Good ol'...

    What can I write about, he thinks to himself as it approaches a week since his last update to the states. There is nothing new happening around here, same old, same old. Wake up, read His message for me, catch a bus, eat some noodles, teach kids who are unbelievable in frustration and joy, grab some lunch of rice and who knows what, teach some more, come back, prepare for tomorrow's two lessons, grab some street food using my slowing growing Chinese, come back, eat the fried food, watch a show on the computer, prepare for other lessons, brush and floss the whites, and fall asleep on the rock hard mattress. What can I write about, he thinks to himself. Then he realized the new has become old. The unusual, usual. The foreign, familiar.

The fish

        More than a full week ago, Darin and I got some company to the tune of 27 fish, a mix of tetras and guppies. But all was not peaceful in their little underwater land. The guppies with their hearty spirits are not picky but tough. There is a reason that they are also known as million fish for they are almost too easy to take care of, making their beauty lessen in a way, supply and demand I guess.            
         On the other hand the sensitive neon tetras with their brilliant blue stripe have quickly died out. It must have something to do with needs, a complex combination that we cannot know or execute. They also are prone to something like paranoia or anxiety attacks, and have been known to tire themselves to death. Kind of sad, for all but one of them survived. The one known to the big eyes from beyond the glass as Loner. He never was a real part of the group and now the group is dead.
          The other tetras, not neons, but orange or gray, are quick and spontaneous. The gray one of their group, named hot stuff because he stays near the heater, is suffering from the common fish parasite Ich but has not yet succumbed to the dreaded disease. These are the facts of life in the tank, the next news from under the waterline will be about the birth of new guppies.

The park

      The other day I went to a park very close to my school to see the flowers and the recently finished museum of the 1911 revolution. The first thing you must know is that lunch break at least at my school and I expect at others, is similar to the Latino practice of the siesta. Which is strange to me for a country which is quite literally the economic powerhouse of the world. Anyways I took advantage of the large amount of time (at least two hours) to take in the sights of my adjacent surroundings. The flowers were also set up in honor of the 100th anniversary and they were amazing. It was strange though, that the arrangement of the flowers made such warlike representations. A gun, a soldier, a
submarine. It was still amazing though and the pictures tell the story better than I.

Halloween

Yep, that's Darin and I. Halloween was awesome,

 we had a party at KTV, in which we blasted out

 Larger than Life by Backstreet, and where I met 

a bunch of amazing new friends. Probably one of the

 better Halloweens my life has seen, and definitely

 one of the first where it was used for more than

 just a party.

A day felt out

One day (that's how I started all of my stories in grade school) Darin and I decided to go on a trip on which we would travel entirely by feel, as if guided by a dousing rod.
So we started off by going to the nearest bus stop and when we usually went the one way to go to school and everything else, this time we went the other way. We waited around until we felt out the right bus, no real criteria. Then we just got off and started walking. We walked and took come cool pictures. There's no real story to tell other than we got a bit lost by the end, but we found our way again. We walked at least five or six miles. Here a list of the feats/sights:



-a massive housing complex easily fitting in it twice the size of the town in which I live in the states.
-an abandoned amusement park located under a road
-we walked the Number 2 bridge
-saw people swim the Yangtze
-saw three couples take wedding pictures in a park
-saw Wuhan traffic from outside the bus
-saw the sun set on Wuhan as we rode a ferry back to our side of the Yangtze

If you want to see the rest of the photos, go here.

Caption contest

What is going on in this picture?

McUbiquitous

Every once in while, its good to get a taste of the Golden Arches no matter where they may be, or no matter who says their food will rock your guts, and shut off about there blood vessels a big mac. So after having eaten Chinese food for so long our American palates can only be satisfied with one kind of food for so long, we made the trip to Ronald's.

It's amazingly similar. Which is saying a lot when that you can replicate a taste on the other side of the world, that brings that same taste that I enjoyed when I was a whiny six year-old all they way to last summer when I made them in Watertown to here, where some has probably never had a real American grilled burger but can give me this hot delight wrapped in plastic.
The differences are there, too. The menu mainly consists of something with chicken in it with a Mc probably slapped on the front (but I can't tell, I can't read here). The restaurants are huge here, probably two to three times as big, usually two stories. The whole feel of the restaurant is that you are coming in to get a higher class meal than usual, when in America it's, "Let's just go get some McDonald's," or "Hey, I'm going on a nug run, do you want something?"
There are some very old tactics as well, there are American faces plaster all over the walls, a blond woman laughing about something, and young couple playing outside with their children. Most have music playing outside too, a nasty little 15 note melody which digs its way into your mind and infects you with the desire to eat there or at least think about it for a long time. It reminds of some sort of sick radio propaganda tactic used during wars. Brainwashing is just good business though, I guess.

   The best difference has to be the fact that you don't have to clean up after yourself. That may sound piggish of me but here as at many other restaurants in China you don't clean up your tray after you are done. Some may try but they don't realize that they shouldn't. It's someone's job. If everyone cleaned up his own tray there are three hardworking old ladies who would out on the streets, unemployed. Sometimes efficiency isn't the best policy, especially in China.

Hong Kong Trip

   About three weeks ago now I went to Hong Kong to change my visa, so that my stay here wouldn't require leaving the country every ninety days. So my school set me up with a think wad of dough and a ticket, and booted me out the door along with an Australian co-worker from my school. I had no idea I was unknowingly skipping down the plank into a sea of disasters. The entire mission was straightforward it seemed too easy to mess up. But I was wrong. Luckily I was in an especially good mood. It started right when we got off the train. We (the Australian and I) somehow wandered through customs without any problems, and by dumb luck wound up right in front of the subway ticket stations (either we were being helped or the layout of the Shenzhen station is impeccable) but it only took Hong Kong dollars. But I had changed exactly the amount we needed by chance two days earlier when my co-worker asked me if I wanted to take them off his hands at a great rate. We boarded the subway and seemed to get an early start on our mission, so that the rest of the trip could be spent, sight-seeing. But again and again fortune and misfortune struck us. We got on a bus to go to the Visa office. It took us to a deserted area on the edge of Hong Kong. An old man who somehow spoke English showed us where to get a map. We followed the map in a taxi to the Visa office. Wrong One. Our hopes were still high on getting to the Visa office before it closed not to open again until the afternoon. We took minutes too long and it closed. We got lunch and came back. Massive line. I got mine processed, my co-worker didn't, paperwork error. We left the office to find a hotel quickly so we could maybe still get some sight seeing-in. 4 hours later with no luck (all hotels full) and legs tired from carrying all our luggage around the entirety of  Hong Kong and Kowloon, a man asks me in passing, if I wanted to buy a watch. "No, actually I need to find a place to sleep tonight," I cheekily quipped not expecting him to understand me. He turned around and said, "It's the China Electronic Expo, the only place you are going to find a room tonight is over there." And he went on to accurately direct me to the place where I spent the night, a very shady, probably illicit guest house whose window opened into an alley in the building, like an entry point for the guy who will abduct you as soon as you fall asleep.
     The night went on. We were determined to do just one touristy thing while here, so we tried to make our way to the peak tram to get a good view of the city before it was too late. Again on our way semi-lost, a helpful British man appeared out of nowhere and seeing us holding a map asked us for what we were looking. We told him and he proceeded to guide us to the fastest route through a building and on a sky walk. I thanked him for his random generosity and caught his name. We shook hands and I never saw James again.
    After the exciting ride up the peak tram, which has been in service since some amazingly old date, we walked up countless stair past dozens of sellers, finally to reach the top, ready to take masterful photos of city at night. Clouded. Nothing was going to be perfect on this trip so we hung around on the top waiting for a break in the cloud cover to take the perfect picture. It never really came but as I was waiting fiddling around with my camera settings I managed to get a setting which doesn't take in as much light so the clouds would be less visible in the picture, creating the above picture, a glowing hearth of embery logs all standing on their ends.
    The Hong Kong mess didn't end there though. The trail of apparent dead ends and secret shortcuts only got more exciting once I split up with my co-worker. We decided to split up, I would pick up my Visa and she would get me a ticket back (our phones didn't get service in Hong Kong, so we had to make *gasp* old fashioned plans). We would meet at the Visa office, I would give her the rest of my spending money so she could survive here and I would get my ticket outta this mess. I got my Visa, but I wouldn't see her again for another five days, and that was back in Wuhan. I waited for her at the Visa Office for two hours and then had to make a choice, stay here and waste money trying to find her, or try to return to Wuhan and leave her. I left her figuring she was better off than I was (she speaks mandarin amazingly) and made my way to Shenzhen.
I woke up to hear the automated Chinese voice tell me that the subway had reached its stop, and seeing everyone getting off I followed suit. I made my way through customs and back into China. Finally I was in-what, Luohu? This wasn't right I was supposed to be in the Shenzhen station, that I was vaguely familiar with because I had at least been there once. I wandered around into what looked like the right place, only to find out (or at least I think so, I couldn't understand) that I was in the wrong area/line/place enough time to be at the point of giving up. I think it must have been my training that kicked in after that. It told me not to give up but to laugh it off and keep trying.
So trapped in a foreign city not speaking the language, I went on a massive goose chase to find out where to get the ticket to take me back home to Wuhan. After going back and forth in the station until finally I was directed to a hall downstairs which would take me to the ticketing. I raced down only to find a completely deserted hall and a large mall gate cutting off the rest. Of course, I thought. But as I turned around, the gate opened up and a man ducked under it only to start to close it again. I ran over and made some hand motions and scrambled under it. I stood up straight and looked at my destination: ticketing. Yes, I sighed. Now I just need to buy a ticket in another language before they close for the night. I waited painstakingly at a line until I was next up. I got my phone ready with the characters for my city, to press against the glass to signal my destination. And the lady behind the counter closes a curtain and the line is closed. My head drops. This is all true by the way, seriously. I just laugh to myself probably looking like a crazy man, greasy-hair, tired lookin'. The line pushes into a newly opened window and as I make my way to the end of the line a worker guides me to the next to be served spot. Thanks I say, not only to her, and I step up to the window. I say in baby mandarin, "I want Wuhan." The words were magic. The worker types it in and turns the screen to me. 500 something quai. Considering I came over on a 250ish ticket and I was on my school's dime, I hesitated momentarily. But then I realized I was in no position nor had any ability to argue or express what I wanted. Hao, I said and I slid the money under the glass. I looked at it. So beautiful, and boarding right now. Right now! I left the ticketing area at a stupid looking sprint and clambered up the escalator only to approach the waiting area as the tail of the crowd was creeping into the gate for entrance on the silver snake.
   I ran past a store and did a double take at the merchandise. I was hungry and thirsty like never before. I ran into the store and grabbed to water and a coke. When I grabbed the coke another ten fell down at the same time, and I was unable to catch them all. None burst open and I sheepishly paid for my three as they beckoned me away from my mess.
    I had to be one of the last ones through the gate but I wasn't the last on the train. My thrill of success carried my all the way up to my high bunk where I would watch some Fringe, before finally turning in thus ending my messy messy trip to Hong Kong.

"In his heart a man plans his course, but He determines his steps." And I thank him for that.

Badaling Badaboom

 

So the last leg of our Beijing trip was the wondrous Great Wall. Seeing the Wall is like this. When someone goes to the Great Wall, he wants to see a part that has rarely if ever been seen by others so that his experience can be unique or more historical (much of the wall is renovated), so we also wanted a similar adventure. But it was not to be had, instead we went to the supposedly toe-to-toe, jam-packed "beginner" part of the wall, Badaling.
But our experience wasn't at all that bad. In fact, it had one of the best idea for seeing the wall ever. A roller coaster takes you up, you see the wall, do your thing, maybe eat lunch, and then you take the roller coaster back down, with out all the hard work. You might call that cheating but after three days of nearly non-stop walking, it was doing our legs a service. And at the beginning of the park there were bear who kind of sadly enjoyed life sitting back and being fed hundreds of apples a day without doing so much as turning the head a bit, although some of the more ambitious ones would stand or climb up higher to get even more free apples.


But those are only the mere frosting of the cake that is the Great Wall. I never thought that I would ever seen  it less than a year ago, but there it was. You can't see its start or its end from here, just a long stone divide, primitive in its purpose, extraordinary in its size and its cost. I was also reminded of a line from the Chinese anthem, "Let our flesh and blood form a new great wall." Now I'm fairly certain that line means more than what I am about to say, but at Badaling the always crowded section of the wall where you don't get the "real" wall experience, I saw two Great Walls. One I walked all over, and the other I went shoulder to shoulder with, and nudged into, and shuffled past, and smiled at. 



Don't forget to check out the rest of the Great Wall picks here.

Old Summer Palace

After our excursion to the massive summer palace he went to the Old Summer Palace. But our purpose was not to witness the place as much as the event. The coolest wedding I have ever attended. It felt like a meme in the making with the more than usual amount of stares and cameras.

The place: a tiny pagoda on a quiet hill.
The people: Brock and Heather Groth and friends, family, and curious passers-by.
The event: Marriage
The effect: Friends and family, and wanderers not only saw two people bind themselves together before Him but they possibly heard a lifesaving message. Great day followed by an awesome reception with some of the best food I have had here.

The Altar of Heaven

Well, after our little stoparooni or whatever we wanted to call our brief look-see at the Square, we continued on to the Temple of Heaven, a very ambiguous tribute to the unknown power or being,  to whom the Chinese felt responsible to pay homage. This being was known as Shang Di whose name is now used for the Big Man. It was a very nature-y and green place. Some parts of the grounds are amazingly serene, and if you woke up from a nap you might forget that you were in noisy, busy Beijing. But the main areas as is to be expected are packed. On the right, Darin is giddily standing on the center on the mound for sacrifices, a place which for some reason, everyone needed to stand on or put his child onto. So naturally we hopped on too. That ended day one of Beijing, and exhausted we returned to get some rest to take on the Summer Palace.

As always more pictures of this and more can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jankepj
Stayed tuned and feel free to tell others about this blog!

The third largest city square in the world

 The next leg of our journey was a quick look-see at Tiananmen Square. It was as equally crowded as the Forbidden City which can be seen in the background of the mega-lantern picture. It was understandable though, it was the national holiday. It was huge and full of an ocean of black hair. But it didn't feel like people had told me it would. Maybe it was just too crowded. The man in the massive picture is Sun Yat-Sen, a man who helped China so much, you are hard-pressed to find a city which doesn't have a main street named after him. 

   

The too Forbidden City

               I went completely out of turn and forgot to post about my first day in Beijing. My humble apologies my faithful readers. Anyways, our first day in Beijing the group (being Ivy, our Chinese friend and quasi-guide, Andy, Darin, and myself) was dead set on seeing as much of Beijing as possible in the fastest amount of time. So having gotten a decent amount of sleep on the train up, we started with a Daddy-o, the Forbidden City. It was fun-as you can tell from the pictures-shuffling along like zombies, slowly pushing our way into the palace. Everyone (ourselves included) would only stop to take a picture, only to take another one at an exciting new angle just a few feet further ahead. But when we finally got to the entrance the cost was too great and time too precious for us to spend time inside. So we turned around and shuffled out, saving the opportunity for perhaps another less crowded and time demanding occasion. I guess it was a little too forbidden for us. Wow, what a lame pun.