CD 230: The Art of the 3 Day Weekend

I am, of course, lucky for many reasons. One such reason is that, as a teacher, I get frequent holidays. This fact is boosted by my current location in China, where they get holidays that are quite simply unheard of. This term I have also been blessed with only 1 class first thing Friday morning and students that are more than willing to have class on another day if need be. My second bit of luck is mixed. While it is unlucky that my boyfriend lives Provinces away, I am lucky in that he likes me enough to travel to see me on the weekend despite his having to travel all week for work. I am also lucky that this man who'd prefer to spend his time in a new city trying local food and beer while watching local people, likes me enough to traipse all over town to see cool stuff - meaning stuff that's cool to me.

All of this luck has been combined into 2 3-day trips I have been able to take in the last couple of months. Some here don't understand why I would only travel somewhere for such a short period of time, but if I have to chose between 3 days somewhere or never seeing it, I chose 3 days.

February had an extra day this year, so why not make it a holiday? Okay, I will. I traveled to WuHan in the Hubei Province - about 6 hours north by train. WuHan is really the conglomeration of three cities that use to be independent. But why be independent when you can conglomerate? WuHan boasts that it's the only city to lie on both sides of the Yangzi. Hooray!! BOTH sides! Take that other lame single-sided cities!!

The area along the river bank isn't too glamorous during the day as they are busy building faux beach areas, riverside apartments and its an active shipping hub. However, at night its amazing. They have a long stretch along the riverbank that is set aside just for flying kites, parks, sitting, dancing under trees, eating noodles...all the fun things to do in China. Kites is a new one...these people LOVE kite flying. Perhaps I will have to give it a go.

We kept the sightseeing to a minimum and just tried to enjoy ourselves, but I did sneak in a few things. We went to Yellow Crane Tower, which claims to be a "Fourty toping  tourist attractions of China" and "the first tower on Earth".. The tower itself was pretty spectacular and gave some great views of the city (despite the smog). Inside the tower there were also some amazing murals both painted and in tiles

The city also takes pride in having the WuHan YangZi River Big Bridge. Its 110m long and 80m high and was "one of Communists China's first great engineering feats". The city was full of Russian, French, British, and German style buildings from the concession era which is kinda fun when they have all been turned into typical Chinese restaurants, houses, and shops.

Trip 2 was slightly more exciting. I managed to talk the BF - Lio, into coming with me to Xi'an. (Keep in mind, he could care less about history....) Xi'an is known in China because it is quite near the very first capital city (which no longer exists) of the Qin Dynasty which was the first to rule over all of Eastern China. Xi'an was itself the ancient capital of both the Ming and Tang dynasties. Most people know Xi'an because that Qin emperor happened to make a GIANT Army of Terracotta Warriors.

Xi'an is one of the few cities in China where city walls are still visible and Xi'an's walls are mostly still intact or have been/are in the process of being repaired. The walls form a rectangle around the center part of the city and the gateways in each direction still stand as well as the watchtowers in each corner and numerous defensive towers. They are still working to reconstruct all parts of the wall so one day soon someone could go all the way around the downtown area from the top of the wall. Sweet.

There is a large Bell Tower just north of the South gate that use to be part of the wall (an emperor moved it) and a Drum Tower just down the street from that.  Both towers look pretty cool stuck in the middle of a busy city and add to the ancient city feel. The Drum Tower marks where a huge Muslim quarter begins. This area was jammed with craftspeople, delicious food, traditional artists, and traders of all sorts.

We visited a fun little pagoda called Little Goose Pagoda that lost its top in an earthquake. It is located with the grounds of the Jianfu Temple and now both have been incorporated into a larger park with a city museum as well. The museum is brand  new and had some cool information about the history of the city - and a lot of it was in English, which is always a bonus.

The big ticket event was of course the Army of Terracotta Warriors. About 40 years ago, a nice little peasant man was digging and well and found an underground vault of earth and timber that eventually yielded thousands of life-sized terracotta soldiers and their horses in battle formation. The soldiers were placed there with the intention of guarding the nearby tomb of Qin Shi Huang (the First Emperor of Eastern China). His tomb and the warriors area is considered to be one of the greatest mausoleums the world would have ever seen. Now his tomb is more just a mound of dirt but it was reported to be filled with riches unimaginable - and the bodies of the people who designed it as he didn't want anyone knowing it's secrets. Qin didn't make many friends so his tomb and warriors were destroyed in part or in totality by his successors.

Two bronze chariots and horses were found close to the tomb and are now on display in the Warrior's complex. They have been repaired as well as they could be and the craftsmanship in wielding and design are evidence of how advanced the society was then. There are 3 pits of warriors you can visit. We started with Pit 2 which had about 1000 warriors but most of what you can see now are just fragments and the remains of the wooden beams from the vaults. Pit 3 had only 68 warriors and a war chariot. That pit was excavated, repaired, and repositioned so you can get a feel of how it would have looked.

Pit 1 is the honeypot for sure - 210 m by 60 m and some 6000 figures of warriors and horses in a huge rectangular battle array. This pit hasn't even been completely excavated! Every figure has a different expression and different facial features. All of the figures use to be painted as well. The bodies of the soldiers strictly follow ancient art of war techniques and many held original weapons of the day. As of now, over 10,000 weapon pieces have been collected and stored, but they can't be seen. Techniques the craftsmen used when making the weapons made them resistant to rush and corrosion so that even after being buried for over 2000 years, they were still sharp. I would say maybe half of the pit has been excavated. There is a section in the rear where workers have been collecting broken pieces and pain-stakingly putting figures back together.

I am not sure if I will be able to get away with any more 3 day-ers before I leave. I am taking some time off in May to go to Beijing to run my marathon and we have a 5 day weekend the first part of May for another holiday. There is less than 90 days between now and my return so my days are limited...I suppose. My friend Heather is coming to meet me in China after I am done with work. I am hoping to squeeze in a short cruise down the Yangtze to see the infamous 3 Gorges Dam before she gets here. Then, we'll tour around the Shanghai area for about 6 days before heading to Japan for a week. I know, I know...rough life.

I put some new pictures up at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tarshor/China3DayWeekends

CD182: Winter Holiday - Tibet

Since its been over a month since I have RETURNED from my winter vacation I figured it was probably about time I sat down and wrote about the last leg of my journey.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the sensitive nature of current events in China, please DO NOT respond to this posting with any political comments or questions. Please keep in mind where I live and who I work for. Attempting to ask me anything will only serve to potentially get me in trouble here. Thank you and now for the interesting parts...my travels.

After spending Chinese New Year in Shanghai and a quick weekend trip to Suzhou, Andreana and I met back up in Shanghi for our great adventure: Tibet! We didn't realize until we got to the airport that we'd have a layover in Xian so our total flight time would be about 5 hours. We were preparing for landing in Lhasa when the flight attendants came and re-closed the curtains between coach and first class - we knew this wasn't a good sign. Minutes later after the questioning murmurs got fairly loud, they finally came on the loud speakers and announced that the Lhasa airport was closed and we would be going back to Xian. How we managed to get less than 20 minutes from the airport before they knew the airport was closed is beyond me, but at least they were prepared and we had enough fuel to get back. After a lot of confusion back at the airport, the airlines told us we could not have our checked luggage and they would be putting us up in a hotel with dinner and breakfast provided and a rescheduled flight for early the next morning. After over 14 hours of traveling, we'd ended up about 2 hours from where we'd started early that morning.

At the hotel we met 2 Australian girls and an American couple. The Aussies had been delayed once already to Lhasa, and the Americans were almost  a week behind schedule waiting for flights into the city. We hoped that we would be the trick to ending their bad luck streaks, and thankfully we were! We were able to call our tour company and make arrangements so they were there to great us at the airport. We were given white prayer flags at the airport by our tour guide, but there is more ceremony when you get lei'd in Maui. The trip from the airport to Lhasa use to take almost 2 hours but they have recently built new roads, bridges, and even tunneled through a mountain to make it about 45 minutes. Thankfully Andreana's mom had thought to send her a prescription for anti-altitude sickness pills or perhaps thankfully we have strong constitutions - either way, neither one of us were feeling the effects of the altitude sickness so we were able to catch some of the sights we had missed due to the flight delay instead of using the day to adjust.

Note: Most of the history behind the places we traveled in Lhasa and surrounding areas were from what we read in my Lonely Planet book. Our 2nd tour guide was up front and told us at the start that there would be things he could not answer us about. The history of the area is quite interesting although quite sensitive. The biggest points of interest are the Lamas, the Uprising of 1959 and the Cultural Revolution. The current Dalai Lama has not lived in Tibet since 1959 and currently lives in India. The current Panchen Lama lives in Beijing, and if I remember correctly has not returned to Tibet since he left as a child. Many temples, monasteries, etc were damaged or destroyed during the Uprising and the subsequent Cultural Revolution. Restorations have been done in many locations, but the scars and stories still remain. The population of Lhasa is more than 50% Han Chinese which is due mostly to the Chinese government offering Han Chinese people great incentives to move to Lhasa. The new train that connects Tibet to the rest of China has further facilitated this rapid immigration.

The first place we went was the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lamas, Norbulingka. The various temples and buildings that were open were beautiful, but the grounds themselves weren't too much to talk about. In all fairness, we visited in February and the gardens aren't really going that early. Much of the Palace and surrounding area is still in need of repair.

Our hotel was in an area called Barkor, just up the street from Barkor Square and Jokhang Temple. We were afraid these things would be kicked off our itinerary so we walked there ourselves and joined a huge group of pilgrims as they circumambulated the temple. (In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, things are done in a clockwise pattern and never clockwise. This includes walking around and inside temples and the spinning of prayer wheels.) I had my first taste of yak and must say it's quite tasty. I then attempted to eat it at every meal thereafter.

The incredible masses of pilgrims were awe inspiring. For many of them, they will only travel to Lhasa once in their lifetime. The truly devote prostrate themselves all the way from where they live into the city taking months to do so. Prostration is complex: while standing, your hands are put in a prayer position then touched to your head, throat, and heart, and then you kneel keeping your hands in prayer position followed by lying full on the ground with your arms stretched straight in front of you. If you are prostrating to or around a sacred place, you would then step forward the length of your body and repeat the process until you reach your destination. If you are prostrating in front of a sacred place such as a temple, you would most likely do it 108 times. Our arrival to Tibet came during the beginning of the Tibetan New Year so the number of pilgrims was high - there are many particularly auspicious days around the New Year when Tibetan Buddhists feel it's a more powerful time to do their pilgrimages.

For our 2nd day in Lhasa we went to the breath-taking Potala Palace. The Potala consists of the White and Red Palace and numerous additional buildings making it the massive formation on the top of Marpo Ri (Red Hil). If you do nothing else, please look at my pictures of it to try to get an idea of what I mean. Most of the building leading up to the palaces are Chinese government offices and their presence is strongly felt. It was previously the winter palace of the Dalai Lama and within its walls were the Tibetan government offices, chapels, schools for religious training,  and tombs for the Dalai Lamas...it was in a sense a self-contained city. The Potala is the final resting place of 3 previous Dalai Lamas. Around the Potala is another popular pilgrimage kora (circuit) and almost the whole path is marked with prayer wheels.

Important religious articles are prayer flags, prayer scarves, yak butter, tsampa, prayer wheels and prayer beads. The prayer flags are probably the best known to foreigners - they are red, white, yellow, blue and green with each color representing a different element. Prayer scarves are usually white and are often brought by pilgrims to leave as offerings. Yak butter is what is used for the candles within the temples and chapels and can be given as either the butter or as oil. Yak butter along with tsampa (barely flour), fruit, chang (barely beer), water, sweets, seeds, tea and money are often left at altars. Different buddhas get different gifts - it all seems quite complex. Prayer beads can be anything as long as there are 108 of them. Prayer wheels usually have the prayers of the Compassion Buddha in them. The Compassion Buddha mantra (Om Mani Padme Hum) is the most common. It is written on flags, scarves, small papers that are thrown into the wind, and carved into stones.


After the Potala we went to the outdoor Kumbun Pagoda of the 1000 Buddhas. They have all been painted on to a giant rock face. Next to the paintings is a large group of people who carve the Compassion mantra into small flat stones. Those stones have then been placed into a large pyramid shape at the top of a nearby hill. There was also a room of 1000 yak butter candles - 1 for each Buddha.

At the Sera Monastery later that day, we were privileged to arrive at the assembly hall when the monks were busy ready scriptures and chanting. Most of the monasteries in Tibet no longer have as many monks as they use to as their number are being controlled and being a monk is not as "popular" as it use to be. Here our tour guide was able to talk us into visiting the kitchen where we got to see some monks working hard at making yak butter rice and yak butter tea for their fellows. We were finally able to try yak butter tea after failing many times before. I wouldn't say it was delicious, but I wasn't expecting it to be. It is tea made of butter after all. It was an experience however and now I can cross "Drinking Yak butter tea at a monastery in Tibet" off of my list of things to do.

We ended up with enough time to fit in another visit to Barkor Square and The Jokhang - this time going into the temple. After the Potala, I didn't feel the Jokhang was nearly as impressive although it's considered a holier place for Tibetans. The lines were incredibly long and the military presence was stifling. Most of the chapels were blocked with heavy chain-link curtains we had to peer through.

The next day we headed out of Lhasa along what we term the Southern Friendship Highway - the longer way to Mt. Everest. At the 4794km peak of Kamba-la we were able to ride some yaks and get an amazing view of Yamdrok-tso, one of the 4 holy lakes in Tibet. Apparently foreign tourists have been known to swim in it, the Chinese use the water as any other (for washing clothes, fishing, etc), and the Tibetans circumambulate it (a 7 day walk) and revere the wrathful deities that live there. It was an amazing shade of deep turquoise and quite stunning set off by the surrounding brown hills.

We stopped briefly in Gyantse to visit Pelkor Monastery and its impressive Kumbun (or stupa) that is over 35 meters tall. The Pelkor is interesting because it is the only complex that brought together all 3 different orders of Tibetan Buddhism in one place. We continued on to Shigaste were we spent the night and were free to explore ourselves. Andreana and I found some fun outdoor markets and the hugest prayer wheel I have seen to date.

Before leaving Shigaste the following day, we visited Tashilhunpo Monastery. This monastery is the seat of the other lama lineage, the Panchen Lamas. This is the burial site of the Panchen Lamas and home of the largest gilded statue - a 26 meter figure of the Future Buddha. The day ended near the town of Shegar. We were slightly confused as we thought we were spending the night at the Everest Base Camp and couldn't figure out why we couldn't see Everest. Due to some...politically charged activities of a recent foreign tourist, its now almost impossible to stay at the actual base camp. The military presence on the highway is very evident and we had to stop frequently to show our documents and go through check points. Where we stayed was literally in the middle of nowhere about 3 hours from Everest. We had no water, no power, and nothing to do. Thankfully it was just for 1 night...and the night sky was amazing!

Early the next morning we rose before the sun did and headed to the base camp and Mt. Everest. There was 1 final check point where we had to again show permits and register our passports before we could pass. Then, at the road that leads to the base camp, we had a military inspection then a military escort to the actual camp. Before we got out of the car, the officer made it very clear to us about what we could and could not do. We had to take anything we wanted to use out of our pockets and show it to him then. We could not walk past certain points or we'd be fined...and who knows what else. What most don't realize is Mt. Everest Base Camp is actually a working military base. So, this tourist I mentioned earlier who decided that he had a statement to make, really just served in making it a lot more difficult for the rest of us. We managed to get out of the car, followed by our escort and walked up a small hill to get a good view of the mountain. Absolutely amazing. It's the strangest thing to see something in real life that you never thought you would.

After taking about a million pictures of the mountain and in front of the mountain, we went back down the street to "The Highest Monastery in the World". Tibet just doesn't get enough of this....they have "beer from the top of the world", "restaurant at the top of the world" and even a marker for "the highest toilet in the world". The monastery was rather drab and in need of serious repair, but they get to see Mt. Everest every day so life can't be too hard. We then took our escort back to his check point and took the long drive back to Shigaste. With nothing else to see in the area, we just stayed for the night and headed back to Lhasa the next day. Safely back in Lhasa we took one last stroll through the Barkor, stocked up on necessities, and packed for our trip home.

We decided to take the newly completed train from Lhasa back home - the full length of the route which takes about 3 days. We had lucked out that the whole time we were in Lhasa the weather was nicer than in while we were traveling around the rest of China. As we were leaving Lhasa on the train, it started to snow! What luck. They hadn't had much snow in the previous weeks so it hadn't been too bad of a winter for them. The train was supposed to be the ideal way to travel as the Tibetan plateau is quite beautiful. There was a lot of yak, and a lot of hills (brown hills, white hills, brown hills again)...I wasn't too awe inspired. Although...it is the highest train in the world.

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/tarshor/WinterHolidayTibet

CD173: Winter Holiday (China Proper)

After leaving Pingxiang (thank GOD), Ben and I headed to Hangzhou - the place that Marco Polo described as paradise on Earth. I say thank goodness because 1) we missed most of that snow that ya'll saw on TV as China's worst winter in 50 years and 2) because, despite snow, freezing temperatures, power outages, and no water, Hangzhou was indeed beautiful. The main attraction is West Lake - about 3km wide and long, surrounded by temples, pagodas, parks, and other assorted items of beauty. We ended up being there for just over a week due to train delays but I am almost positive I will make a return visit in the spring to see all of the same sights covered in green instead of white.

Highlights of Hangzhou, other than West Lake itself would have to be LingYin Temple which is surrounded but a huge park area including some caves with carvings some 800 years old. The city itself is rather inundated with Western culture; namely Starbucks, KFC, and McDonalds. It was nice however, that near the lake, and even 5 minutes off a main street and you could forget that you were in a city of over 7 million people.

After Hangzhou, Ben and I traveled to Nanjing to meet up with a friend. While there was a lot to see and do in Nanjing, we really didn't get the opportunity due to time and weather restrictions. The city is unique in that two-thirds of its ancient city walls still remain. The city was a capital twice - once for the Ming dynasty and once for the Republic of China. There were a ton of other things to see that were missed so perhaps it will also have to be revisited.

From, the 3 of us traveled to Shanghi to meet up with Andreana (fresh from Thailand). I was hoping for some amazing celebrations for the Chinese New Year, but that didn't really happen. We arrived in the city on New Year's Eve and searched for hours to find a restaurant that was open and would take us without a reservation. Chinese New Year is part of the larger Spring Festival and most Chinese get anywhere from 1-3 weeks off work. Many of the stores and restaurants are therefore closed as there is no one to staff them. The huge shows seen on TV of New Year's celebrations with dragon dances, singers, and fireworks are apparently only on TV. Many people set off fireworks, but since Chinese are free to buy and set off fireworks whenever they want, it was rather anti-climatic. At least I spend my New Year holiday in good company.

We briefly left Andreana in Shanghi for a weekend trip to Suzhou - the city that is 2nd only to Hangzhou. Granted the lovely parks it is known for were winterized, I feel safe in saying its a dirty little town with not much to offer. There we did finally decide to go up into a pagoda at a temple, but the views weren't really worth it.

After all that whirlwind travel, I spent 1 more night in Shanghi before leaving early the next morning for Tibet with Andreana.

New pictures are up of all the places traveled in China Proper...

Winter Holiday - China Proper

CD152: A Short Rest

After a glorious 11 days on vacation and 17 days of no work, I came back to Pingxiang. It was a freezing cold, desolate, black-out of a homecoming. Apparently campus closed early in the week and they meant it literally. All the restaurants on the back alley are closed, campus buildings are locked, and no one is around. Our old gate keeper was thankfully around to let me in to our apartment building. There was no electricity anywhere on campus, but I was hopeful that wouldn't be the same in our apartments. Grandfather came back up with a candle as there was, unfortunately no power. I am not sure if I have Grandfather or the powers that be for the power coming on about 15 minutes later, but thanks are needed. The good news is that we are only spending one night back here.

Our first overnight train took us to Guangzhou (again, only seats and no beds). We spent the day there looking around before heading out again. The temperature was mild so that was a plus. We left our baggage at the train station and hiked around to a big public park (Yuexiu) known for its huge statue of 5 goats which are believed to be the travel companions of the 5 celestial beings who came to Guangzhou to provide the people with a sign that they would never suffer from famine. After that we headed to a temple with a stellar decorated pagoda, were denied at a mosque and couldn't find another 2 temples apart from all of the construction. Southwest of the city is a small island, Shamian Island, covered in trees and foreign consulate offices were we had the pleasure of Starbucks and a sighting of the American embassy.

The next overnight train (in a bed) took us to Hainan Island, the southern most province of China. The train actually divides in half and travels for an hour on a ferry to get onto the island. Tim's parents have a time share at a hotel there we got to take advantage of for a week. The weather was only nice for the first 2 days but thankfully we took full advantage of it. The place was right on the beach and had 2 natural hot spring pools - sweetness! Other than wandering around a little, none of us did much and that was great. The most exciting adventure was probably the 4 of us and our luggage piling onto a motorcycle with a side car for the trip from the train station to the hotel. The hotel across the street had 6 bowling lanes which provided most of our nightly entertainment.

After our week and with the weather getting worse, we took the overnight back into Guanzhou and went straight back to Shamian Island in hopes of some good Western style food and a happy hour. Neither happened, but the weather was decent and the island was pleasant. Here we parted ways and Tim headed back to Pingxiang while Andreana, Ben, and I headed to the southeast China coast and a place called Xiamen. The city itself didn't have much more than a lively night market street and park/temple we didn't venture to. Our hostel and the more interesting activities were a 5 minute ferry ride from Xiamen to Gulang Yu.

On the island we visited some beautiful parks, saw a giant statue, peeked into a temple, took an air car to an open air aviary, visited a piano and an organ museum, and tried to lose ourselves in the meandering crowded streets of colonial buildings. Andreana left after 1 night to catch her flight to Thailand but Ben and I stayed an extra night and day just to take in as much as we could. I would say it was hands down my favorite place in China so far.

Now, after the 23 hour train ride back to PX and the not-so-welcome home, I am glad that it will only be 1 night. Tomorrow night Ben and I are headed to Hangzhou, about 2 hours from Shanghi. It is supposed to be amazingly beautiful so hopefully it will great despite the cold weather!

CD139: Winter Holiday

The holidays here in China - namely Christmas and New Years, were craptastic this year. There are varied reasons that I won't get into because there is no reason to. Ben's parents were in town for Christmas however and treated us all to a Western-style Christmas dinner at their hotel. I might make my new tradition steak instead of turkey for Christmas. It has been just about a month since I got back from Cairo. The days that followed my return to Pingxiang were dark and ugly, partly to my doing. I am hoping that 2008 will be off to a better start.

After 2 3-day work weeks in a row, we had finals last week and are now off on holiday until the end of February. The good news is that we get paid for all this glorious holiday time. The Americans are off to holiday together for some of the trip, Clyde is still making up his mind, and Chioko is just traveling around Jiangxi Province on her own. I have to be thankful that there are other Americans here I can talk to. I can't imagine how miserable she is here alone, away from her husband, and unable to communicate with people.

Tim's parents have a time-share on Hainan Island in the very southern tip of China so that is where we are heading...in about an hour. Its in a resort and the boys and girls get their own rooms for about 10 yuan a night (less than $2) so it should be doable. We do have to take 2 over-night trains to get there for a total travel time of over 19 hours, but I am sure it will be worth it. Too bad we don't have beds for tonight's journey and are again stuck in seats. After Hainan we are heading north and bit and to the coast to Xiamen where Andreana will be flying off to Thailand. Less than a week later Tim will be leaving for Singapore and a lengthy cruise around Chinese and island ports. Ben and I will be on our own for about 3 weeks traveling (most likely) to Shanghai and the surrounding area. The only thing that is planned for sure is Andreana meeting me in Shanghai by the 12th of February so we can fly to Tibet for a 11 day tour. Good times.

I am hoping the travel will clear my mind and lighten my spirit a bit. I am tired of my little grey rain cloud that's been following me around.

There will be much to tell when I get back but for now, there are new pictures up under December, January, Egypt, and Doha on my picasa. I hope that all of you had a good holiday and your 2008's are starting off spectacularly.

CD 100ish:Not in China

You know me...I was thinking of something fun to do for day 100 in China, but I just lost track of time. Too bad for me it slipped my mind as I was actually in Cairo on China Day 100.

On the 22nd of November all of the foreign teachers headed out of Pingxiang to Hong Kong. Sadly, our 8 hour over-night train ride to Guangzhou was spent on seats and not in beds as we had hoped. In then took us an additional 6 hours to get into Hong Kong and to our hostel. The hostel was a nightmare with both of the reservations we had made being wrong and the hostel not willing to do anything really about it.

All the drama aside, we spent 3 nights in HK doing what there was to do. The weather was slightly miserable but we enjoyed being in a big city where we could blend into the crowd and not have people stare at us as we walked down the street. Victoria Peak was really the only touristy thing we did (other than shop) because of the weather and because everyone else had already been to HK before. I did get to eat some sushi, guacamole, and some German beer however. On the last night in town we meet a cool guy who lives in HK which worked out to my advantage. Everyone else had to leave Sunday morning to head back  home, and I would have been left alone in the city with my suitcases and a day to kill as my flight didn't leave until midnight on Sunday. Herman turned out to be a great host and was kind enough to spend the day with me so I wouldn't have to wander alone. He even took me to the airport!

I flew 8 hours from Hong Kong to Doha, Qatar and was put in a hotel free of charge for my 6 hour layover. There were some other people on my flight that ended up going to the same hotel. I randomly ended up rooming with a girl from Pingxiang who left there 10 years ago and now lives in Guangzhou. Such a small world! She really didn't believe that I lived here (Pingxiang) - yes, the joke is on me. Leaving the airport got me a stamp in my passport so that was cool, but I am not really sure its other purpose.  It was morning and we had some time to kill and the Chinese people were all excited to see some news tower in Doha so we spent some time trying to find it. We soon gave up and everyone else went back to the hotel. I wandered around by myself for almost 2 hours just to see what I could see - not much where I was at.No worries as were were soon  back on the plane for the 3 hour flight to Cairo.

Here is where the story changes a bit. I was in Egypt for 2 weeks. We all know I can be quite verbose so I won't bore you with details of all of the things that we did and saw.

The brief recap is the part that was supposed to be educational, the conference, was a huge let down. We didn't spend much time learning about Egyptian education in any aspect. We went to a lot of boring and worthless meetings as well.

The sightseeing and the cruise on the Nile however were amazing. I wish I could have spent the wasted week seeing more of what I missed while in boring meetings. Here is some of what I can tell you.

20 million people live in Cairo and Giza which are really just considered Cairo unless you live in Giza and really care. I think all 20 million people own cars and drive them at the same time. It was like Pingxiang before there were lanes, crosswalks, signals, and police to enforce the rules BUT they have all of those things and people just drive as they see fit. Police and armed security are everywhere. There were guys with hugemongous guns to greet me getting off the plane and I think I almost fainted. Tourists get special treatment - read: we couldn't go anywhere without some security of some sort and when in large groups we had to take a bus even if we were only going 2 blocks.

The merchants are too aggressive and annoying in most touristy places and it ruins some of the awe and wonder of seeing these amazing things. The people are friendly and the people in our tour serving as guides and helpers spoke great English. Some also spoke 4 other languages, but let's not embarrass ourselves.

In Cairo we saw the Great Pyramids (of course) in a totally UNnatural me event, I missed the bus to go with the group but ended up with a handsome Egyptian tour guide of my own, so that was okay. We didn't do the same viewing the others did as I had already paid the huge ticket fee and didn't want to pay it again...for 2 people. I saw the Sphinx too as it's right in front of the pyramids. We visited the Egyptian Museum which looks like a giant store room for Egyptian treasures. The Royal Mummies exhibit was open so that was the highlight.

The day before the cruise we headed 3 hours north to Alexandria. There we visited the Alexandria National Museum, the Catacombs of Kom El Shugafa, the Roman Ampitheathre, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Qait Bay Fortress, and the Mediterranean. While some parts were cleaner and less crowded than Cairo, the beach was filthy and the rush hour traffic was unbearable.

For the cruise, we took a short flight to Aswan and started from there the next day. During the day we toured around Aswan, visiting the Aswan High Damn, Philae Temple (which had to be moved to a different island after the Island of Philae was submerged due to the damn), and the Unfinished Obelisk in the granite quarries they used for building the pyramids. Last we took a Felucca ride down the Nile back to our boat. We then cruised to Kom Ombo and visited the temple of the god Sobek. Then more cruising to Edfu while we donned traditional Egyptian costumes and danced with the staff.

Day 3 we saw the Edfu Temple (largest and most completely preserved) before cruising to Esna. The Esna Temple which was dug out from about 9m of muck and is also very well preserved. Then we continued cruising to Luxor.

The 4th day started with a trip to the Valley of the Kings. You can only see 3 tombs for each entry so I saw Ramses I, IV, and IX. For an extra fee some of us went to see King Tut's tomb which was AMESOME as they now have his ACTUAL mummy out for viewing. Some people didn't think it was worth the $20...maybe they'll see Tut next time they're in Egypt. In the Valley of the Queens we saw a tomb that was for...I want to say Ramses children...some 50 of them. We then stopped by the Hatshepsut Temple and paid a little homage to Egypt's only female pharaoh. The colors preserved there were pretty amazing. A quick photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon and we were rushed back onto the boat for our lunch before heading back out to the east bank of Luxor. The Temple of Luxor was absolutely huge and amazing and the Karnak Temple had an amazing Hypostyle Hall of 134 pillars. I will apologize now for my lack of adjectives to describe these temples in more detail, but there really aren't one's good enough. Look at my pictures, then go there yourself.

The next day we all flew back to Cairo where I spent I more day with a new Egyptian friend before heading back to China and reality.

Leaving China

My flight to Cairo left from Hong Kong so all of the foreign teachers decided it was a good excuse to take a long weekend there. I was the only one who hadn't been before, but traveling with others was nice. Our overnight train to Guangzhou had no available sleeper cars so we were stuck trying to sleep on hard seats. The train was delayed for about an hour due to a police search of the train, so it took over 9 hours to reach our destination. From Guangzhou, we had to take a train to Shenzhen that took another hour and a half. We had to then do customs for leaving China and for entering Hong Kong…another hour at least. Then, we took a subway into Hong Kong; to the last stop took another hour easily.

When we arrived at the hostel that we had reserved online we were faced with more problems. The three bed room the boys had reserved was a twin and a full bed. The double room we girls had requested was without our own bathroom.  We worked it all out eventually, but what a headache! Especially when the workers don't understand what you are trying to explain to them!  My first thoughts on Hong Kong were how great it was that there were people who weren't just Chinese. Hong Kong is a big mix of multiple cultures and apparently there are a lot of Americans living there – I could easily see why.

We first headed from Koloon Island where we were staying to Hong Kong Island. We walked around a bit and headed to Victoria Peak.  We took a tram up 370 m to the plateau (in about 10 minutes!) and then we went up to the 7^th floor of Peak Tower for a view back down to the city. The area is a huge favorite of expats but it apparently ridiculous expensive.  The view was amazing! I have never seen such a skyline! After the sights we went to the Wan Chan district for dinner (Mexican food!!!).  And later we had drinks while watching the local pastime – hookers.

For Day 2 we walked around to see what there was to be seen. Shopping is the main past time for most people who come to Hong Kong. The shopping centers and huge, various, and crowded constantly.  The streets were crowded – there are about 7 million people living in and around Hong Kong and they are all pushed together on the 10% of available land space. Add in all of the crazy tourists, and you get the idea! After shopping around for the day we headed back to Hong Kong island to check out the happening party scene.

Day 3 was made better by a guy I meet the night before – Herman. Everyone else had to leave around 3 to head back to Pingxiang . Herman showed us around a little while we kept all of our stuff at our hotel. After the other guys headed out, I left my stuff at Herman's and he showed me around more of Hong Kong Island. The Central district of the city is much cleaner than Koloon and not quite as packed with tourists. After some delicious sushi and an escort to the airport, I was headed off to Egypt.

The flight from Hong Kong to Doha, where I had my layover, was 10 hours long. I slept the whole time. We got in at 430 am and by 530 I was checked into a hotel. The flight to Cairo didn't leave until 1pm so the airline put us passengers into hotels. We were put into rooms together and amazingly, the girl who I roomed with is from Pingxiang! She hasn't lived there in about 10 years but I had to do a lot to convince her that I really lived and worked there. There were at least 6 other Chinese people that were on our flight and at our hotel, so we decided to walk around together. Nicole and the others really wanted to see a famous TV tour but we couldn't really find it or figure out how to get there. I decided to walk around more and see what I could see instead of staying in the hotel. I didn't see much exciting, but at least I earned the stamp I got in my passport.

Next stop: Cairo. The flight is only 3 hours from Doha and I am getting met at the airport by the conference representatives so it should be smooth sailing for the next 2 weeks.

CD76: Nothing Much

A lot of nothing has happened since I last reported, but I guess it really is the small things that make a life of experiences so I will share anyway.

I started teaching 2 classes 1 day a week and a local high school. In an incredible turn of events, I was presented with text books for both classes before I started teaching and all of my studenst have the same books. One class is called Amercian Album and is a sweet set of videos and related activities following a 'typical American family'. While the book was published in the late 90's I am sure all of the material is from the 80's. I don't think the students believe me when I tell them people in America don't really have huge hair, giant reading glasses, and neon clothes. The other class is supposed to be a review of American history. I asked the students what an American was and they said an attractive person with blonde hair and blue eyes, who is tall, rich, and kindhearted and who speaks English very well while doing whatever they want. I am really started from ground zero there.

We had 3 days off of school/teaching for a sport meeting that lasted equally as long. All of the foreign teachers participated in the opening ceremonies which began with an Olympic-esque passing of the torch. As for the actual sports events, Andreana and I were the most active participants (as usual) and did fun stuff like 3 legged races and 10 people (in a line with your hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you) train races. Clyde and I ran with Bill (Chinese teacher) and a bunch of female students in the 3000 meter run and smoked them all. Bill apparently doesn't know how to do anything slow and, despite running in jeans, ran almost 2 miles in under 12 minutes. Clyde also smoked me in some crazy attempt to catch Bill so I thought I was doing terribly, but I finished 3rd at a time of 13:08. That is roughly a 6:30 minute mile. What? Do I think I am in high school again? Andreana and I also participated in the 4x100 meter relay. All of the events were department vs. department. The Foreign Language Department therefore smoked the other departments on the relay and I think we won by a good 100 meters. It's like they weren't even trying to catch us!

All of the foreign teachers and 3 of our students took a day trip to Changsha, the capital city of the Hunan Province. It is where I flew into when I first came to China but didn't have any time to check out. It's a 2 hour train ride west of Pingxiang. We did a ridiculous amount of walking and apparently didn't do the one thing one must do when visiting Changsha so we have to go back. The city was big and we found a really cool bar were I had a nice draught German beer. That was the highlight.

Halloween, one of the best holidays in the world, was indeed sub par. Andreana and I decided to dress up even though Halloween isn't celebrated here despite what the Chinese people think. They know it is a holiday so they celebrate, they just don't do much else. We mistakenly agreed to go to 2 different parties thinking they were the same so the evening started with a bit of drama. The short version is Andreana was a nerd, I was a witch, and we went to 2 bars were Andreana danced her butt off and I tried to keep everyone happy but failed. Boo!

I donated blood for the first time in my life. I didn't pass out but definitely turned pale and a little blue which I am sure Heather is all too familiar with. I found out I have O positive blood which I believe makes me a universal donor. I feel some sort of call to donate now despite the fact I hate needles, have a low tolerance for pain, and want to faint and the sight of my own blood. I think it will be restricted when I return though... I suppose I will just deal with that when I get back to the States.

Between Andreana and I, we have adopted 4 fish, 1 bunny, and 1 puppy - none of which lived past a week so we are giving up on pets in China.

I have taken up a new hobby - cross stitch. While my first attempt was rather lame I would like to blame it on the lack of instructions and the provided instructions being in Chinese. Before you start thinking I am turning into a little old lady hear this: this afternoon I, along with the other foreign teachers and a handful of students, will be performing a song at the opening ceremonies for the 2nd Annual Pingxiang College Cultural Festival. Again, all is right with the world.

New pictures have been posted in the following albums: Pingxiang October and November, Trip to Changsha. Disclaimer: In the October album, there is a picture of a dog at a meat market. While the picture is not very explicit in itself, it is still a dog and I don't want to shock anyone.

CD58: 2007 San Francisco Nike+ Women's Half Marathon (in China)

Before I get to the real excitement there are some other random updates I need to make.

First, my passport is back. The government never had it. China Bob took it to get my Foreign Expert Certificate from the local police station and it just took FOREVER to get it back. The Chinese government and I are still like peas and carrots, so stop freaking out.

Second, Andreana and I died our hair black. Why? Why not? I think it looks pretty cool. It was way more drastic of a change for me than her, but it's rockin'. Yes, we do blend in better with the locals but no, it was not our motivation.

Third, we went to a movie set. A student invited Andreana and I to her house and she happens to live right next to 'Movie City' which is in the outskirts of Anyuan City (right next to Pingxiang). The movie set itself was pretty cool. There was also a huge traditional style house on the set where people live but we got to walk around. Andreana and I also happened across some wood carvers in one of the set's buildings so we bought some really cool carvings.

Forth, we had our first birthday here in China! Apparently Western traditions are backwards from the Chinese. In China, when it is your  birthday, you take all of your friends out and they don't pay for anything. Oh well! We kept it traditional for Clyde's big 2-8 festivities.

Now to the reason why I have gathered you all here today. Through the magic of technology and the masterminds that are Ipod and Nike, I ran the SF Women's Half Marathon today! Clyde joined me and we managed to run 13.1 miles without dying or being killed by some crazy Pingxiang motorist. As it was my first half marathon, i am not sure how my time compares but we finished in 1:48:30 with an average mile pace of 8:16. Not too bad I would say!

After we ran we ended up meeting up with a teacher who was here last year. He is dating one of the students here and was in town visiting for her birthday. We went to Pingxiang's big park -E Hu and found a previously undiscovered amusement rides area and possibly the most depressing zoo in the world.

There are tons of new pics up so check them out!

CD43: How I Spent My National Day Vacation

After 4 short weeks of school, the only reasonable thing to do is to take a week off, right? Granted we still had to make up Thursday and Friday classes on the weekend, but a movie quickly solved that problem. Sunday night all of the foreign teachers and one of the Chinese teachers got together to celebrate the start of the holiday and we all stayed up too late in consideration of the fact we had to be up at early to head to the train station. Our train left at noon but considering how late we stayed up,11 was very early!

Another American teacher Andreana met earlier in the summer had decided to come to Jiangxi Province with one of his students to visit the student's hometown. We all (minus Tim) decided to meet up with them. Shangrao is 6 hours east of Pingxiang by train and despite not having seat assignments for the trip, we were able to get seats, sleep a little, and arrive in one piece. Michael and his student Gray met us at the train station along with Gray's cousin and his girlfriend Jane. We decided to grab dinner first and they went to the river that runs through town for some entertainment. There were fireworks going off (as usual) and the bright night lights of the city made the river really beautiful. We all rented some Dragon Boats and paddled along the river enjoying the sights and sounds.

Tuesday we got up at 4am to hike to the top of Yunbi Peak to great the new day at sunrise. The hike up the peak was a bit treacherous, especially in the dark, and getting up so early wasn't fabulous, but the view was amazing. The whole way up, other climbers were scattered about stretching, doing yoga, and yelling out (greeting the day apparently). Many elderly people climb the mountain every morning and this was made obvious as they jogged past us trudging up the stairs. Sunrise was viewed from the Yunbai Pavilion at the very top. On the way back down, we stopped at the Dongyue Hugao Temple. Both of these buildings are within the Langya Yun Bi Feng National Forest. The temple was beautiful inside, but photos are limited there.

Leaving the temple and walking back into town we came across one of the biggest street markets I have seen so far. There was all sorts of crazy stuff going on. Some highlights were the birds - you could see all of the stages from alive to ready for dinner (slightly disturbing...), people carrying their live birds home by the wings, bicycle optometry, and baby turtles to eat. We decided to walk back along the other side of the river after the police stopped us from taking a fun pedicab home. After a huge lunch with Gray's family, we played mahjong, cards, and rested before having dinner with Gray's family.

All of Wednesday was spent with Gray's uncles fishing out in the country area surrounding Shangrao . Andreana and I both caught fish but none of the other foreigners did! HA! I finally caught something other than trees and tires!! The uncles caught many fish and we had some for dinner. This day also marked the start of our ''trying interesting food'' spree. We had sugar cane (straight from the cane), rice paddy eel, cobra soup, and little fish (whole) with our dinner. We missed out on dog as it still isn't readily available - they don't eat dog when it's warm outside.

Thursday Gray took us to the Shangrao Concentration Camp which is where the Kuomingdang built a jail to detain many Chinese military officials along with others. The Chinese have kept the site as a memorial to the martyrs and it is a powerful spot for the Red Army as there was a prisoner uprising and many of them escaped and killed those detaining them in the process before rejoining the Chinese forces. In addition to the memorials, they have preserved one of the prison buildings and side rooms that was used for torturing prisoners. The day was made slightly more light hearted by an early evening basketball game between the foreigners and Gray's uncle (who is a PE teacher at a college)  and his colleagues.

There is an old train station in the middle of town and they turn the plaza outside of it into a huge restaurant area at night. Seemed fitting... This is where we got to try some more fun stuff. We all tried frog, river snail, pig's feet, chicken feet, undetermined pig insides... We finished off the last night there with a trip to the KTV with Gray's mom, aunt, and uncle for some late night singing and dancing.

Friday we decided to check out the ''Walking Street''. Every city has a (supposedly) pedestrian street lined with shops that is supposed to be the cool place to go. For our last day in Shangrao, Gray's aunt and uncle wanted to treat us to a traditional Chinese trip to the salon. The first put some strange stuff in your head and give you the longest head massage. Then, the wash your hair and massage your face, neck, arms, etc. It was relaxing but would make any trip to get your hair cut quite the time commitment. All but Ben resisted the urge to get ''fashionable'' Chinese hair styles - I am still not fully comfortable with the female mullet. After dinner with Gray's family one last time, we headed back to the train station, back home, and back to reality.

CD37: Pop Star Mentality

Rehearsal schedules are such a pain, aren't they? They are much worse when they are useless. Sunday was our first rehearsal for our big performance. I think that was the last day we sang our song more than 1 time. Lisa, the Chinese girl we sang with picked Madonna's La Isla Bonita as our performance piece. There was brief talk of adding a second Madonna song or perhaps even Shakira (to keep the Latin flavor) but then Andreana had to mention that she knows the words for a well-known Chinese song called Pen Yo or 'Friends'.

 

Not only do I not know this song, I don't speak Chinese, Apparently that was an oversight. So, it's decided that it will be La Isla and Friends (in Chinese) so we have to find costumes. It is only until we actually arrive at the theatre on Sunday that we realize that this is an all out production…requiring a costume, rehearsals, etc. So, they found these great Spanish-style skirts for us and because we refuse to combine it with either a different Spanish-style tube top or an Asian-style vest, we are left to find our own.

 

Our next rehearsal is Wednesday. Because Andreana and I both teach, we don't arrive until 4pm and there aren't many other performers there. We then realize that we might be the only performers who are in fact not professionals. The good news was that we didn't rehearse until everyone else was done and gone. We sing our songs maybe 3 times in our silly skirts and are told to add some dancing. I read the Chinese song off the paper and tell myself I will have it memorized in 4 days. We then eat and drink with the owner of the theatre and his associates and call it a day.

 

Thursday we finally find out what the deal is with the holiday the following week. We had been hearing mixed tales of having to make up classes from the National Day Holiday where we get a week off, but none of the stories agree to when and why these make up days are needed or even that they actually happen. A holiday off from work means no work, right? So, in light of all of this confusion I finally corner the dean and request some answers. Apparently the 1 ^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd are the actual National Day holidays but the school gives the students/teachers the whole week off. Because they should technically have class on the 4^th and the 5 ^th, those day's classes must be made up on the Saturday and Sunday before the holiday. The idea of getting up for my 8 am class for 2 extra days isn't great, but what can you do?

 

Thursday night we have rehearsal again. This time it is a dress rehearsal, which no one bothered to mention to us, and we arrive with everyone else so we get to see what we are working with for the first time. The performance is meant to honor local civil servants who will be receiving awards and to honor ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /> China, for it is her day. Before any rehearsing gets underway, Andreana and I end up posing for roughly a million pictures with a large group of the civil servant men who will be performing. Rehearsal seems more real this time as the whole show is run through. Most everyone else is in their costumes and we are quite blown away by it all. Again they have us go last but there are many people there to watch us. I still haven't learned my Chinese song so I just turn off my microphone and lip-sync. We sing 1 time then go and have dinner and drinks with Lisa after finding shirts for our costumes.

 

Friday is our last rehearsal before the big show and Andreana and I are not happy with this. First, we are so behind in getting anything done for our school work that it is starting to stress us out. Second, we have no time to breathe as we keep having rehearsal right after teaching and don't get back until after dinnertime. So, we unhappily go to rehearsal at 230 – 30 minutes late. (Lisa's fault, not ours.) Many of the other performers aren't there or are late so Mr. Wang (the head guy) proceeds to yell at everyone for a good 30 minutes. We then sit around for about 2 hours while some of the other groups do their routines multiple times. We are told that we won't be using our previously discussed costumes and that we will instead have to wear our own clothes. They think this will help us feel more comfortable and help us to act more 'sexy'. We are then told to go home. Yes, without singing our song or doing our dancing at all. We had been invited to our students' parties all week for the holiday but were unable to attend due to rehearsals so we declined dinner offers to head back to school. We lucked out and made up 1 of our classes that would have been Sunday that night by watching a movie. Sweet.

 

Saturday morning we both have to teach 1 class. We were expecting more rehearsal before the performance but instead, we just met up with the other performers, directors, etc for dinner before the show. Thank goodness I thought to bring nice dresses with me to China and thank goodness Andreana is close enough to my size. We wore our dresses to dinner thinking everyone else would be dressed up. Needless to say, we were slightly overdressed. Despite the sold-out tickets, we talked Mr. Wang into getting us tickets for the other foreign teachers so they could come as well. Someone had to video tape it, right? The performance as a whole was pretty cool. There were fireworks, bubbles, tassels, crazy costumes, the whole nine yards really. Sadly, we had to watch it from backstage, but we got a good enough impression of the goings on. We were expecting crazy Chinese-style makeup but it wasn't that bad – they did make us both very pale though.

 

After the performance, we went to a club with the other foreign teachers, Lisa, and a guy from the performance (along with his sister and her boyfriend). It was pretty unlike anything else we have seen here. To keep things PG, I will just say it would make my San Diego boys quite envious. There was a ton of techno/dance music and we danced until the wee hours of the morning. It was a crazy end to a crazy week.

 

Pictures are up and available now under 'China: Performance of a Lifetime'. The video of the performance is too big to upload. If anyone knows of a free video editor I can get online, please let me know!

CD30: Has It Really Been A Month Already?

A Collection of Mini Stories:

When we went to KTV with Ester, she got back past her curfew. Long story short, she got beat up by the acting "gate keepers" and when I tried to figure out what could be done to right this wrong, I was told that this type of thing was "normal" and Ester was told to not tell the foreigners things that would give them a bad impression of the school.

While running around the track, I was hit in the face with a soccer ball. I got a bloody nose, a bruised face, and a scab on my nose. Clyde laughed and no one else came to my rescue. Heaven forbid I be seriously injured here!

A drunken Grandfather kicked in my door then proceeded to hand me my "lost" keys that had been given to him about an hour before. He then returns to repair my lock and door frame which he broke. Yes, he ran and kicked my door ninja style. No, I don't think he had anything else to do either.

My refrigerator has been returned to me, but my computer is still not working. I am contemplating throwing it out the window.

Speaking of the window, a small-cat-sized rodent came in through my window by pushing the screen open and shoving its body through. It then proceeded to wake me up, scare the crap out of me, make me chase it around my apartment, make me scare it out from under my bed, climb up the window screen, sit on the top of the window frame, then exit just as swiftly as I am guessing it entered.

Our first rehearsal was Sunday. Good times. Everything else is staying under wraps until it actually happens. We did get tickets for the other foreign teachers so pictures of this event will be available. I also have to learn an song in Chinese by then. Wish me luck.

I have not been in possession of my passport for almost 2 weeks. When I asked Bob about this, he did not give me a clear answer as to when it would be returned. My Visa expired on the 22nd and I do not know if I have a new one yet. I do not know if I have a resident's permit that will allow me to stay here. I do not know when I will be getting my medical clearance forms either.

Next week there is no school. Bob told someone, who passed it down the grapevine, that we would have to make up the classes we miss that week on the Saturday before and the Saturday after the vacation. After much stress, confusion, and conflicting stories, I contacted the dean. She informed me that this was not the case, a holiday is a holiday. Thank goodness! We are hoping to travel but have not decided where we are going yet.

The dean has asked me to help her find a school in the US to attend this next fall as she plans on leaving Pingxiang College to get an advanced degree. I am not sure who else knows about this endeavor, but I was just happy I wasn't in trouble when she pulled me into her office.

Along with the BBC website, we do not have access to Wikipedia. This makes me incredibly sad, especially as a majority of my job is explaining things that happen in America to my students. I just want to know, "What did Wikipedia ever do to you China?!"

Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Harvest Day and the celebrations seem endless. I have already been given 1 moon cake and I was told to expect many more. Moon cakes are a traditional treat for holidays and celebrations. We have also been invited to numerous parties, dinners, and events with no clear details for any of them other than they all start around 7pm.

I have booked my tickets to Egypt for Novemeber and will be having a short stay in Hong Kong before having another, even shorter, stay in Quatar. I have no idea where or what that is. It isn't Paris, but it was much cheaper, so I will make the most of it!

Today I talked about holidays with my students. They had no idea what St. Patrick's Day is. I plan to make this my singular mission while I am here.

CD27:If Teaching Doesn't Work Out, My Future Is Still Secure

A lot can happen in a week. After the disaster that was last Friday, life looked bleak. That all changed on Saturday when we went to not one, but two karaoke bars. The most popular place here to go for karaoke is called KTV. I cannot ascertain whether that is the name of the chain or if it is short for the Chinese name for "a place where you go to sing karaoke".

We went to the first place with a student from the college, Jimmy, and one of his friends. They hang out a lot with Tim so when they invited him to go, they invited the rest of us to go as well. Clyde was the only English speaker who ducked out, so Ben, Andreana, and I figured we would make the best of it. The KTV was a 5 minute cab ride from school. The building itself was HUGE, dirty, and smelled kind of funny. All of the rooms are private rooms that are rented by the hour. Us girls were feeling a bit outnumbered, so we called Ester and told her to come join us. Jimmy invited his sister and she brought some friends so we ended up rocking it about 10 deep.

They do have some English songs available here on karaoke, but it is a strange assortment. They had some artists we knew, but many songs by those artists weren't ones we had ever heard of. To our enjoyment, they love Backstreet Boys and Michael Jackson. Our Chinese friends kept choosing random titles that were in English and then were shocked when none of the Americans knew them (but they still made us sing). Karaoke here is a very serious affair. When it is your turn to sing, you stand up, you hold the microphone like a pop star, and you sing like your life depends on it.

After this first experience, Andreana and I had a brief shopping intermission with Ester. Ester then calls a friend of her's and arranges that we meet up with him and his friends at our 2nd karaoke place of the evening. This second place we have seen before. Or shall I say we have "noticed" it. It is hard to miss as it is Greek/Roman themed and they have a giant sign outside that has all Chinese save for the word "SEX". Fate has a funny way of sending things your way sometimes.

The inside of this place is immaculate. All of the staff is dressed up in incredible "uniforms". The women at the main door are in ballgowns! The inside is a Greek/Roman theme as well. Where at the first place, the wait staff was sleeping at the front counter and couldn't be bothered to do much of anything, at this place the waitstaff waited inside our personal room to wait on us hand and foot. There was no funny smell, marble floors, and the look of opulence everywhere. The crowd at this establishment was also older...at least our group was. Ester's "friend" is a teacher at one of the English language schools in the city and his guests included the principal of his school, other school officials, some government officials, and their wives.

If we thought the first people were serious, we didn't know what was coming. All of the songs chosen were sad love songs. Many of these songs had parts for both a man and a woman. Not only did the singers sing like their life depended on it, they sounded like professionals. I wonder what they thought of Andreana and I busting out with "Get the Party Started" by Pink. It went over well at the first place...

Of course the only way to accompany this caliber of musical greatness is by formal dancing, so formal dancing there was. Thank goodness I took those ballroom classes back in high school! We also tried our hand at such classics as "Achy, Breaky Heart", some Avril Lavigne, Backstreet Boys (when in Rome...), and goodness only knows what else. Ester, sweet thing that she is, agreed to sing on one condition: Andreana and I had to dance. So, we did. I am sure these people thought we were insane, and we are most likely giving America a bad name too, but oh well.

You are probably getting a good laugh at my expense now, but just wait! It gets better! On Monday, after class, Clyde informs Andreana and I that he got some strange call from Bob asking him if he would sing an English song with some girl. At the time, we thought nothing of it other than it was strange and went about our days. Then, on Tuesday...apparently Andreana and I got calls one right after the other from Bob about singing an English song. He, as usual, was hard to understand, but we got that some girl won an English speaking contest and would be singing a song in English and wanted us to join her. We both agreed, not having any idea what we were getting ourselves into.

Yesterday, we meet a nice girl, Lily, who won an oral English competition and has "moved on to the next round". Apparently the next round happens next Saturday, the 29th. As National Day is around that time, it is a National Day festival of sorts. The event is only for city officials and invited guests...namely us. IT GETS BETTER! Andreana and I are going to be singing Madonna's La Isla Bonita with the girl - on a stage, as a performance, for a competition. What have we gotten ourselves into? We are going to have our first practice on Sunday when Andreana gets back from Hong Kong. On Wednesday we are going to have a dress rehearsal of sorts where we do a mock run through of the entire performance with the other performers and then the gig is on Saturday. Ha! I have a gig... what is happening with the world? I think that karaoke bit really lit a fire somewhere. On Sunday we are going to work out our outfits. Since it is an invitation only event, I have no idea how we will get photo documentation of this event, but it will happen. I will not let you down!  Wish me luck!

Pictures from karaoke night have been added to the "September" photo album on Picasa so check though out for a good laugh as well.