Last night...

One of the hardest things to find in Chengdu is a comfortable place to study. The school has a couple of libraries, but they are cold, dark, and have limited seating. They also lack internet access, and the English books are pretty much off limits.

My classmate Deborah and I have been lamenting this problem ever since we arrived. Studying at home is hard because it's distracting, studying at a coffee shop is too expensive, and tea houses are smoky, loud, or both.

Rumor has it that SU's new campus, located about half an hour outside of town had a brand new library complete with wireless internet access. The main campus where my classes are located has a shuttle bus that runs regularly between the two schools. After figuring out the logistics of how and when to go, Deborah and I packed up and headed out.

The new campus is large, but unlike the one where I attend classes, isn't crowded from dawn to dusk nor jam-packed with buildings. As if that wasn't remarkable enough, the library itself was stunning.

"Windows! It has windows!!!" We kept whispering loudly to each other.

"And a view! Windows with a view!"

"Wow! An elevator! A real, working elevator!"

"Lights! The lights are on and I can see!"

"Internet, it has wireless internet!"

The downside to the library was that in order to get in, you must have a library card. We had inquired about library cards earlier in the year and were told that if we wanted one, we had to put down a 2000 kuai deposit. This time however, we went to our representative at the foreign student office and asked for one. Voila! They gave us one for free.

I have yet to make use of my new found library freedom, but next week starts tomorrow and I have plenty of time.

Some Serious Health Concerns to Discuss (part 2)

I made it through the winter without catching malaria, and have been living a fairly mosquito-free existence. I was having a pretty rough time with the bugs in my first few months here (read part 1 of this post here). The worst part of the problem was that I seemed to be the only one suffering. Other people would ask why I looked diseased and I could only shrug and blame it on terrors in the night. I tried everything to make the mosquitoes go away, but nothing seemed one hundred percent effective. At night I piled blankets over my head and body, placed a constantly whirring fan on the bedside table, used a mosquito plug-in, and even took vitamin B (supposedly it helps). Whether it was my ever-alert-with-the-mosquito-squisher-"Patton" attitude, or simply the onset of winter that deterred them, I'll never know. Either way, things have been great these past few months.

I've spent fruitless hours searching the stores and markets for a product suitable for killing mosquitoes. But my luck changed recently with a trip to Century Mart, a grocery store twice as nice and half as crowded as my favorite place Trust Mart. While scanning the aisles for a new plug-in, I stumbled upon a freshly stocked shelf full of Raid Mosquito Killer spray. I'd been discussing the possibility of mosquito nets with Sarah, and was trying to figure out a way to mosquito net the entire room. Now my problem was solved. I bought two more plug-ins, and a foot tall can of spray. I brought the goods home and conducted some tests. First I lied down on my bed and aimed the can at the ceiling. Did the spray reach? Not quite, but close enough. Next I sprayed a wall shot to make sure it didn't discolor the paint, and followed that by a smell test to make sure it didn't smell like something that causes cancer. Then I did the "stupid test" by spraying it over a candle to make sure the cloud of spray didn't catch fire. (Note that I sprayed it OVER and not INTO the candle, and after that was successful I read the "do not spray near flames" warning on the back.) That all happened well over a week ago, and I've been waiting for my chance to use it ever since.

Tonight I got my opportunity. I was turning on my computer to write a blog (not about this topic) when a mosquito flew into my face. I tried swatting it and missed. From prior experience I know that if I sit quietly and wait, the beast will land somewhere soon. It did. I aimed. I sprayed. I killed. I felt good.

I'm still adhering to my regimen of vitamin B, fans, blankets, and most importantly, waiting at night for them to land and then using my "Patton" DVD to kill them. However, I've been trying to eat a lot of garlic at dinner and that seems to be working too. Now with the addition of the mosquito killer spray-The Exterminator-I'm thinking about retiring "Patton" and shipping him off for a new life in Egypt with my best friend Sarah so she can use him to kill flies. The work of a great patriot is never done...

Advertisement of the week:

Advertisement for the bus, seen on a bus:

"Harmonious and comprehensive wisdom and honest verily and innovatively."

It's been a while...

I've been meaning to blog for days but my internet service has been out. What was originally meant to be several seperate articles will now be joined into one long piece.

First the life news:

I started school on monday. All of my classes so far have been great. My main Chinese class has roughly thirty students, and it grows larger everyday. Many students in the lower class skip up, while students in the other class at the same level switch because they don't like their teacher. I'm now in class with two of my UW classmates, so I have more brains to remind me what homework assignment to do. I sit in class three hours every morning, and I love it! My only complaint is this: I am constantly distracted by one of my new classmates. If he was a young, rich, handsome, rich man it would be understandable. I can live with that kind of distraction. Unfortunately, he is none of the above. No, the guy that distracts me looks like Kim Jong Il. I know he can't help it, but if he'd get rid of the perm it would go a long way.

And the weird news:

I spent most of last week going on adventures with various Chinese people. One of my friends wanted to invite me over to have coffee. Every time I talk to this friend she wants to know if I know how to make coffee syrup like Starbucks, when I'll learn to make coffee syrup like Starbucks, and whether or not I've found a place to buy coffee syrup like Starbucks. One day last week she called and asked me to come over so we can make coffee together. We've talked about trying to make homemade syrups, so I told her I'd pick up the ingredients and bring the French press along the way.

That afternoon I set out on my bicycle for Sabrinas, the only place in town where you can buy Western goods. I was riding my bike on the right side of the road, dodging people, bikes and cars, when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a yellow Chinese mini-car flying towards me. He was trying to make a turn onto the small lane I was passing. I hate using this cliche, but when I say everything moved in slow motion, everything really moved in slow motion. The yellow car came speeding towards me. I started to turn the wheel of the bike away from the oncoming car. Suddenly, the car was a foot from my foot. I cringed waiting for the impact. The bumper (thank God it was a mini-car and not a bus!), slammed into my lower leg knocking me off the bike and onto the pavement. The car screeched to a halt and the driver started to open the door. As soon as he saw I was moving and apparently not hurt, he sat back down, waved and sped off. I stood dumfounded that neither I nor the bike were damaged. And then I stood in the middle of the road shaking and laughing like a madman. I was just hit by a car!!!

I somehow made the rest of the trip to Sabrinas, bought my groceries, and met with my friend. The plan for the day was to take a trip to IKEA, where we would pick up a coffee maker for her and then head home to make the treat. IKEA was awesome as always, and we found the coffee makers right away.

One of the greatest things about IKEA is that they sell American style hot dogs, Chinese food and ice cream. They also sell cheap coffee and licorice. I ended up with several bags of coffee (you can never have too much), and a bag of candy. My friend hated the licorice, which meant more for me!

When we arrived at my friend's apartment, she went to the kitchen and pulled out another, larger coffee maker that her husband had recently acquired. The problem is, she explained to me, they don't know how to use it. Then I had a weird China moment: teaching my friend how to use a coffee maker. I always assumed it was instinct that taught man how to make coffee, or perhaps it's just Seattle. Either way, that evening grew more interesting as I ended up showing her how to use a spray can of whip cream, and explaining that vanilla extract may smell sweet, but it doesn't taste the same way.

All I could think about that day was that I had just been hit by a car and walked away. I didn't want to tell my friend because from experience I knew she would try to baby me. The Chinese have been incredibly helpful and kind to me, but they are often too helpful. For example, today my bike chain broke and six people ran over to help me fix it. They all grabbed for a chance to hold the bike or reset the chain while I stood to the side and made like I was trying to help. Six people!!

After that day I thought my life in China couldn't get any weirder, but it soon did. That week my Chinese roommate started work again, meaning her students are back in school. From what I gather, most of them returned home during the winter break. Now that they're all back in town, they're back trying to kiss up to their teacher once again. EVERYONE has stopped by our place at least once, and everyone brought a box of some regional specialty. Most of these have been mysterious dried meat products, but some are candies or fruit. My roommate has also been home a lot, and everytime she cooks she makes some for me. It all started with the chicken feet noodles. She made a large bowl of pasta and despite my prostests, forced me to eat some. In the middle of the meal, her phone rang and she got up to go and find it. I seized my opportunity when I saw it. I quickly shoveled all the chicken feet back into the serving dish and was done arranging them so they looked "natural" just in time to see her walk back in.

The next day someone brought over several vacumme-packed ducks. The small refrigerator we have was filled with them, and everyday my roommate urged Sarah and I to eat one. I like duck, but I really don't know what to do with it. Sarah and I discussed making soup, salad, or eating it plain. We finally decided on making duck sandwiches. We waited until it was just the two of us at home, then we got to work. We chopped off the head, pulled the skin and fat away from the meat, and then made grilled duck sandwiches. They turned out surprisingly good. We've been craving Western food a lot lately. Every night after we eat, we sit around the table and discuss the foods we love and hate. Most nights we sit for an hour or so dreaming of what we will eat when we return home.

Later that week, a cold pot of chicken innards and seaweed soup appeared on the table. Although it looked awful, after much urging we promised my roommate we would eat it. When it was just Sarah and I at home, we dumped the pot, making sure to hide the solid parts deep in the garbage.

Again, my Chinese roommate brought home some weird food for me to eat. This time she was more sneaky about her intentions. "Do you like Indian food?" She asked.

"I love Indian food. It's one of my favorites."

"Oh great! There's a doggy bag on the table for you to eat."

The fried rice in the doggy bag looked like Indian food, it even smelled like Indian food. But when I tasted it I found it full of Chinese spam-like products and another unique Chinese creation called "meat floss." When it was noticed that I hadn't eaten the leftovers, I discretely took the container to my room and dumped it deep in the garbage.

It's taken nearly two weeks of covert operations to get rid of all the weird food in the house. It started with a rotting fish in the fridge and ended with "Indian" food. Hopefully everything is better now. We're all busy with school and work, so life should be back to normal. Finally.

Beijing

After spending ten days in Shanghai, my classmate and I took the fast train to Beijing. Beijing was fun although I don't think it is nearly as interesting as Chengdu. Chengdu feels like China. Beijing feels like Tacoma. The Forbidden City, Great Wall, and Tiananmen Square were all cool and I'm glad I got to see them, but by far the most interesting part of the trip was the Mao Zedong Mausoleum.

Situated smack dab in the center of Tiananmen Square is the body of Mao Zedong. Okay, so it's on the first floor of a large concrete building, but it's there nonetheless.

The highlight of my vacation (I'm not sure about my mom) was the trip to the Mausoleum where we saw the body in all it's neon glowing glory. Before we could enter, the tour guides took everyone to a booth where you could buy a flower to lay at the foot of a statue of the Great Helmslmen as you entered the building. I decided my money was better spent on a booklet describing the achievements of the late great chairman, but was disappointed that it didn't have a picture of the body (we weren't allowed to take cameras in).

It's hard to describe just how weird this experience was. Everyone was herded past the body which was laying in a glass coffin. A bright neon orange light shown on Mao's face, making it look as though he had been irradiated. He was glowing. Glowing like the Las Vegas strip. His body was covered with the national flag, and the coffin was surrounded by rows and rows of fake plants. It was really bizarre! Although I've seen plenty of weird things in China, this topped the list.

Okay, I'm finally back--

After a longer-than-promised break from blogging, I'm back. I'll be posting more regularly from now on. To be honest, I'm finding it harder and harder to post regularly, but I start a new semester soon and regular blogging is one of my new semester resolutions.

I've posted some pictures of Shanghai below, and the important ones are now on my webshots account (there's a link on the right hand side of this page). Shanghai is most definitely a city I could live in and be happy.

After a forty-four hour train ride, my classmate and I arrived in Shanghai just after dawn. Although we didn't know which train station we had arrived at (Shanghai has several), we took a gamble that it would be the one next to the metro line and decided the best course of action would be to find the subway hole. We lugged our stuff off the train, through several underground passageways, and into the daylight. The hostel we had booked was reported to be a five-minute walk from one of the main lines, although finding the metro station proved harder than initially thought. We wandered around for a short while, lugging our bags and searching for the elusive subway hole. Finally we stopped and asked a local-it was right in front of us. We spent the next half hour trying to figure out where to buy a ticket. It was one of those things that should have been easy, but like most things in China was hard to figure out. That seems to be the way of things here: they are always twice as complicated as they should be and take twice as long.

Anyway, we made it to the hostel in one piece and I was pleased to see that it was very, very clean. In fact, I would wager to say it was the cleanest place in China. It was spotless: no bugs, no mosquitoes, no dirty sheets, no smelly bathrooms, no overflowing garbage cans... It was like heaven in a dorm room.

I spent nearly everyday wandering around the city. I loved looking at the architecture and art deco. I wandered in and out of old buildings and new shopping centers. There's a lot to write about, but I think I'll just share some things that I wrote while there. These are excerpts of emails I sent during those ten days.

"The People's Square is ironically surrounded by shopping malls. I
wandered in a few of them, looked at the overpriced clothes and then
wandered back out again. There's a ton of Korean, Japanese and Western
food here, it's really tempting to buy it all. Even the grocery stores
carry more Western food than in Chengdu. I ate Doritos for lunch
yesterday, Oreos for breakfast today. I finally found a bottle of Diet
Coke (almost non-exhistant in Chengdu), and drank that with the Oreos.
There's a bunch of Western candy too, but in the spirit of self
discipline, I didn't buy any.

I tried to get some pictures, but it's hard to get a perspective of
the city. I ended up taking a lot of photos from pedestrian
overpasses. I'm looking for a book with good pictures so I can show
people something better than what I took."

"I saw the old Cathay Hotel (now the Peace Hotel). The interiors of
these old buildings is really amazing. Many of them have mosaic
ceilings, stained glass windows, large chandeliers...

The Cathay Hotel apparently was the place to hang out if you were rich
and shady. The original owner of the hotel used to say, "the only race
greater than the Jews is the Derby." When the communists "liberated"
Shanghai, the owners ended up giving the hotel to the state in return
for exit visas. The communist government made them pay "back taxes"
though before letting them leave."

"After the train station, I went for a walk to find Sun Yat-sen's
former residence. I ended up in the French Concession, which has a lot
of really cool old houses, and a lot of trendy boutiques.

Before going to Sun Yat-sen's place, I took a side trip to the first
meeting place of the National Congress of the CCP. Ironically enough,
it's in a neighborhood that has been renovated to be a trendy shopping
district. My guidebook says all the brick buildings had been rebuilt,
and that some of the town's best restaurants can be found inside.

The meeting hall was in one of those old brick buildings. After buying
the ticket, you are taken into a museum which houses artifacts of the
founding of the People's Republic, as well as artifacts from the
foreign aggressors. After you make the round of the museum, you're
taken to a dusty room where there sits a table with about a dozen
chairs. This, the placard tells you, is the sight of the first
National Congress. It's not much of a surprise, the museum houses wax
replicas of all the delegates sitting around a room that looks
suspiciously like the one before you.

Next I headed to Dr. Sun's place, which wasn't too far of a walk away.
The museum part of this attraction is actually housed in Dr. Sun's
neighbor's house. It's pretty nice, the artifacts are all preserved
well, and the Chinglish is minimal. Next I was shown by a guard to the
souvenir room and then on to Dr. Sun's house.

The house is preserved just as it had been when he lived there. You
aren't allowed to enter any of the rooms, but you are allowed to walk
the hallways and peek in. If you don't mind the guard following you,
it's a pretty cool experience.

After visiting the house, I decided to walk back to the People's
Square and catch the metro to a Catholic church that I saw yesterday.
The sign said they hold mass the first Friday of every month, and I
thought it might be fun. However, on the way back I saw a road sign
that said, "Second Meeting Place of the National Congress of the CCP."
I'd been to the first, I just HAD to go to the second. I followed the
road signs until I came to a park. Just off the sidewalk sat a brick
building that was nearly identical to the one that housed the first
meeting place. I tried to walk in, but was shooed away because people
actually live there.

By the time I got back to the People's Square, it was too late to go
to mass."

Besides the Las Vegas/Shanghai photos below, here's some more pictures of Shanghai:

My future office building:


Right next to my other future office building:


My future apartment building:


In my future neighborhood:


Including my future movie theatre:


And my future shopping center:


And some other random places I'm sure I'll be going back to:

In order to see Shanghai--

--Go no further than Las Vegas! Let's take a look:

That one might be a coincidence, but there's more:
And more:
Even more:
Some more:

A bit more:

This is becoming a pattern:

Who copied who?


More:

Look closely:

And last:

Urgent Update:

Aack! While I was out shopping, Mama organized all the cupboards in the kitchen and is now outside scrubbing the patio! I keep trying to help, but she keeps pushing me away. I've only got another hour before I head out to the train station. I've just got to make it til then...

Shanghai or bust!!!

I survived finals, went on a few last minute Chinese adventures, ate, packed, and am finally ready to go. I'll be leaving this afternoon for Shanghai, my classmate and I will be spending the next two nights on the train. I won't be back in Chengdu until the middle of February, so I probably won't be updating the blog until then.

There's actually quite a lot that I want to write about, it seems as though my Chinese adventures never end. It's what makes life here both interesting and fun--well, that and the food. But because I still have a few errands to do before heading out to the train station, I'll keep this post short and to the point.

I've been waiting a long time for winter break to come. Don't get me wrong, I really like taking Chinese classes and am excited about starting next quarter. What makes this winter break so great is that my mom is coming to see me.

All of my American classmates have family coming at some time or other during the year. We often talk of where we are going to house them, take them, and feed them. It's one of those things that we've all been waiting for since the day we touched down. I'll be spending almost two weeks traveling in and around Shanghai, then I'll catch another train to Beijing where my classmate and I will split and go in our own directions. My classmate has a friend coming, so while she goes off to meet her, I'll be heading to the airport to pick up my mom. I can't wait. I absolutely can't wait.

Everyone in my house is leaving for break. My classmate Sarah has several trips planned, my Chinese roommate is returning home. I arrived home late last night intent on finishing my packing and cleaning house. We've all been busy lately, and with packing and planning have let the house fall apart. There were clothes strung out on the couch, the clothes line was packed, the dishes were dirty, the floor hadn't been cleaned in a long time, and the bathroom was a mess. I walked in the door, and was depositing my stuff on the bed when I heard the doorbell ring. I entered the living room to see who it was when I heard a key turning in the lock and a second later, the door swung open. I looked at the caller, a woman I didn't recognized. She smiled at me and introduced herself as my Chinese roommate's mom. She wanted to know where her daugher was. I told her she had left town the day before, and I didn't know when she would return. Mama, as she calls herself, sat down on one of the couches and spent the next hour on the phone trying to reach her daughter. I offered her some tea, and then tried to discretely clean the house. A couple of hours later, my roommate arrived and everyone settled in for the evening.

I woke up this morning to the sound of glass breaking. Praying it wasn't my coffee pot, I stumbled out of bed and wandered into the kitchen. Mama was in the middle of cleaning up the remains of some unlucky bowl. Her back was turned to me and I snuck back into the bedroom and put on some decent clothes.

After showering and getting ready, I stumbled back into the kitchen to see that Mama had already spread out some food on the counter and was preparing to cook what looked like quite the feast. She turned to me and asked, "Can I cook for you?" She didn't ask if I had eaten, was I hungry, or anything like that. It was just, "can I cook for you?" She doesn't speak standard Mandarin, so the fact that I actually understood that sentence is a miracle in itself. I fumbled a minute at her question, I didn't really need her to cook for me. I was perfectly fine eating a piece of fruit. She saw the look on my face, and then began to insist that she be allowed to cook me a meal. I finally agreed, and with that settled, started cleaning the house.

She cooked her feast all morning, and everytime she caught me cleaning something, would argue that I let Mama do it. She tried to take the broom away from me when I wasn't looking, blocked me when I tried to take out the garbage, and argued with me when it came time to mop. I was touched--in a very embarrassing kind of way.

The food she made was wonderful. She had hand-made some sausages that were delicious, fed me pig ear, and several vegetable dishes. When the meal was done, she insisted that I pack some up and take it for dinner on the train. She had earlier wanted me to invite a friend to lunch; after refusing that request, I felt obligated to take at least some of the meat. I think I'm going to try and secretly feed the pig ear to my classmate on the train. I'll update you later if it works.

I've been sitting here typing emails for a little over an hour now. Meanwhile, mama is outside scrubbing the patio. I feel really awkward watching her work, but I just don't know what to do. I've encountered situations like this before, and I'm beginning to chalk up my discomfort to mutual misunderstanding.

I once went to dinner at a friend's house. The host spent the entire meal cooking and cleaning, while the rest of us sat around the table and talked. Every once in a while, my Chinese roommate hires a women to come and do some deep cleaning. When she comes, it's all I can do to stay in the house. It's sooooo uncomfortable. I once went for a walk with a Chinese friend, when she noticed that the bottom of my pant leg was getting wet, she leaned down and started rolling them up for me. I heard one Westerner say that the thing that irritated him most about his Chinese employees is that they were always trying to do things for him such as clean his office, get him tea, etc. I think it's just a cultural difference. Westerners want to make everyone feel equal. Having someone do something for me that I could easily do myself makes me really uncomfortable.

Anyway, I'll be updating you all at the middle of next month. Until then, it's Shanghai or bust!

Finals are done!

I just love to read the important headlines.

Mood?

Every once in a while I get an email survey asking me everything from what my favorite ice cream flavor is to the color of my panties. They usually have the mood question too. What mood are you in?

Mood: Road rage.
That's a mood? It is when I'm on the road.

Hey you! You with your finger on the motorbike horn! Do you really think I can distinguish your horn from the other fifty motorbike horns? Can you distinguish yours?

Mood: Road rage.
It was today's mood, yesterday's mood, the day before that...

Hey you! You running the red light to make that left turn! Do you really want to clean me off your windshield? I guarantee it won't be pretty.

Mood: Road rage.
Last week's mood, Christmas' mood, Thanksgiving's mood...

Hey you! Bus driver! I nearly face planted into the side of your bus! Would you mind using the road and not the bike lane next time?!

Mood: Serious road rage.
2007's mood, 2006's mood...

Hey you! Driver! When your bumper passes within a millimeter of my ankle, I start to worry about my future as a ballet dancer. Please leave a little space next time.

Mood: Still road ragin'.
November's mood, October's mood, September's mood...

Hey you! Bus! When I can feel the heat from your engine on my backside, that means you are too close! Stop tailgating!!!

Mood: Road rage.

(That picture above is an actual picture of an intersection in China. I was in an intersection like this once. Everything stopped for about twenty minutes so the drivers could get out and yell at each other. Absolutely the most amazing thing I've ever seen.)

Finals

I have finals this week, six of them all together. It's insane, my main class has had no exams the entire semester except for the midterm. I've learned a lot, but all of us feel that we surpassed the book about half way through, and the teacher has been dragging the remaining lessons out much longer than they should be. Finally on Thursday, we were given a pop quiz instead of class. The pop quiz covered some sayings that were mentioned several months ago. They seemed incidental at the time. Most people left the test pretty angry. There were eight sayings that we were suppossed to remember, I think most of us only got two or three correct. The other five I guessed the meaning, or made one up myself. Needless to say, it wasn't a pretty picture.

Nobody knows what is on the final exam. We were only told that we needed to study everything, including the chapters we didn't cover in class. I sat down at my desk at one o'clock this afternoon. I didn't leave until about five-thirty when I couldn't stand sitting any longer. I went for a walk, made dinner, and then resumed studying. I've been at it again for about an hour, and then set my book down to do this. I think I'll put another hour in before going to bed.

I'm nervous about this test. I'm a good student, and tests aren't usually a problem. But I also didn't know what to prepare for the midterm, and scored lower than I would have liked. I wasn't the only one, but it made me want to study harder for these exams coming up.

Ever since the midterm, I've studied less too. In the beginning, the class was moving at a good pace, but since the midterm things have slowed down signifigantly. Now, the lessons drag by and the homework assignments are few. I haven't let everything slide, I was focusing more on my other classes, and have shown improvement.

I guess that's enough complaining for now. I'll let you all know how I do. Until then here's some reading material:

Today's China news

It's Monday!

Sarah and I often discuss our purchases with each other, and we inevetibly end up rating them from best to worst. My best three purchases in China are: quilted pajamas, a french press coffee maker (for travel of course!), and a North Korean tour company coffee mug. I bought a jacket several days ago that almost falls into the top three, except that the jacket will only be used for a few months, while the coffee cup can be used forever. As for the quilted pajamas, I saw some on sale the other day and may just return to pick up another pair.

Last week I made arrangements with a friend to go and buy a marshmallow coat. These kinds of coats are big here, and people wear them everywhere. They come in every color and in every length. They come with fur, plaid, sparkles, or a combination of the above. In between the time we had talked and the time we were to go shopping, I bought a coat at Carrefour. It's large enough for the sleaves to come to my wrist, it's thick and it's not marshmallow. When my friend called to confirm a time and date, I told her I had already bought a coat, but would still be up for some shopping.

On Saturday we met at the appointed shopping mall, and she took me inside to the all-marshmallow coat store. We searched the floor, looking for that perfect coat. I would point one out that I liked, then she would shake her head and point at another one that had sparkles and fur and plaid and ruffles and a phrase in Chinglish on it. After searching the entire floor for a suitable coat, it was becoming clear our tastes our WAY different. I mentioned again that I had already bought a coat, I'd be fine if we didn't get one. I kept getting the feeling that it was buy one now, or we're not leaving. I don't know why she kept insisting on it, but in the end she won. I bought a marshmallow coat. It's not as bad as the others, it doesn't stretch to my ankles or anything. In fact, it's the one that my friend hated the most, meaning it was the most like something I'd wear in the States. I can't believe it, I was peer pressured into buying an ugly coat.

Needless to say, the marshmallow coat is in the top three worst purchases.

Pictures:

Here's a few more pictures of our Christmas adventure. My camera was finally fixed yesterday, so you'll be seeing more of my pictures in the future. These pictures come courtesy of Sarah.

This photo was taken from the top of Xilingxue Mountain, on a gondola of death.
This photo is of the mountain resort where we stayed over the weekend before Christmas.
The very sad, lamer-than-the-bunny-hill ski run at Xilingxue Mountain.
This picture was taken about half way through our mountain hike.
This is the view from the top of the mountain we hiked.

Does anyone know what this is?

Due to my quick thinking (run away!), this didn't kill me. Does anybody know what it is?

I'm (almost) Famous!

Hey, guess what?! Your favorite blogger was in the newspaper! It's really not all that exciting, it's just a small blurb about the sign language class I've been taking. In it there's some quotes from me that I don't think I really said, and a picture. The picture isn't of me, but I've got a copy of the article.

I found out I was in the newspaper when a couple of SU students tracked me down to see if I would volunteer to teach a song in ASL. They told me a friend of theirs read about me in the newspaper, and then contacted the person in charge of the sign language classes to find out who I was. I really have no idea who the reporter is, it could have been any one of my classmates. They never identified themselves to me, so I'm still completely in the dark. Oh well, it's cool to see my name in the paper.

Here's an interesting article. We all knew those Canadians were up to no good...

Weird Days:

I went out with some friends recently for a three hour scenic walk, followed by lunch. After eating, we crossed the street to a teahouse where we decided to rest for a while before making the three hour hike back to where our bikes were. The server was a young chick, dressed in acid washed jeans, a sparkly tank top, and she sported a mullet. A real mullet.

With a glass of tea in hand, we settled into our chairs to relax. A few people fell asleep while others watched the television in the corner. An hour later, the server came back to the private room we were in to prepare the bill. A few words were exchanged between her and my friends, and I got the impression everything was fine. We each paid the woman five kuai owed, and were on our way. As we reached the door of the teahouse however, the woman who owned the place immediately started yelling that we hadn't paid our bill in full. She appeared out of nowhere, and immedietly pushed her way to the door in order to block our escape. She started screaming at one of my new friends, telling her that we had to pay the money or we wouldn't be allowed to leave. This woman was crazy, absolutely nuts. She was screaming and gesticulating wildly, making the problem clear to everyone in the room. I was totally embarrassed.

I thought the amount owed was only five kuai. I reached into my pocket, pulled out the right amount and handed it to the lady.

She glared at me, "This isn't enough. You still owe fifteen kuai." At this point, she positioned herself between us and the door, sticking her arms out to the side to make her intention clear. My new friend argued with her several more minutes before the rest of the group who were outside got curious and came to see what was holding us up. Soon, the entire group was involved in the shouting match until finally a man from the corner of the teahouse approached the door and offered to pay the bill for us. I know I said this before, but I was totally embarrassed.

Somehow we made it out of their unscathed, though I doubt any of us will be going back.

And China's fifth great invention is:

Quilted pajamas.

Christmas and all that stuff:

Ah, Christmas- a time to spend with family, eating and drinking while preparing for a night of presents and laughter. I thought going through the holiday would make me homesick, and was mildly surprised that it didn't. Somehow being placed in an environment completly foreign from your own has a way of making you feel as though the holidays don't matter so much. Christmas is celebrated in Chengdu, but it's different. Very different.

My Christmas started the Thursday before. That afternoon I recieved a phone call from my Chinese roommate informing me that I had an already scheduled appointment with her that evening. This was news to me, but the plan included eating, so I was in. Later that evening, we were taken to her friend's place where we were treated to a special Christmas dinner and presents. The appointment phone call had initially annoyed me: I hadn't been clued in to that evening's plans until the last minute. Being so well treated by complete strangers changed my thinking on the matter. From what I gathered, they didn't ordinally celebrate Christmas, but because they knew we did they made dinner and bought us gifts.

The following day I packed up enough clothes for the weekend, shoved the bottles of margarita mix and tequila into the bottom of my new TrustMart bag and left with a few classmates for the mountains. We were first taken by private car to a hotel located about an hour outside the city. The hotel was quite literally in the middle of nowhere, the only draw being that it was located next to hot springs.

We sat in the hot springs for a little over an hour. The heat felt great after spending the last few weeks freezing in my house. Our hot water has been next to zilch lately, so I tried to soak up as much warmth as I could. It was great.

After drying off we drove further, our destination being some cabins in the mountains. We pulled onto a one lane road that was situated precariously on the edge of a ravine. The driver drove like mad while we all hung on for dear life. Fortunately, the drive was short and we all made it in one piece.

When we arrived, the owners of the cabins came out to greet us. It was then that we realized the place was closed for the winter, but they had opened especially for us. Dinner was served in the restauarant part of the resort, everything was wonderful as always.

That evening, we retreated to a main room where there was a fireplace and Christmas karaoke. The entire complex had been decorated for Christmas, and Sarah had made a box full of Christmas cookies. I spent most of the evening trying to avoid the karaoke microphone and eating cookies. Sarah told me she had made well over one hundred, I'm sure I ate at least the first hundred.

The next day we decided to take a hike up one of the mountains. The retreat was situated far from any development, the only signs of life being a few peasant homes nearby. There was a trail up one of the mountains that led to a Temple.

The trail was incredibly steep, although it wasn't hard enough to be unpleasant. We walked up a jagged stairway for a couple of hours before finally arriving at the top. Along the way we got lost once, found a really deep hole to throw rocks in, and found the biggest bee in China to take pictures of. I don't know what this type of bug (shall I say, beast?) was, but I do know that one of them once dive-bombed me while I was trying to buy a bootleg DVD. I'm totally-totally-totally-completelyfreakedoutI'mgoingtodieandnobody'sgoingtoknow-scared of bees. My classmates, being much more smart and science-ier than me, just had to stop and take pictures. Just the sight of the bee was making important organs such as my brain shut down, so I opted to continue up the hill. I'll be posting pictures of godzilla's offspring as soon as I get them. Later that afternoon we decided to head out to see one of the tourist sites nearby. It was described to me as a "some old rich guy's house." We arrived, checked the entrance fee (way too expensive), and opted to hang out in the parking lot for a while, checking out the vendor's goods. In the far corner of the lot sat a group of old men in front of their honeybee nests. Nearby sat several jars of honey, just waiting for a brave tourist to enter the danger zone and buy one. I was not that tourist. We didn't actually go in the rich old guy's mansion, but we still had fun. We ate pinapple-on-a-stick, discovered some mint candy, found the back door and tried to sneak into the mansion, and wandered around. It was fun.

That evening we sat around the fire, telling stories of ghosts and drinking warm margaritas. When the margaritas were finished, we bought several bottles of wine and finished those off too.

After breakfast the next day, we packed up our stuff and left for a mountain ski resort called xilingxue shan. The "xue" part of that word means snow, but there was little to be found. As we pulled up to the park entrance, we asked the man selling tickets if we would find snow at the top of the mountain. If we rode the gondolla to the top, he assured us, we would find snow. I'm a heights person, I love being in tall skyscrapers and admiring the view from someone's top-floor apartment. But even with that mindset, the Chinese gondolla was still a scary ride.
The top of the mountain was cluttered with all sorts of odd tourist activities. There was paintball (we think- check out the picture below), an ice Great Wall, a hot air balloon, and what looked like a Chinese version of a luge slide. The actual ski run was lamer than the bunny hill, with maybe three inches of compacted snow making it just possible to slide down the hill rather than ski. Nevertheless, the Chinese tourists were decked out for a full blown ski trip and seemed to be enjoying themselves. I'm not sure if you can see what the English caption says at the bottom of this picture. It reads: "We provide arms and ammunition as well as targets. You can experience the excitement of killing!"

After surveying all that the "resort" had to offer, we opted to spend 30kuai for a ride on the luge. The fee included a ride further up the mountain in another, even scarier looking gondola. As the gondola rounded the last stretch of track, the operator pulled open the door for us to get in. As he did so, we all looked on in horror as the door literally came off in his hands and fell to the cement floor. Completely unfazed by this, the operator signaled for us to wait pulled open the door of the next car, shouting for us to get in.
The ride to the top was uneventful, and we got off the car unhurt. I've never been on a luge before, but I think on a luge the rider usually lays on a sled. We however, sat on a go-cart type of car, complete with hand brake that worked about as well as the brakes on my bike. I watched from the top as Sarah took the plunge, then I sat on the car and gave myself a good push. The slide started out rather slow, but as it continued, the car started going faster and faster. Soon I was having to use the handbrake to keep from flying over the sides of the track on the curves. As I rounded one curve, I came face to face with a HUGE rat. I'm not normally scared of rats, but this one had me freaked out. I screamed, pulling my handbrake as far as it would go. The rat ran out of the way, and I was left sitting on the track.

We ate lunch at one of the degected looking hotels The place was nearly empty, but it was the only one that looked as though the construction was completed.

That evening we drove back to Chengdu. Discussing with friends beforehand, I discovered a new holiday tradition: bat bashing. On Christmas eve everyone gathers around the fire and-- wait, that's America. In Chengdu, the people gather in downtown with inflatable bats and hit each other. No kidding.

The gathering place for Christmas eve festivities is a street named Chunxilu. It's the main shopping centers in Chengdu, much like Westlake in downtown Seattle. My friends had told me of this tradition, and then in all ernestness warned me not to go. How could I not, when they had just filled me in on all the details? The bat bashing in Chunxilu has become so violent and out of control the past couple of years, that rumour was the police were going to try and put a stop to it.

We arrived Chunxilu just in time to see the police forming lines and pushing people out of the shopping area. This left only one place for them to go: the streets. Instead of one mega-crowd engaged in bat bashing, this left gangs of roaming teenage boys ready to take out their energy on passing foreigners. For the most part, people without bats were left out of the brawls, but when one of my classmates bought one, it was all we could do to walk a block without getting attacked. Eventually the police caught on to what was happening, and began confiscating or popping bats. On each corner sat a pile of deflated Christmas cheer.


In comparison to the weekend, Christmas day was pretty mild. We made omelets, and then watched movies until we couldn't put off the homework any longer. We were supposed to be in class that day, but from what I hear, my teacher showed up to an empty room. Oh well.

Sorry for taking so long to update. Things have been busy as usual, and I've been having a hard time staying connected to the internet. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays!