtown BA when an enormous protest headed our way down the street. I have never seen a protest this huge. We must have watched it go by for about a half an hour, and there were still people pouring in. They were marching to the "Casa Rosada" - or the Argentine equivalent of the White House - with signs and stencils that said basically, Make Julio Lopez appear alive! I am doubtful that it will happen, but I'm impressed at the involvement of people. The people in the protest were also a lot browner than the average person I see on the streets of BA every day (who are by and large very European looking) - making me wonder if more indigenous people were effected during the Dirty War, or if the protest just drew people from other areas of BA where people are browner (and if so - why the color distribution of pale at the city center to brown on the outskirts?).

While, after my brief visit with friends and Chris at Stanford, I leave tomorrow night to fly to Taipei and National Taiwan Normal University to study Mandarin! My plan is to be there through the end of May, but we'll see how everything turns out. I also hear that there is a good tango scene in Taipei, which is excellent, because my spiffy new tango shoes need some chances to practice their stuff.

Happy digesting (for those of you in Turkey land)!

Cheese and Tango

Cheese...

Meat...

I'm still in Buenos Aires, where the dancing is prolific, Spanish classes have been found, and the food is Italian and cow-riffic. Buenos Aires seems to subsist on the unfortunate fates of a couple gazillion cows… everything seems to be cow meat, milk, cheese, butter, or some other manifestation of cow. This often makes a restaurant's vegetarian option into a tasty, greasy, ball of cheese (or sometimes a garden of fried chard… maybe that's what the cows here eat?). Sometimes you can even get bits of green in with your cheese... :) Blythe, Evan Parker's cousin who also happens to be in Buenos Aires, informed us that Buenos Aires (or maybe all of Argentina… ) has the second highest rates of anorexia (next to Japan)… although I haven't checked the stats, I could certainly imagine that all these tall and too skinny Argentinean ladies are not eating very much cow product… and I'm not sure what else they're eating here! However, there are at least three vegetarian restaurants with tasty tasty food (mmm…), and thanks to the over-abundance of cow, plentiful fruit and vegetable stands, and our kitchen, I get to create culinary experiments almost every day!

Look, Magazines!

Along with the plentiful vegetable and fruit displays, there are bountiful magazine (aka porn) stands, and incense and flower stands. About every block, this month's magazines are displayed in full-figured form, with sometimes unintentionally hilarious covers (hey, you can't take your pulse there…). Perhaps the flower/incense stands nearby are to increase one's chances of getting to see a real live naked girl? Maybe not by a man , at least where I live though... according to the Lonely Planet, I live in the heart of the gay scene in Buenos Aires (and I found a stack of "hombres para hombres" club cards with websites in the dresser drawer from the last person who lived here). Despite this and all the couples making out in Buenos Aires' many parks and plazas, I have yet to see an openly gay anything here. Evidently Argentina was the first country in South America to legalize same-sex unions (woo-hoo!), but apparently the culture hasn't been as accommodating in its acceptance. And since I supposedly live in the middle of everything gay, either this scene is very underground, or they only party at 5am. I'm not sure which one yet.

Dustin, Me, and tango teachers Rosana and Cacho Dante

I'm also beginning to explore the intimidating world of Buenos Aires milongas (late night tango dances that happen every night all over the city). Sunday night, Dustin, me, and a new friend from China, Scarlet, went to a rock/tango club. The club alternates four song sets of rock music (aka swing) with tango - pretty awesome. "Rock" here is a dance done to swing music that looks a bit like Charleston and makes me really curious about how it got here and from who and when… And, in the back corner of the dance floor, we found about six lindy hoppers, and there's a swing festival on the 18th of this month! I admit, Buenos Aires is not the best place to go for learning swing, but it's nice to dance something familiar after the ego-swallowing experience of watching a gazillion amazing tango dancers, and hearing their occasional sighs of disappointment when they dance with you... I'm not sure if I'm getting any better at tango, or just more confused about what that actually means. I've been taking some really technical (but great) classes where couples stand really close together, there are a lot of subtle movements and small steps to accommodate for a crowded dance floor, and I'm supposed to keep my legs straight all the time (I'm working on it). And then, I've also been taking a bunch of classes in a shiny happy dance studio that teaches a style with couples standing farther apart to make room for kicks and big sweeps or flourishes, with knees always relaxed and bent, and a lot of performance oriented moves. In the dance halls I've been to it looks like people do a mix of both, or maybe neither and I just haven't figured it out yet. I'm not sure where the styles converge, or how, or if they even do, but hopefully with more time I'll figure things out a bit better.

I also found a willing Spanish teacher, who is a font of information on Buenos Aires culture, if not necessarily the most attentive grammatical instructor. She usually goes on rants during our lessons about the lack of iodine in northern Argentina, or over-fishing off the coast, or Argentinean tele-novelas. I'm certainly learning a great deal, even if it's not what I intended to learn.

Well, I'm off to try to get a visa for Taiwan, should be fun! And evidently the mothers who's sons disappeared during the dirty war here still march on Thursdays in the Plaza de Mayo, conveniently located close to the Taiwanese Consulate, so maybe I can see them too.

Buenos Aires

Evita's Tomb

I'm in Argentina! I've been here for all of two and a half days and have already managed to attend two tango classes, get kicked out of a private Spanish lesson and visit the China Town of Buenos Aires! Thanks to 40,000 frequent flyer miles, I secured a ticket from Anchorage to Buenos Aires and back again – with a 6-month layover in San Francisco on the way back… during which I plan to take a 6-month long side-trip to Taiwan. Awesome. That is, assuming I get these applications for language schools in the mail here… and that Argentinean mail is moderately reliable. And that these language schools like me…

Dustin in the Kitchen

However, as I continue to procrastinate from finishing these applications, allow me to continue my story: I'm staying with soon-to-be-tango-master Dustin Madden in Buenos Aires until just before Thanksgiving. We have a fully furnished apartment on the 10^th floor, which requires the use of awesome old-fashioned elevators with 2 little doors you have to close before they'll go anywhere. And a carrying capacity of 3 people, which folks here actually follow, as evidently elevators in Argentina occasionally drop when they're overloaded… I think I'll try to skip that one.

In an attempt to learn the past tenses and improve my suddenly relevant knowledge of Spanish, I went to talk to a private teacher this morning that was recommended by a friend of Dustin's… in about 5 minutes, the prospective teacher told me "I can't work with you," and that was the end of that. Oops. Pondering my rejection and the mating behavior of pigeons, I wandered my way to the parks close to "Barrio Chino."

I had forgotten that normal computers only show little boxes where Chinese characters are supposed to be, which wasn't so hot for printing out my applications… hence my journey to Buenos Aires' own China Town in hopes that Chinese people would have internet cafes capable of reading Chinese characters… past beautiful green parks with Buenos Aires folk sunning themselves, sleeping, and making out in the grass, to the four-block area deemed "Barrio Chino." To my satisfaction, the internet café recognized and printed characters like it was surrounded by folks who typed in Chinese! I also liked the little Chinese kids babbling in Argentinean Spanish. Spanish here is lisp-ridden, like Spain Spanish, so we'll see what kind of accent my Spanish comes home with this time.

Dustin and Katie in the Park

Cutting my Hair for Cancer

I cut my hair! It's short again! If you've known me for longer than 3 years, you've seen it short before, as this is my third time to cut and donate it, but still, it's all short again! This time is also extra special because I was selected as *ta-da!* Alaska's Pantene Beautiful Length's Hometown Ambassador! What does that mean you ask? Well, Pantene (as in the hair product brand) and their partners (HairUWear - a wig making company, EIF - Entertainment Industry Foundation, and the Women's Cancer Research Fund) have started a new program for folks to cut and donate their hair to create free wigs for adult women with cancer-related hair loss. Note- Locks of Love (who I gave my hair to the last two times) donates hair to make free wigs for kids suffering from any kind of medically-related hair loss. There's the difference then...

Ah yes, and as part of their publicity campaign, Pantene decided to select one lucky individual from each state (who Pantene has deemed a "Hometown Ambassador") to promote Beautiful Lengths (the name of their cut-and-donate-your-hair program)... as the um, only applicant from Alaska, um... they choose me!! With my Mom, the cancer educator, in top form, we've secured some publicity for Beautiful Lengths, including a spot on the Channel 11 News, a to-be-written article in the Anchorage Daily News, a short blurb in the newspaper that already happened, an article in the Stanford Magazine more options yet to be thought of or followed through on, and the creation of a flyer.

And back in the life - I've been stage-managing a play for the last 3 weeks and they performed on Friday and it was great! It was a Scandinavian folk tale called East of the Sun, West of the Moon, where a girl has to go rescue her prince... a welcome reversal of the damsel in distress bit if you ask me. I've also been fulfilling my Mom and her friend's pact of learning how to dance (which their husbands also seem to have been dragged into). Dustin and I have taught Mom and Dad and company some basic salsa, east coast swing, and merengue, which is always a fun time. Especially because when my parents and all of their crazy, and awesome, friends get together, they bring food.. tasty food... it makes for a happy Katie.

After a day off from the theatre (where I finally got outside into my mountains!), I start work again early tomorrow for another 3 weeks of stage-managing and teaching swing dance, and of course, the wonderful Tuesday and Thursday nights of Swing Club, which is still drawing about 30 kids to dance and jive, and brings me great joy.

Family, and Friends, and Home

Classes finished and the world cup began, and before I could get too busy wondering what to do with all my new found free time- Dan Tuttle showed up for a week and we wondered what to do with all our free time together! We've decided to write a book on China. Updates pending. With Dan back to Chengdu, the relatives began to arrive in full force. I picked up Auntie in Shanghai, helped Cheryl buy a violin, then got Mom and Dad from the airport in time to board the slowest moving bus I could find back to Ningbo, where Mathguy was waiting to pick us up.

Ice Mountain!

In Ningbo, we ate Ice Mountains while Mathguy, Cheryl, and Jully entertained, and were entertained by, Mom, Dad and Auntie.

Saying Goodbye in Ningbo

After Mom energetically cleaned my apartment, and I got everything into suitcases and said sad goodbyes, the fam and I were off to tour China in 10 days.

Lighted cavern in Guilin

First stop - Guilin. The town looks a bit like Las Vegas with its tourist-catered lake walks and lighted bridges. The natural beauty of the caves and craggy mountains randomly poking up into the sky (which you've probably seen on any china silk scroll painting) are awesome, and now lighted with tourist-friendly pinks and greens and blues.

Floating Down the Li River

We floated down the Li river to Yangshuo, where the hippies reside... and the merchandise and food was characteristically batik-ed, tie-dyed, and burritoed, with Chinese flairs around the edges.

In the Rice Paddies

Rice!

Rice Wine Fermentation

Afterwards, we headed to a rice winery, pulling over on the way to get an up close and personal look at rice looks in the field.

From the Top

To enhance our point of view we wandered up a little mountain, getting a look at the hills around us, and befriending a few postcard sellers along the way.

Then, our guide, driver, and hired van (whoa) took us to the airport for our next stop - Xi'an. Chris, Cheryl and I had gone before, in the winter when life was colder. However, all the sights still remained - the terracotta warriors, the old city wall (with moat and drawbridge), the new skyscrapers, the coal smog... to add a new twist to an old town, we added wheels to the journey.

Riding out of the Smog

Mom and I got up early to ride bikes on the old city wall, while Dad and Auntie rode around in a golf cart. All was well until about half-way around when the golf-cart caught up to Mom and I, and the bikes and car decided to race. With the cyclists at full throttle, my bike decided it needed a break, and dumped me off the side with a knee-skinning crash that brought concerned parents running from all directions.

After the Fall

I even got to ride in a wheelchair for the next couple days... giving me a new perspective on squat toilets and handicap accessibility.

Terracotta Warriors and Horses

But What are They Holding?

Despite my seated perspective, the terracotta warriors still stood in their neat little rows... but the 300 times bigger mausoleum of the Emperor who commanded their building was new and exciting. It's still in the beginning stages of excavation, and an archaeologist gave us an excited briefing next to his dig site (where he's unearthed meticulously fastened clay armor - to the tune of 600 pieces per armor shirt... wow).

Then, before the ibuprofen could wear off, we were on to Beijing.

Forbidden City (Still Forbidden to Those Without Tickets...)

Great Wall with Great Parents

Our awesome guide Catherine talked us through the history of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City (which has 9,999 rooms). I also learned that the Emperors got to choose new concubines every 3 years (he sometimes had around 3,000 concubines) from girls in his kingdom aged 13-17 (in the hopes they'd be virgins). One year an Emperor's (I don't remember which Emperor...sorry) advisers suggested that he skip this tri-annual choosing (as he already had several thousand in the Forbidden City). I guess Emperors don't like to be told no, as he then had all of his advisers beaten in such fury that 3 of them died. Good thing I'm not an Emperor's advisor. There was also one female Empress - Lady Wu. I believe she also had a gazillion male concubines. We also visited the National Museum, which holds a 4000-year-old ornately decorated wine cooler. It's still amazing to me that 100-year-old buildings are meticulously roped off and preserved in the USA, while 2000BC pottery vases exist.

All too soon, we boarded our planes back to the US, leaving Catherine grateful she had never had a little sister like me... :) I arrived back in the foggy mountains of Anchorage at 3am on July 3rd, and began work that same morning. Awesome. Dustin Madden and I are teaching swing dance again with Theatre for Young People's summer academy, and I had forgotten how amazing it is to teach when the students are paying attention. AND, the swing club Dustin and I started last year has survived! I went to my first SWING(ers) meeting of the summer yesterday, with over 30 cool cats showing up to groove and flip and twirl. I couldn't be happier. To top it off, Dustin, me, and our new friend Albert, are off to the Forest Faire tomorrow to camp out for the weekend and enjoy our uniquely Alaskan hippies and outdoor music and baked goods... mmm... I'd missed cupcakes...

Life Goes On...

I have exactly one and a half weeks of teaching left... and I can't say I'm entirely sad to stop teaching. The student apathy is starting to get to me in a major way, which makes it not a bad time to leave. I will miss the outside of class time though, and all of the friends I have here. The third year students are already beginning to disappear back to their homes for the summer, and Cheryl said she missed me terribly when I just left for the weekend! Current plans are up in the air as to what next year will bring however... perhaps studying Chinese in northern China, or somewhere close to here and my Ningbo folks... or being a Pantene donate-your-hair-to-cancer-patients spokesperson... or becoming enraptured in one of the endless possibilities of fate and circumstance that are yet to reveal themselves...

Petra came last week to see me! She was in Thailand on a semester at sea-esque misadventure, and emailed me to say she was, "close" to China with time on her hands... and I am more than happy to help a good friend use up her extra time... :) I broke her into my life here with 6:30am wushu, entertaining my students (who were excited to meet someone new), chinese cafeteria food, afternoon ping-pong, and evening giggles and rowdy teasing of my students and friends. She even got to guest judge an English speech competition, and go play in the park with my newest English student - I've begun tutoring one of the guys who works at the school (why? because he asked) a few nights a week, and so far, so good, although I'm still a little trepidations about bringing him to my house... the office is a good place for now.

Last weekend, Petra, me, and Mathguy went to Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province! And, for the first time in my life (at least that I can think of), Petra and I were refused service at the hotel we intended to stay at because of our race... or at least our lack of Chinese-ness... those high noses just give it all away... I think it's probably about time that happened to me though. Not that it's ever a good time for discrimination, but still, I'm not terribly hurt...

Walking with Petra at West Lake

After the hotel incident, we connected with Mathguy's aunt, uncle, and their ill-mannered son and went for a wander around West Lake (it's famous around these parts). West Lake is beautiful, huge, and very green... and very filled with people and tourists from all over the place. Mathguy's uncle is someone important in the Chinese military, and kind enough to allow us in on the abuse of privileges accorded to his rank... we got carted around in a government vehicle all day that mathguy explained IS above the law, hence the increased disobedience to traffic laws...

Smoggy Pearl Tower with Petra

After our Hangzhou frolicking we went off to Shanghai to catch the smoggy sites, elbow around in the bustle of the temples-turned-markets, take silly pictures, and deliver Petra to the airport (and hopefully a return flight to Anchorage), after which Mathguy and I missed the last bus back to Ningbo (oops), but never fear! we found a train, and all was good...

In academic news, I've officially dropped my online Global Studies in Education master's program... due to bureaucratic technicalities (uh, I was never enrolled), and a disappointment with the work-ethic of my fellow students. I have emailed all the happy folks at GSE to explain my disappearance, and say goodbye. But my tears of disappointment had not yet welled when I moved on to bigger and better application processes! I just finished applying for the Rotary International World Peace Fellowship - if I can convince Rotary International I'm one of the 60 coolest kids in the world then they'll pay for me to get a master's in Peace Studies at a university not in the US - my two top choices at the moment are in England and Australia, although I hear there might be an option in Thailand soon... so, we'll see how that goes...

Well, I'm over and out to go forth into the rain and play ping-pong with JapaneseGuy and KaiGuy (Japanese guy's friend/old classmate who's been living with him for the last couple months... and who I'm supposed to teach Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" choreography too...).

Rice Paddies and Little People

I'm back to the city! Ha ha, you didn't even know I left, didja? oh, I'm tricksy... May 1st is "international labor day" and we got a week off, woo! I went with Hugo and her boyfriend Austin to Austin's grandparents house, 10 hours away in the country. Ahhhh... feels good to breathe in the scents of home-cooked food and poor sanitation...

Hugo Meets Anqing

Anqing, the town we stayed in, was smack in the middle of a gazillion race paddies. wonderful. We navigated the little dirt roads between extended-family-sized concrete houses by motorbike, which I learned how to drive too! Fortunately, the roads are bumpy so we never got going real fast, and the mud-pit wallowing water buffalo seemed to be used to the whir of the bikes.

It seems like everybody in Anqing knew everybody, which was probably true... Austin's grandparents' had a steady stream of little people toddling in for candy, wizened old folks dropping by to smoke and talk, and random chickens hopping about the yard. There were definitely a lot of grandparents and babies around, with not a whole lot of parents in town. Austin said many of the parents had gone away to the cities to work, and would eventually come back... maybe to begin their own jobs of raising grandchildren and tending to the fields...

Katie and Hugo and Munchkins

So while us young (but not so young to be in split pants) kids were around, we ruled our age bracket, and lived it up accordingly! The second night, hugo and I went for a walk (I was hoping to see some frogs to catch, but I think they weren't out yet), and the whole passel of grandparents, Austin's sister and her boyfriend, random cousins, a teacher, and other relatives met us out in the fields where we promptly began singing songs to each other, and Hugo and I started impressionistic dancing, dragging Austin into playing with us too.

The Littlest Cousin

We also went to "climb a mountain" that was uh, a little short to be a mountain... but it's all good. There wasn't really a trail so we bush-whacked it, much to Hugo's citified chagrin, and the littlest cousin's delight (follow me! there's a trail!!). After resting several times, we finally made it up, where we took a good long rest before braving the trail (we found one at the top) back down to wade in the river and skip stones and build a huge sand mountain! And a huge sand pit!

If that wasn't enough, Austin's grandparents dutifully stuffed us with more food than we could possibly eat... most of it home-grown, or stolen from underneath the chickens, or caught in the river... I even got to help out (they protested of course, but I told them I liked it, and shouldn't they let me do what I like? and they gave in eventually) and shelled peas and soy beans and cleared the table and even cooked some food in the separate kitchen building's gigantic built-in wok (it didn't even taste that bad...)!

Cheryl's Caterpillar Cake

Speaking of cooking, Cheryl's birthday was also May 1st, but she was off to Hangzhou (and I to Anqing), so we celebrated early! Her one request was to have enough substantial cake (most chinese cake is really airy, and not very satisfying) to really feed everyone who would come... and we had about 20 folks on our invite list who agreed to show up... So, we made alternating chocolate and milk cakes that I made into a most delicious caterpillar (if I do say so myself)... We had the party at my house, and I even washed the rugs and the tablecloth for the event... which I probably shouldn't have, as, like all good birthdays, Cheryl's became a frosting fight at the end... and my rugs and tablecloth became innocent victims of the flying strawberry and chocolate goo that soon plastered our faces and arms. good times good times.

The rugs have been beaten into cleanliness now, I'm back from the rice paddies and toddlers for school, and preparing for my most difficult class of the week... the ACCIS boys who've learned they can refuse to participate... and there's not much you can do when they've decided they're not going to learn today... except take them outside and beat them into cleanliness... hehe, but they're good people, just not so good at the whole academic thing. Off to continue my conversation about religion with Mathguy..

Education and Frustration

Dancing! (I'm on the right with the drum)

Dance Crew

I'm dancing again! This time as a traditional Chinese man... I get to wear a cool silk outfit and bang on drums, and then stand on top of one of them for the grand finale! I started going over to the office at night to let MathGuy and JapaneseGuy laugh at my Chinese writing (in addition to my speaking), which has been great fun and a lot of help to me... but Then... one night MathGuy messaged me (in the sentence pattern I'd learned the night before - woo!) and said they wouldn't be at the office because they had to practice dance, and hey, what, dance?? So, I invited myself over, MathGuy started teaching me his part (hence the masculinity) and I got promptly got put in the dance . That was four days ago, and we got judged today - if we pass, we get to perform it at the 5 year anniversary of the school! if they think we weren't so hot, then no performance for us.

Either way is ok though, as most days feel performative on some level... the last few weeks have been recruiting season for the next generation of students here... which means enticing high schoolers to come meet the young white girls who teach there, as well as talking up the school and, if current student reports are accurate, making gifts to teachers or schools for recruiting brighter students. They're making a video which I've been filmed for a few times - walking to lunch, teaching, and during a reconstructed version of English Corner, during which I may have frustratedly said some things about the school's recruitment practices that I may regret if anyone can understand the fast-paced Katie English... we'll see what the video sounds like.

Cheryl and I also went to a high school to talk to a bunch of kids with better English than my students about differences between American and Chinese education... of course, sharing our personal high school experiences. hehehe. Now one Chinese high school and a few select Dahongying staff know that I was homeschooled. :) The high schoolers liked it though and swarmed the stage afterwards to eagerly thrust pens and paper into our hands for signature purposes... we both ended up with some stray pen marks on our hands and arms from their exuberance, but it's all good...

After the students dispersed, we got to talk to the high school's teachers... and what they thought about educational systems in our two countries... turns out they're not any fonder of China's testing system than many of the students. But also that they feel the power for change lies with the government - and is not in their hands. There are those who thwart the system's purpose though... MathGuy proctored a test he wrote yesterday, but instead of watching the students, he left the room to let them cheat... otherwise he said none of them would pass the test, which they must to graduate DHY. In a place where your test score means so much, I'm beginning to understand... and become more knowledgeably frustrated... although I admire the student cooperation this system has produced.

Whoever's in charge of deciding such things has recently decided that students from vocational colleges can't take the test to get into a top college... and the little sister I never wanted (but always enjoy making fun of), Hugo, is frustrated enough that she now plans to go to the US for higher education... go Hugo... and she's probably the one kid in this school who can make that happen. With my life here, and the emails I receive daily about you Stanford kids protesting Bush, the worsening situation in Darfur, the seal hunt going on in Canada, your 3 Peaks 3 Weeks fund-raising efforts for east African NGO's, and Iraq confusions... I am constantly frustrated by the hate, violence, and inequality in the world... and am constantly amazed at the perseverance and courage people have to mobilize for what they believe in. And sometimes I wonder where I fit in in all of this. A part and apart.

Dancing and Condoms

My Students!

Kitchen Experiments

A few of my students just left to go back to their dorms from a
rollicking Friday night of cooking the usual Chinese food (eggs and
tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, fish, and rice) and picture viewing..
and I've begun my semi-nightly session of QQ... the Chinese version of
AIM or MSN. I get to practice my written Chinese with selected
individuals (friends whose English is already great), and make my
students speak English to me. Except that I currently have about 600
students from this semester and 600 from last semester... so usually
I'm hidden on QQ and only Cheryl and the other popular teachers who
are also hiding find me... But then, after their evening study hall,
for the lucky 9-10 hour, I appear and get swamped with "how are you"'s
until they're all forced to turn off their computers... it's a good
life. Today is Friday, so all the kids are out on the town in
internet cafes and there are no lights out hours if you don't come
home... but so far, most of my students don't really know that I
speak Chinese... and thus I trick them into practicing english while
they're out trying to enjoy their Friday nights playing computer
games... mwa ha ha.

I've begun to try to make my classes more interesting to me... which
may or may not be a good idea. Because it means talking about things
that I like to talk about... or that I feel are important. This week
we've been talking about rules, and whether or not they feel like it's
ok to break rules, and why... this is mostly coming from us talking
about why they don't like DHY and making a list on the blackboard of
all the rules there are... including no hair coloring, no wearing
jewelery, no smoking, and no leaving school on weekdays... and then
Katie looks around the class at all the kids wearing necklaces,
earrings, bracelets, blond streaks in their hair... and the ones I
know smoke, and the ones I've seen jump the wall and run away from the
school gate... and we talk about breaking the rules. And I feel lucky
to not have the responsibility or authority to discipline them.

I've also begun teaching the ACCIS kids sex ed. I lock the door
first... I'm not sure how the administration would feel about me
talking about sex... I guess I'll find out sooner or later. The kids
have been remarkably interested, and I'm learning new Chinese words
all the time. I had told them that I used to teach HIV/AIDS
Prevention and things kinda went from there... the boys are totally
into it - which is awesome, because most of my ACCIS students are
boys, and they're not sleeping in class anymore. Cheryl and I are
going to combine our classes on Wednesday and she'll take the girls
and I'll take the boys and do a condom demo (Cheryl gets a condom too,
but the girls so far are vehemently opposed to seeing one). Cheryl
also got the pleasure of laughing at me while I bought condoms at the
supermarket... oh well. It'll be even more ridiculous if I start
giving them to folks... the foreigner with the 40 condom a week
habit... hehe.

Shanghai!

Hey, That's My Hair...

I'm also plotting the devious swing-overthrow of the Software College
5th floor office... In a fortunate turn of events, all our Monday and
Tuesday classes this week were moved to Saturday and Sunday, and swing
dance in Shanghai is on Sunday evenings... So, I invited Cheryl, and
after much deliberation about the appropriateness of inviting two male
co-workers to hang out with us for a weekend, Cheryl and I decided
Mathguy and Japaneseguy were silly enough to warrant it. Turns out,
neither of them had ever gone to Shanghai, and were a little tough to
convince... but eventually they agreed, on the condition that they
would not, and could not, dance. Mwa ha ha. Dance they did, and
enjoy it they did... and now our badminton office games have been
replaced by office swing dancing. Awesome. Cheryl and I had also
decided to foot the bill for the guys through whatever means necessary
(their tenacity in paying for us is remarkable)... until the boys
vetoed our choice of hostels and opted for the nice hotel. We split
the check.

After this semester, I'm still deliberating as to what to do with my
life... or at least, my life in near-future terms... I'm currently in
the throes of creating a website on Global Networked Community for the
Global Studies in Education Master's program... although I'm still not
officially enrolled in the program. My friends here say stay for
various reasons... but I'm not sure what I feel excited about doing at
this point. I enjoy teaching sex ed, and talking about rules and
Japan, and teaching swing dance in the office, but those aren't
actually in my job description... I think I'm hired to entice the
students to talk to a foreigner who doesn't speak good Chinese. And I
think it works. I'm still restless though, and am attempting to apply
to a Mandarin Chinese studies scholarship... and a Master in Peace
Studies scholarship... and being a dance teacher... and teaching
community health... and I can't wait to find out what it is I'll be
doing next year! oh the adventure of it all...

And Back Again...

Hello
Hello
How are you?
I'm fine, and you?
I'm fine.

And I'm back. I teach 16 periods a week (45 min. periods) to all new
classes (14 different classes in the Software College, 2 with ACCIS,
about 40 kids each), but now with students who know who I am. It
seems a little easier to make friends now... maybe because my Mandarin
has improved, and certainly because we've seen each other around
more... This also includes the teachers - now I join in the office
badminton games, played to wile away the Chinese teachers' mandatory
office hours of 8-8 (albeit with breaks for lunch and dinner).

It's good to be back where the food is always "delicious," "less
delicious," or "more delicious," and things are generally "less
beautiful," "beautiful," or "more beautiful..." Where in class I talk
about race and try to dispel the idea that everyone in America has
blue eyes and yellow hair... and that d) all of the above, is a
legitimate answer.

I taught one of my ACCIS classes how to play Spades - as their main
interests seem to be (for the boys at least) computer games (all
weekend... i.e. internet cafe from Friday after school to Saturday
afternoon... amazing dedication), basketball (and they're continually
astounded that I know so little about the NBA), and playing cards. So
we played cards. I attempted to make them follow English rules... and
they had a good time playing with their friends. The head teachers
choose that day to observe my chaotic classroom encouraging illegal
gambling.... good times good times.

My other ACCIS class held Cheryl and I hostage after the Spades class
for about three hours - chasing and giggling and and dragging us back
to class when we tried to leave. They took us to lunch, and
demonstrated that when you open the door to their classroom silently
and quickly at lunchtime, you can find Roy and Rose making out. hehe.
I'm going to play Spades with them on Monday.

I still play ping-pong almost every day, but in lieu of break-dancing,
I've been attending semi-mandatory Software College teacher events.
They're very serious. My friend (who Cheryl and I affectionately call
"Mathguy," as he teaches math) ran the three-legged race, and my team
lost by only 3 jumps (136-139) in the team jump-rope competition.
Saddest of days.

The next night, another friend (who Cheryl and I affectionately call
"Japaneseguy" as he teaches Japanese) tied for second place in the
two-person balloon-popping competition, while my office-mates dressed
our boss up in newspaper as a hula girl - I think his wife found him
quite fetching in the hoop earrings.

I'd forgotten about the multitude of competitions... and the gazillion
students I have wandering around, teetering on the edge of friendship.

Towards the edge...

Beijing - Hong Kong - Shanghai

Such time has passed since last I wrote... In Beijing we found lots
of snow, and in the snow, we found the Great Wall. After braving two
hours of slippery roads, our hired driver laughed at us in the parking
lot of our chosen ascension point, Simatai, with an I-told-you-so
grin. This tourist-ified Great Wall venue was closed due to snow.
Fortunately, the friendly, and still determined, picture and postcard
hawkers assured us that we could get up to at least the first
guard-tower and back before our antsy driver wanted us to leave. So
off we went, with our personal postcard-wheeling guides covering their
wares in plastic bags for the moment to guide/assist/and push us up
the slopes and into the first guard-tower. Where they promptly took
all the best-angle photos of us. Sweet. Then down we went, buying a
book of Great Wall pictures in a moment of sympathetic weakness on
the way.... which is written in French, German, Chinese, English, and
Korean! And still cheaper than the price of admission we
would've/should've paid if Simatai had actually been open... more
justifications will follow shortly...

Back inside the city, we woke up early to join the throngs of Chinese
devotees to see... pickled Mao. Yes yes, Mao ZeDong is not buried
under the ground, or cremated as per his last request... he's been
well-preserved and put on display. His face is also lighted from
above in brilliant orange, which gives you the initial impression the
Mao has been preserved in such a way that his skin now glows orange.
Impressive. Also, in a gentle fleecing of Mao's patriotic followers,
visitors are given the opportunity to purchase plastic flowers to
leave for Mao, and a brief brochure. None of us felt particularly
devout, so Mao will have to enjoy one less potential dollar he
could've post-posthumously garnered.

With Chris' visa safely secured (giving us 3 days to leave the
country), and with much anticipation of warmer toes, we left Beijing
for the warmer climes of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is GREEN! I formerly
assumed that Hong Kong meant: city. Now I have come to appreciate the
wilderness and beauty that tropical Hong Kong can be! We trained it
into Guangzhou (where it was refreshingly t-shirt weather), and then
straight into Kowloon on the mainland of Hong Kong. Hong Kong is
actually comprised of a section of mainland, and a whole lot of
islands, including Hong Kong Island. Coming in on the train, there was
no dramatic difference from the mainland Chinese side, but the green
was definitely apparent... banana trees and tropical plants, and hills
and hills of green... wandering around Kowloon, the clean streets
yielded 7-Elevens, fruit vendors, and upscale jewelery shops, all next
to each other, and all seeming to find an economic niche.
Interesting.

Just after dark we boarded the ferry for Hong Kong Island, and the
view is astounding. The buildings are the most densely packed, and
tallest, of anything I have seen in the world. And just beyond this
gleaming fringe of consulting firms and joint-ventures, Hong Kong
Island's 70% of wilderness looms large. We actually spent the week on
Lantau Island with some friends of my Mom's, Gretchen and Pat, (and
their 6 year old and the four year old twins), which is the biggest
island in Hong Kong's cluster, and much less developed. Gretchen
shared with us the benefits of a dense city like Hong Kong - public
transportation is easy to put into place, and it's also easy to walk
where you want to go - giving health benefits to the city's people,
cutting down on pollution, and leaving enormous swathes of untouched
area for agriculture, oxygen-producing trees, hiking, and beauty. I
think I'm sold. Although I'm a little curious how the dense
population idea fairs under say, an earthquake, or a fire... hopefully
it does okay...

We spent nine glorious days hiking on Lantau Island, Kowloon, and Hong
Kong Island, sailing to a smaller island with Pat and Gretchen,
getting woken up at promptly 6:45am everyday by the twins, hanging out
with a friend of a friend, Shuo Zhai, to see the city and the Big
Buddha, and taking advantage of Pat and Gretchen's kitchen facilities
to make dairy-licious quiche, croissants, salsa, and vegetarian
enchiladas.... mmm...

Hong Kong is also culturally extremely different from mainland China.
People in Hong Kong wait at the crosswalks for the little man to turn
green before they start walking. And the elevator buttons are
sterilized hourly. And there is no spitting on the ground. And we
personally witnessed a single-file line of people waiting for their
bus to arrive, as well as a woman wiping her doggie's bottom after she
picked up it's poop. dude. The health measures (no spitting, the
ever-present alcohol cleansers, elevator button sterilization, etc.) I
hear came about as a public health measure to prevent folks from
getting SARS. The other cleanliness, and obedience to public
ordinances and orderliness... I have no idea where that came from.

Hong Kong is also much more cosmopolitan than mainland China.
Foreigners aren't uncommon, although still a minority, and they're
from all over the world and all displaying their unique style and
languages (at least when we saw them outside of work). There are also
monkeys! They also have their own unique style... although I think
that's more about hanging out where the people go to feed them food
(amidst all the DO NOT FEED FERAL MONKEYS signs). And there's an
enormously long series of elevators that takes people from a dense
population area down to the dense business area in the morning, then
switches directions to take them back up in the evening. And there's
about a block of area where the cosmopolitan crowd of just-off-work
folk goes to hang out, drink, and let you know that they're available.

After post-poning our departure date 3 days, we finally said goodbye
to Hong Kong on Chris Loken's 25th birthday and trained it to Shanghai
to stay with Angie, one of (brother) Chris' friends. Today, (brother)
Chris and I taught our aerials workshop! We jumped and flipped and
spun, and made them laugh and fly too. They seemed excited to learn
some of our tricks, and took lots of pictures to try to remember it,
but with the volume of information we were able to get through, it's a
little dubious whether or not they'll be able to recreate anything
later... I'll have to come back sometime and check it out.

After Hong Kong, Shanghai's vertical displays seems rather stumpy and
spread-apart. The streets also look dirtier, and the crowds feel more
dense. To make sure we understood that we were back in mainland
China, Chris Loken and I made a trip to the train station this morning
to buy train tickets. Enveloped in the mass of humanity that is the
ticket line, we oozed and shoved our way forward. There is a certain
security that comes from not being able to move because of the human
density around you, and a certain ridiculousness at the intensity of a
train-ticket fervor that motivates people to become that close. Ah,
but there is life here, living and breathing in the shark's fin soup
carrying restaurants and ex-pat frequented bars, the blues clubs and
the high-rise apartment buildings, the mahjong players in the parks
and the maglev train. And tomorrow will be a new day to discover
where else our curiosity leads us.

Lanzhou - Ningbo - Beijing

Me, Tall Guy, Chris, SamSimon, Cheryl, various other new friends

Well, our last night in Lanzhou, we met up with SamSimon and another
teacher from Dahongying (whom we affectionately refer to as "Tall
Guy") for snacks, dinner, fruit, nuts, white wine (northern Chinese
hospitality!), post-dinner refreshments, and a late night culinary
feast. oh boy. Through Chris's ability to drink White Wine, and mine
and Cheryl's giggling Chinese, we made friends with Tall Guy's family,
Tall Guy's Dad's boss, and Tall Guy's Dad's boss's husband, kid, and
nephew. awesome! After a late night, we caught the train to
Shanghai, and believe it or not, between Lanzhou and Shanghai there is
green! And mountains! and trees! And of course, rows and rows of
green-housed fields and mud houses, and cities of sky-scraping
apartment buildings and smog.

In Shanghai, after enjoying the fresh fresh seafood, and making
several frantic calls to a friend in Ningbo, we caught buses to Ningbo
for Spring Festival! Spring Festival, as far as I can tell, consists
of family and fireworks. Tons of fireworks. And there ain't no
not-within-city-limits kinds of rules. 4th of July style explosions
(not just sparklers, but city-sponsored firework display quality)
between apartment complexes and in the street and over power-lines, to
ring in the year of the dog with what must be the most polluted day of
the year in China. We spent it at a friend's house in Ningbo,
Shirley, (and her sister and husband and their son and her parents),
eating vegetables and dumplings and running around Ningbo's rivers to
watch the fireworks. Coming back to Ningbo makes me realize how clean
of a city it is... and there are trees and lots of rivers, and fields
outside my window at DHY... not bad not bad.

The day after Spring Festival, Chris and I trained it to Hangzhou
(home of the touristly-renowned West Lake) to add one to our wandering
party - Chris Loken. Woo! We spent a few days in Ningbo playing
badminton in the park, emptying back-packs at my apartment, baking
zucchini bread, and hanging at Shirley's house to play with her nephew
and witness magical-Chinese-potty-training. See, little kids here

wear split-pants (split in the crotch area, so the kid squats and it's
all out there), and throughout our journey we've been learning more
about the reason behind this... evidently kids are pavlov-type
trained to go to the bathroom when the Mom makes a specific whistling
noise... and that's why they can wander with split pants and sit on
Grandpa's lap without accidents at 7 months old. So, Shirley's
nephew, 2-month-old that he is, goes to the bathroom at the sound of
his Grandma whistling a shhhh sound (his Mom's not so good at it yet,
but I guess Grandma's got the kid-whistling experience already). 2
months and already almost potty-trained. wow. something the diaper
industry doesn't want you to know about.

In Ningbo, me and the two Chris's tried to get train tickets to get to
Hong Kong, but finding no availability, we've high-tailed it to
Beijing! Where it's cold. And on checking into a youth hostel we
discovered that (brother) Chris' visa was exactly 3 days overdue.
oops. Since then we've spent some quality time at the US Embassy, the
"local police station" (much easier said than done), the big police
station where they actually do visa extension things, and the back of
a police car (they were friendly and trying to help us, no harm done,
but still a little scary...). Tomorrow we've been informed that
Chris' visa will be right as rain, until Feb. 10th, when we'd better
be out of the country... woo, Hong Kong!

After Many Stairs

BLUE SKY over Beijing Smog!

In other than visa news; we went hiking in some hills outside
Beijing... there are hills here! And the wind has blown away most of
the smog and the sky is blue! That's awesome! I wanted to take lots
and lots of pictures, but I realized that might only be because there
weren't buildings and the sky was blue... and so I refrained and
enjoyed my walking-up-stairs (that's what climbing Chinese mountains
seems to be about) time.... oh, and the friends that are here! One of
the guys I lived with at Stanford, Donald DeBona, has been living in
Beijing for the last 2 years, so him, his roommates (Beijing Ultimate
players), and their extended friends (also Bejing Ultimate players)
have been quality company these last few days! We've played lots of
Boggle, eaten interesting food, gone hiking (so unbelievably good in
this city-laden trip), and have plans to see the Great Wall tomorrow!

Cold in Tianamen Square

Tianamen - note large picture of Mao

Sans new Beijing friends, the Chris's and I took a gander around the
Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Tiananmen (it's actually a gate...
it's got a big picture of Mao over it... all hail) and of course,
snack street. Forbidden City is HUGE! There are houses for a
gazillion concubines in there! The poor invading armies probably got
really lost trying to find which room the Emperor would be in... maybe
that was the defense tactic... hmmmm... if I become Emperor maybe I
should get lots of concubines too... hmmmm....
Unfortunately it's really really cold around here. Unless you're
climbing up mountain-y things... that's warmer. Chris Loken reached
his cold-breaking-point after the Forbidden City (it took us a while
to find our way out) and retreated into the bottom of the Grand Hyatt
(only $350 US, and up, a night) for warmth ("I'll buy a cup of $4
coffee... I'll buy you all $4 cups of coffee!"), where we inexplicably
found, in "The Patisserie," the 5 kuai (about 60 cents) chocolate
croissant. score!

Shanghai Aerials Workshop!

Also in awesomeness, through a friend of mine from decadance (thanks
Merry!), Chris and I will be teaching an aerials workshop in Shanghai
on the 18th.