This American's Chinese Life

trying to get back in the game

2007-03-08T15:44:00.000-08:00

my friend corie, www.cqsquirt.blogspot.com , has started a blog and has tried to get others on the bandwagon... after reading hers for a few months, and re-reading mine, i finally decided to post... after almost 2 years!! i can't believe its been that long since i was living in china! i still have, post-China blues :( anyway, the first thing i'd like to comment on, are my China postings... after reading them and after all this time to think and reflect on my experience... my blogs seem so naive and well, ignorant... some not all..... soooo, i think what i'll do is go back through some of what i've written and continue with a serious of new blogs, i'd like to entitle "what the f*** was i thinking??!!!" i don't think anyone even reads my blog, but for my own sake, i shall write again!!!!

peace and cookies

tree

2005-07-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

tree
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

cao dai temple

2005-07-10T01:49:00.000-07:00

cao dai temple
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

tiny,tiny hole

2005-07-10T01:47:00.000-07:00

tiny,tiny hole
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

cu chi tunnels ho chi minh city

selling whistles

2005-07-10T01:44:00.000-07:00

selling whistles
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

hoi an, vietnam

procession

2005-07-10T01:43:00.000-07:00

procession
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

hue, vietnam

market

2005-07-10T01:35:00.000-07:00

market
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

hoi an, vietnam

little girl and her goods

2005-07-10T01:29:00.000-07:00

little girl and her goods
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

the little girl that i will miss so much

sunset soccer

2005-07-10T01:27:00.000-07:00

sunset soccer
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

bali,indonesia

boys bonding

2005-07-10T01:26:00.000-07:00

boys bonding
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

bali,indonesia

besakih temple

2005-07-10T01:24:00.000-07:00

besakih temple
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

bali,indonesia

Nusa Lembongan

2005-07-10T01:21:00.000-07:00

Nusa Lembongan
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

bali,indonesia

don't do it!

2005-07-10T01:17:00.000-07:00

don't do it!
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

tall building

2005-07-10T01:13:00.000-07:00

tall building
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

in hong kong

the view from my school

2005-07-10T01:06:00.000-07:00

the view from my school
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

the view from my school

2005-07-10T01:05:00.000-07:00

the view from my school
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

Offering Joss Sticks

2005-07-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

Offering Joss Sticks
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

Lantou Island Hong Kong

Buddha on a Mountain Top

2005-07-10T01:01:00.000-07:00

Buddha on a Mountain Top
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

Tien Tan Buddha Lantou Island,Hong Kong

yo-yo and i

2005-07-10T00:55:00.000-07:00

yo-yo and i
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

me and my chinese tutor.... the next series of pictures will be some of my favorites that i've taken over the last year...

auspicious

2005-07-10T00:13:00.000-07:00

what is?
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

another thing i'll miss about china... all the great t-shirts... some with good english, some with nonsense

waiting to go home

2005-07-09T23:36:00.000-07:00

i apologize... i must be the most horrible blogger ever! i've felt uninspired the past few months, to keep this updated.... its not for lack of material, i just can't seem to get myself to focus and write.... i'm back in shenzhen WAITING to go home... i'm really excited about heading home. i feel like i've finally reached a point in my life where i want to stay put in one place for more than a year! this is a huge milestone for me.... i've traveled hard the last year and i think that's all i needed to wear myself out so that i'd finally "settle" down... now, i use the term "settle" very loosely, but i think going to grad school and sticking around in one place for a few years sounds nice.... i still think having a coach and a t.v. is a bit of a burden, but i can always just sit on the floor right?
anyway, as i get ready to leave i've been thinking of things i'm going to miss about being here.... and well, i couldn't think of any, so i'll just give a list of things i won't miss... ha! no, i will miss many things about being here, its just that right now, i'm so ready to get on a plane and go home that its hard to remember all of the good things... i'll name a few and then i'm sure after the "honeymoon" period of being home is over, i'll be able to think of many other blissful reasons for wanting to go back to china.
so i'll start with things i'll miss:
1. my students! i've become friends with a few girls, and they are so sweet i'm really going to miss talking with them.
2. the food! as much as i've missed western food while being here, the chinese food in shenzhen is amazing! and the indian and the middle eastern and so on.....
3. the little girl that works in the shop near my house. what can i say, she's adorable and sweet and doesn't give me the "foreigner" price like her dad does.
4.bargaining.... this will show up on both lists, its a love/ hate relationship, sometimes its satisfying, sometimes exhausting.
5.empty bus rides home.... i can actually relax and enjoy watching the city out the window.
6.my friends.... foreign and chinese
7.cheap beer (sorry mom), but seriously its less than 50 cents for a 32 oz beer!
8. TRAVELING!!! what can i say, i have an addiction and living here definitely indulges my habit
9.hairwashes,massages,pedicures,manicures, etc.... all for very cheap... in fact i've had both a hairwash and a full body massage this week already (birthday gifts)
10.the gaurds at my apartment and at the school..... they always say hello (in one language or another), when many teachers at my school won't even make eye contact.....

things i WON"T miss about living in shenzhen: to make this fair, i'll keep this list at 10 things as well
1. lugi hawking all the time, everywhere
2.vomitting people, all the time, everywhere
3.bargaining
4. paying "foreign" prices
5.people staring
6.people screaming "hello, hello" constantly
7.crowded buses
8.pick pockets
9.eardrum busting screeching brakes on cars, bikes, buses, wherever.... if someone has a way to start a major marketing campaign for WD-40, it is greatly needed in china
10. being away from my friends and family

so there it is, i could add more to both lists, but i'll leave it at that for now. i hope everyone is doing well and if anyone had friends or family in london, i hope they are all safe and sound.....

peace....................................

mt qomolangma

2005-06-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

hot,sweaty,bumpy,vomitous,thin air,dehydrated,dusty,crazy driver,beautiful,poverty,blue lakes, blue skies, green lakes, cloudy skies, brown mountains, snow, 5,200 meters above sea level.... this is all it took and most everything i experienced to make it to the base camp of mt qomolangma or mt evererst.... it was by far the longest, most exhausting car ride,horse ride, and walk to the first base camp, but worth every last bit of energy and pain....
maybe i'm being a little dramatic, but it was absolutely amazing... i haven't been that high in my life... as in we were 5,200 meters above sea level, i think its about 17,000-18,000 ft!!! the summet is at 8,814.13 meters above sea level... the day was clear and luckily we were able to see the peak... as my brother in law pointed out, we were literally "on top of the world"..... as uncomfortable as the ride there was, it was worth it to see the tallest mountain in the world... talk about feeling small..... i'll write more later, i'm still pretty exhausted from all the traveling... these are roads like no other... you have to have a 4 by 4 to get through most of it.... the air is still thin, i must go rest... and shower, i really need a shower..... i will try to post pics soon.... miss everyone, will be back in u.s. soon......................
love me

roof of the world

2005-06-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

back in lhasa... last night we stayed at a monastery called Samye monastery.... it was begun i believe in the 13th century by a king named Gurumchi... now, i'm not sure about the date or the spelling... this thin mountain air sucks up all my brain cells.... it was absolutely the most beautiful, remote place i've ever visited..... i have so much to write about it, but not enough time or energy.....
we were lucky enough to be there during the Cham festival, which a celebration of the monkey king.... it is only once a year and luckily we were able to see alot both yesterday and today. the people were amazing. tibetans are by far the friendliest people i have ever encountered. it is kind of hard, because we were in such a remote place, i felt like a bit of an intruder, but people were so kind and hospitable.... i'm not going to go on and on about how "lovely" the people are, because i don't want to sound like a doof, but seriously, they were amazing. eric and i couldn't sleep and so we went for a walk around the square.... people were out singing and dancing and it was so cool to watch. they were singing and dancing traditional tibetan songs, which i later learned are all buddhist scripture and stories.... being the nosy tourists we are, eric and i of course wanted to take pictures.... luckily my camera is good without using a flash, cuz i wanted to take a picture, but not be intrusive. well, seeing as we are the only two western people out there, we stand out as is..... the second i took out my camera we were swarmed by curious observers amazed at the technology. they wanted me take their pictures and then thought it was so cool when i could show them the picture immediately.... some of the boys especially liked when i'd zoom on their faces.... i realized then that they probably don't look into a mirror that often, so maybe they weren't just amazed at the technology, but they really liked looking at themselves......
tomorrow we have an easy day... visiting some grasslands and then to some hot springs... i can't wait for the hot springs.... the first three days i was sick as a dog and even though i'm feeling better, it'll be nice to relax for a day....i wish i could write in more detail about everything i've seen, but its in my journal that is at the hotel and like i said, in this mountain air i can't remember shit right now......
tibet is by far the most amazing place i've traveled so far...... i've never been in such a remote place as we were yesterday and it is absolutely mind blowing to be in that situation.... does that sound horrible cheesy and cliche? oh well, i'm not sure i can really put into words what this place was like... maybe when i get my pictures up it'll better illustrate what i'm can't say....... its time for bed now, hope everyone is doing well............
peace
nicole my photo site for future photos www.flickr.com/photos/morningmilk8/
oh and everything is in chinese so i can't spell check... excuse any errors

Lhasa,Tibet

2005-06-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

i can't believe its been so long since i've posted on here, but things were really crazy after bali until the end of school. my sister and her husband came and we had a really great time, then i was getting everything ready to leave.... yes its time to go. i think i'll wait till i get home to do my cheesy reflection piece....
anyway, my friend eric is here and we are now in lhasa, tibet. it is absolutely beautiful here! i'm really, really struggling with the altitude, but i think one more night and i should be good to go. we are traveling with a group of 11, most of which were teachers with me this year in shenzhen. we arrived yesterday and a guide picked us up from the airport. it was about an hour from the airport to our hotel and for the most part i felt ok..... i was incredibly exhausted though and fell asleep for most of the ride home. when we finally arrived at the hotel, i woke up lightheaded with a splitting headache. i thought i'd be ok, we were going to spend the rest of the afternoon resting. however i picked up my pack and was walking off the bus and started to blackout and thought i was going to pass out... for those of you who don't know, passing out is my bodies way of dealing with trauma/stress and i just figured i stood up too quickly, i'll sit down and readjust for a minute. however after sitting for about 5-10 minutes i still had no peripheral vision and was still light headed. during this time, the guide is getting us checked into the hotel and the guard is taking our luggage up to our rooms for us. well, everyone is trying to get me to stand up so i can go to the room and lie down, but i still can't get up. i knew if i did i'd pass out immediately.... at this point guide asks if i want to go the hospital and i say no, cuz i know it'll pass i just need a few more minutes to regroup. someone, i'm not sure who, says why don't we use the luggage cart to get her upstairs. ..... well, of course everyone agrees this is the best way and while i feel a little silly, i know its the only my ass is getting up the stairs. so, the guard comes back and everyone helps me onto the cart and off i go on the flippin' luggage cart up to my room. of course this is a great photo-op, so most were sure to get a pic of me on the cart on my way up....... in the end, i felt much better by dinner and was fine for the rest of the evening. i woke up today incredibly nauseous and light headed, but by lunch i was feeling much better... and now its just after lunch and still i feel good. i will cherish this moment............
today we went to the potola palace. the palace that the dalai lama's used for centuries as their home, worship, and burial place. after the chinese invaded and the 14th dalai lama was forced into exile, the palace was overtaken by the new communist government. now, it is of course a major tourist attraction.. i guess as major as tibet gets, its still a pretty secluded country. the palace was amazing! almost every lama from the 5th until till the 13th is buried inside a stupa within the palace walls. the palace is still a sacred holy place, despite the creepy presence of red guards everywhere. each day thousands of pilgrims walk around the palace in the clockwise direction and prostrate towards the front of their palace..... a pilgrimage to the patola palace is one of the most important in a tibetan buddhists' life. it is truly amazing how much faith these people have despite all they have endured from the chinese occupation. i would rate it as number one in all the sites i've seen thus far on my journey. great wall/angkor wat come in at number two and i'll have to think about the rest........................ anyway, i'm getting a little tired. my body is using all energy to digest right now.
i will write more later when i have the chance.........
peace
nicole

Back from Bali,Inodonesia

2005-05-09T02:38:00.000-07:00

sunset soccer
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

This is one of my favorite photos from the trip... The afternoon into the sunset was the best time of day on this beach (kuta)... not just because of the sunset, but because so many people local and tourists came out to play soccer, swim, hang out etc..... many tourists were from indonesia, just different islands, so it was cool to see their reactions so someplace so beautiful in their own country....
bali was amazing and probably one of my top 3 places i've been to. the food was the best i've ever had!! it was not only vegetarian friendly, but so delicious! i have a set on my flickr site devoted just to the food.......
we spent some time in kuta at the beginning of the trip... i found it to be a bit of a nightmare as it was a huge tourist trap and a place for those who have a money to spare on a vacation... not too budget traveller oriented. but like i said the beach was great, the waves were huge and it was great place to people watch. kuta is the town where some terrorists bombed a nightclub in october of 2002... it was quite sobering to go to the memorial site. people from 20 different countries were killed, mostly australian.....
after kuta we headed to a town in central bali called ubud... it was absolutely amazing. it is a town known for its art and temples and was great place to see the countryside and visit some temples and see some great art. we visited two volcanos and huge temple called besakih, which sits on the side of a volcano. on of the volcanoes errupted in 1995 and there are fields and fields of lava at the base now... we were able to climb around the rocks. it was so great and beautiful in such a strange way.
after ubud, we headed to a tiny island off the southern coast called lombonganon.... it was great place, but i hate boats and was seasick on the ride there and back.... i repeat i HATE boats..... we hung out on the beach there before we had to head back to kuta to catch our plane.... our flight didn't leave until 11:50 at night, so we had a full day to hang out in kuta and we were able to go to a town called ulu watu to catch the sunset. ulu watu is also a famous temple on the side of an amazing cliff overlooking the ocean. it was so beautiful......
they also do a type of "trance dance" called kecak dancing... its a hindi ritual which also a story of the monkey king trying to capture the king's wife.... i had seen a film called baraka a few years ago.. its more of a documentary where the filmaker went to 30 different countries and filmed different religious rituals, daily life, and natural wonders.... anyway, in the film they do the kecak dancing, except when i first saw the film i didn't know what this was or where it was... when i discovered that they did it in bali and it was a hindi ritual i was sooo excited to see it. the men are the "orchestra" so to speak and they make all the music and sounds with their mouths. it is quite amazing to see.........
this is just a brief summary, i'll fill everyone in on the good stuff later when i'm not so beat. i've only been back for one day and already i've a ridiculously "chinese" day in which i had to be on camera again.... i could never be a celebrity, i'm not vain enough to want a camera in my face................
happy mother's day to all those wonderful and beautiful moms out there!!!
peace,love,and seein' the world
nicole

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2005-05-08T18:15:00.000-07:00

mom and dad and i
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

happy mother's day mom!! i love you! can't wait to see you when i get home.......

just when i thought i was safe

2005-04-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

so, i went back for another round of accupuncture yesterday afternoon. this one was even more exciting than the last.... as i mentioned before, when i went into the room where they do the needles, i was greeted by two chinese men's butts... soon, i was in the same position with bottom exposed for all to see....
yesterday, my butt was much more exposed than i had ever imagined
so, the doctor i'm going to is a little famous here and was asked to go to turkey to treat the premiere.... now they call him the "premiere", but i'm not sure what his position is exactly so i can't use an official name.... i looked up possibilities, but none them were called a "premiere", so i'm not sure who it was he treated... anyway, its unimportant... what's important is that he went for a month and did such a great job, they asked him to stay for two more months to treat other people in the "premiere's" family. sooooo, he has just returned from turkey and when i went into to be treated yesterday a newspaper and video news reporter were interviewing him. his wife is a doctor there as well, so she took me to do the needles and said the doctor would do the massage when he was done with the reporters.... well, once again i have to expose my butt so they can put the needles in and this time it wasn't so bad i felt like an old pro.... as i'm lying there trying to relax, lu haibo comes in and asks if the newspaper reporters can interview me as well... i say sure thinking when i'm done someone will sit me down and talk to me... not the case... 2 minutes later i'm bombarded, ass fully exposed, by three photographers and a man with a video camera! the woman doctor had not but the herbs on the end of the needles, so this of course was a great photo op... to get the doctor treating the american patient.... i'm on my stomach trying to relax even thoug there are cameras all around me and the photographers are like look at me, look at the camera, can you smile????? i'm thinking i have about 15 needles in my ass, no i don't want to smile and if i move too much it hurts... but smile i did and i can't imagine what a ridiculous photograph that will be!! after they were done with the "photo shoot" and the treatment was complete, they set the video camera up to finish the interview. however they set up the shot, so that the doctor was standing in front of my face, but you could still see me and another woman with our needles hanging out.... i'm not sure how much you could see on any of the video or in the photographs. i had dinner with a student last night and didn't get home till after the news was over... the newspaper reporter however said he would email me the pictures he took.... after some consideration i may or may not post them here or on flikr... i don't want to scare anyone, my butt is awfully white these days... in the end, the doctor gave me an extra bit of massage and back cracking for free.. and a chinese medicine patch to stick on my back where it is sore. i'm just wondering why no one here thinks it is odd?? anyway, i'll keep you updated on the fame and misfortune of my buttocks and the doctor who cures all.
on a more normal note, i had dinner with a student last night. she wanted to ice skate, but i told her i was having trouble with my back and couldn't do anything to active or that could result in my falling very, very hard on a very, very hard surface... so anyway, we just decided on dinner. her parents drove us and on the way she says, "i remember that you like mexican food so we will go to eat mexican... i've never had it before" so sweet! and i was really excited to be with her for her first time eating it... although, its kind of crappy food. anyway, we had the quesadillas... that's the only vegetarian thing they have on the menu and she got hers with beef.... she said it was "so, so"... i felt the same way but the salsa is quite good and i was tempted to just do shots of it, but thought better of it since i was with a new friend... she did comment on how much i liked the salsa cuz i was using so much.... she thought it was too spicy.
well, i must close now i have to go eat lunch and then pack and then teach and then to hong kong for the night and to bali tomorrow!!!!! i will write more from bali...........
"one's destnation is never a place, but a new way of seeing things"~henry miller

Chinese Medicine

2005-04-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

for those of you who don't know, i herneated a disc in my lower back a few years ago and still have problems with it from time to time.... something has seriuosly aggrivated it and i have been in about as much pain as when it first happened....usually the pain doesn't last as long as it has this time and i thought it would go away, but it hasn't so i decided to rely on the ancient art of traditional chinese medicine... i did accupuncture when i first hurt my back in colorado in 2002.... it was such a plesant, peaceful, relaxing experience and if anything, it certainly calmed me down enough to not think about the pain... at the clinic in colorado everything was quiet, sterile, serene... i was in a private room that was dimly lit with relaxing chinese music in the background. i assuming i was even lying on clean sheets.... now, why i thought it'd be the same in china i'm not sure, because it was quite the opposite experience... pleasant, but not entirely peaceful....
my contact teacher lu haibo took me as he was having neck pain and was going to be treated as well.... so he tells me knows a good doctor at an army hospital and will be happy to take me along and have the doctor take a look.. so, we arrive at the hospital, that i as i mentioned is an army hospital, so all the docotors and nurses are in army uniforms and shiny black shoes.... as we enter the clinic i have a rare moment where am i completely aware of being in china... because i've been here so long and have become accustomed to most things, i rarely think to myself, "i'm in china"... well the army uniforms and loud construction thrust me into this state of mind where i was completely aware of being in china and of all things that were different from home... the army uniforms were of course different, i've never been treated by a man who is neatly pressed and ready for battle... but the hospital itself was so different.
i believe the hospital was built during the culutrual revolution, in the early 50's, and they have just now decided to or found the money to rennovate... so instead of moving the offices during rennovations, the doctors stay where they are amongst the noise and smell of paint of chemicals.... the clinic was noisy and dusty, and smelled of fresh paint and dust... the rooms were dirty and old and so were the sheets.... the doctor was incredibly nice and comforting, but at the moment i sat down to talk with him i realized i was living in a third world country.... he couldn't find a bed for the first part of the treatment, which is a massage, so he had to do it while i was sitting in chair, which wasn't exactly comfortable, but man was it the best massage ever!!! my neck has never felt so lose and free.... i didn't even have to say much about my problem... i told him i had hurt a disc in my lower back and couldn't really move... he touches a point on my neck and i try desperately to hold back screaming in pain... and he says, "i know exactly what's wrong"... so he massages my neck and then says he'll do needles in my lower back.
after the massage he put a heating pad on my neck for about 20 minutes before i went for the needles... he leads me into a room with four beds, two occupied by men with their bare butts pierced with needles and burning herbs at the end of the needles... the room smelled wonderful.. they put a small bit of chinese herbs on the end of the needles and burn them.. this heats the needle which stays warm while in the body and smells good.. not sure if that has any effect, but it was certainly better than the caustic paint fumes. after seeing the bare butts, i realize that i too will have to bare my ass for him to put the needles in the proper place... i'm a little uncomfortable with this not only because there are strange men already in the room, but because lu haibo is there and will see my butt..... i got over it pretty quickly cuz i just wanted the pain to go away, but for a brief second i wanted to run away and pretend i was ok. anyway, i lie down on the table which is still warm and sweaty from the patient before me (they do not change the sheets) and i'm a little disgusted, but am quickly distracted by the pain of the doctor pressing on the points he thinks need to be worked on... in chinese medicine if you have a pressure point that is sore, it indicates an imbalance somewhere in the body, so the doctor works on the painful point to try and correct the imbalance.... anyway, the needles did not hurt, but him pressing on the point certainly, in the words of marvin gaye, made me wanna holla...
in the end it was quite pleasant, just not as sterile or serene as being treated at home..... these doctors do really understand something different about the human body....i think western medicine and science are amazing, but chinese medicine is a different kind of understanding....it helps to correct the entire body and to maintain health. i'll let everyone know how today goes and if i start to feel better.....
going to bali on friday!!! can't wait to do some hiking and lounging on the beach and visit some hindu temples.

thieves strike again! my friend marla had her wallet stolen on thursday which had 1400 rmb in it because she was on her way out of town for the weekend...........................
on our way to the doctor on monday lu says to me that until one visits a country you don't really know what goes on or how the culture truly is... he said there is often much propaganda by our own countries so that we will believe on country or the other to be our enemy or weaker than our own nation. (this isn't a direct quote, but pretty close, chinese english and all) but, he said, when he finally visited america he didn't find these to be true and that america seemed like a quite a nice place to be... however, (he is laughing quite hard at this point, he's a jolly guy), i come to china and our first outing his friend's stuff was stolen right in front of us and then i've had many things stolen from me as have my friends..... this was a huge, i mean huge thing for him to admit this... basically that this is a huge problem in china... very difficult and strange for a chinese person to admit that china has problems... very noble on his part to recognize this... especially to say that he didn't have many problems in the u.s...... (the u.s. has many problems as well, but i'll step up and admit it) anyway, just a side note.........hope everyone is doing well.
"one's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things" ~henry miller
p.s. the spell check never works and i don't proof read, so i apologize for any grammatical and spelling mistakes

my new friends

2005-04-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

my new friends
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

my student and her friends i hung out with on sunday... my student is blythe an is in the middle

springtime fun

2005-04-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

i feel like my posts are sometimes too negative... since i can't read them and i don't remember everything i write, i can't go back and check, but i've decided that for every complaint i have about china, i need to include at least one positive note... i think i use this as an outlet for some of my frustrations, which happen to be quite funny sometimes, so its easy to write about... anyway, today i will start on a positive note.

the rainy season has begun again in shenzhen.... this means umbrellas are absolutely necessary. it hasn't rained since october, so i haven't needed an umbrella. back when it was the fall rainy season i, being the absent minded lady i am, left so many umbrellas behind and bought so many new ones, decided i wasn't going to buy another one.. the rain would stop soon enough and i wouldn't need it anyway. in the mean time my contact teacher mr. lu haibo, gives me an umbrella. this umbrella sat in my apartment until a few weeks ago when it began to rain again. i brought the umbrella to work one day and it begins raining pretty hard before lunch and lu haibo asks me, "is this your umbrella" and i say "yes it is" and he goes on without it..... well, i take the umbrella with me to lunch and since its not raining when i leave work that day, i leave it behind.... i come to work the next day and its not there. a few minutes later lu comes in carrying the umbrella. no big deal, one thing i like about chinese culture is that everyone shares everything, even answers on tests... granted someone might not always ask and your desk will be slightly different in the morning than when you left the night before, but no big deal, cuz i use people's stuff without asking now too. anyway, he brings in the umbrella and i think no big deal i'll just take it with me this afternoon when i leave. to make a long story short, lu and i go back and forth with this umbrella for a couple of weeks. i of course am trying to keep it, but because he is chinese, i think he might have just been "sharing"..... one day when i'm on the defense with the umbrella i decide i'm just going to take it and keep it next to me at all times, i'm tired of trying to decide who gets to use it what day. however, it was raining pretty hard when i was leaving for lunch and since he had brought it in the morning, i couldn't take it. i thought it would be pretty thoughtless to just take it in such a down pour.... now this is an extremely long preface to a wee story of kindness, but in the end, i lost the umbrella fight... i had bought another one while traveling in yunnan province but at the time i didn't realize that cheaper umbrella was actually a child size one and although it is functionable, it is teeny tiny and parts of me stick out when i use it. now this is all leading up to one of my positive experiences, i promise. so, it was raining a couple of days ago and of course i don't have an umbrella. luckily it was cool enough in the morning that i had a scarf on.. as i get closer to my office it starts to rain harder so i put the scarf over my head. a teacher sees me and runs over to me with her umbrella saying "lai le, lai le, lai le" meaning, "come, come,come" and motions for me to jump underneath the umbrella and then walks me to my office so i won't get wet!!! it was so kind and thoughtful.... now, this makes me excited not just because someone was kind enough to care that i was getting soaked, but because many of the chinese teachers don't speak english and aren't exactly "open" to patti and i... i think alot of it is the language barrier and some is shyness, but i also just feel that many of the chinese teachers are so unimpressed with having foreign teachers that they go out of their way to make it known... nothing horrible, but just general unfriendliness, like not responding to a hello... or ni hao i should say. so anyway, it was a bit of a breakthrough with my american-sino relations.....
this brings me to my next inspiring and heart warming story of the day.... patti and i started teaching a class of senior 2's this semester. (chinese high school is senior 1,2,3)... they are "english majors", so there english is good and most of them are 18 or 19, so they are much more mature than my senior 1's... anyway, one of our students "blythe" who is named after these scary looking blythe dolls, asked patti and i to morning tea on sunday morning. which is dim sum to us westerners.... anyway, she and two of her friends took us to dim sum and then we had these super chinesey teeny bopper photos taken... i really wish i could post them.. we did one that looks like we are on the cover of "teen plus" magazine.. ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i wasn't even this teeny bopper when i was a teenager. anyway, after pictures we went shopping a little bit and then they wanted to go ice skating at the new indoor rink.... so we head towards the mall it is in..... we decide to take the new subway, which is another story in itself and finally make our way to the rink... once we get there, there is only an hour left before closing time, so we decide to just hang out a bit longer at the mall!!!!!!!!! yes, i was a mall rat, with tiny teeny bopper stickers in my pocket, while sipping on some super sugary fruity frosty drink thing.... it was so great!! my students were so kind and they paid for everything!! they insisted on it and would not let patti and i pay for anything. and the whole time we were walking hand in hand or arm in arm :) chinese people are quite affectionate with each other. it is very common for women and girls to walk arm in arm or hold hands and the same goes for men.... but not men and women together (sometimes)... so anyway, they held on to us the whole time and made sure they had our hand if we were crossing the street or holding on to us if we were getting on the bus. not only was it the greatest most funnest most awesome day ever (this is my inner teenager), but these girls were everything i love about chinese people.... if you are there friend, they really take care of you and want to do their best for you and show you kindness....
so on that note, i let you reflect upon the chinese way................................................... i can really ruin a sweet moment, so i'll just stop here... hope all are well!!! i will be posting pictures of the weekend today as well.
peace,love, and dim sum

same shit different day

2005-04-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

luckily things have been calm here. i say this, because if there is excitement here, its not always good excitement. my favorite chinese proverb (actually sayings of all time), is "may you never live in exciting times"...... this is very true as excitement can manifest itself in many different ways, not always good, not always bad either... sometimes it may seem like indifference, but really i think its a way of coping... not getting too excited that is... anyway, i rambling and my point is that things are just normal here. as normal as it gets in shenzhen. last night we went to eat at this middle eastern restaraunt... its so amazing. its run by chinese ethnic Uyghers that come from xinjiang province in the northwest.... xinjiang has a large muslim population and borders many middle eastern countries, therefore the food more closely resembles this than that of chinese food.... its so amazing and a nice change from chinese food. they have amazing hummus, falafel, yoghurt, pita, olives, etc..... its so good, it makes me want to cry. ha.
after dinner, my friend micah and i went to a bar nearby... its a korean influenced bar called WA bar. i've never been, but its not too far from my house so we decided to check it out.... there weren't many people there, but suspiciously there were many, many girls sitting at the bar... i say suspiciously because my first thought was that they were prostitutes, turns out this is true.... now, i can't explain how i know, but they weren't drinking alcohol, they all had a cup of liars dice in their hands (a popular chinese bar game, that consists of rolling dice and guessing how many of a certain number are showing).... liars dice seems to be the link between sitting innocently and making the deal. i watched as these girls sipped their tea and non chalantly shook the cups of dice. they seemed quite aloof and bored and certainly distant... i've aquired quite a fascination with prostitution in asia (as i've mentioned before), because its everywhere and fairly accepted and it makes me so angry.... prostitution is how many (not all of course) chinese men solve disputes or clench the business deal...they offer each other "massages" which result in what we all so affectionately call "happy endings". after realizing that these girls were prostitutes i began to feel so sad for them as they watched each man carefully as he walked in the bar. and then i became more sad and angry when i realized that i can spot a prostitute or a thief here from a mile away..... is that a problem?? is that normal, that i now know who wants to steal from me and which women are selling themselves?
maybe not, because at home, it may not be as prevelant, but its certainly obvious. here however, it is any girl that i'm sitting next to on the bus.... its the eyes with the thieves and aimless wandering around the bus stops and at the train stations. but the girls blend in with the crowd, they are just more forward with men than most chinese women..... anyway, this is quite a downer of a post, but i'm surrounded by thieves and prostitutes and its hard not to think about it......
on a happier note, we have a may vacation coming up and i'm going to be traveling again. i'm not sure where this time... maybe malaysia... maybe taiwan.... somewhere outside of china, because when there is a holiday, a national holiday that is, everyone travels and everywhere is sooooo crowded.... so, i have this to look forward to. but like i said at the beginning, things are going well, not great, but not bad and i have no complaints..... (just observations of theft and sex).....
i can't wait for my sister and brother in law to come!!! happy birtday to ben (bro in law) and my sister becki!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wish i could be there to celebrate with you guys... maybe for my thirtieth??? ha!
hope everyone is well.

Modern China

2005-04-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

Chao Zhou
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

This is anohter photo from my weekend in ChaoZhou.... There was a huge agricutural area right in the middle of the city. It was really amazing to see to the contrast between agriculture and city life.
In other modern chinese news, if you haven't heard there have been many protests in Shenzhen (where i live) against the Japanese. Many chinese hate japanese and with the publication of a textbook in japan that glosses over japan's aggressive and violent past, chinese are pissed. there was a demonstartion last week and another this weekend, right near my house. i was on a bus yesterday on my way to meet friends for lunch and i saw a huge group of policemen and military if front of a japanese owned mall.... we made it through and i didn't see any protestors, but my friends were coming from the shoppping area near where the protest was and they had a hard time getting through the crowds. they said people were yelling at people driving japanese cars as well. i heard today that some cars were damaged, but i don't think anyone was hurt.... tensions are incredibly high here!! its a strange dynamic with china-south korea-japan-taiwan-u.s.a.... china and south korea don't like japan, japan doesn't like anyone except they are supporting the u.s. in their support in china vs taiwan....its quite a mess, but i think i'm pretty safe....
i've had students tell me they want to kill japanese and one of my friend amy's students told her that he wanted to join the chinese army so that he could kill japanese...
other than that, things are great!
patti and i caught a little boy stealing the other day. i ran after him, but his friend ran in to me to stop me and the boy ran off, i then, unlike chinese people, ran to the man he stole from and told him what had happened, or i motioned what had happened.... dunno what he did, but at least i told him.....
congratulations to my friends tracy and bart ellingson, their daughter emma jo was born on april 6th! she's so beautiful and everyone is doing great.... as i hope all of you are.... till next time

Drunken Masters,Tea Farms, and Bath Houses

2005-04-07T01:55:00.000-07:00

Drunken Master, Chao Zhou, P.R.China
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

First i'd like to tell everyone that my friend tracy ellingson and her husband bart are having there first baby!!! (or she's already had it and because of time differences i don't know) it is a little girl that they are naming emma jo..... its the first one of my friends to have a baby and its so crazy and exciting! can't wait to meet her.
next, i should talk about the picture, my entire weekend actually!! it was so amazing. my friend jesse and i went to chao zhou which is northeast of shenzhen, still in guangdong province. on the bus on our way, we met a man from hong kong, who actually lives in holland now. he was very nice and a little eccentric as well. he spoke english with a dutch accent, it was great! anyway, he told us of a bathouse type place that we could also sleep at for only 48 yuan/ night.... (about $6 US)... he told us you could do a hot tub, sauna, steam room and then sleep all for 48 yuan and that they also did massages.
i'm of course skeptical because of the rampant prostitution in asia.... well, we find the place and it turns out to be amazing!!! (i'm still not convinced of the no prostitution, but there was nothing blatantly going on) so we first go to our seperate quarters, men and women are of course seperated. so i go into the changing room and there is someone on my ass the whole time... this was service like i had never experienced and to be honest i was a little uncomfortable with it...also, they speak another language in chao zhou, chao zhou hua or chaozhounese and so the communication was very difficult. anyway, i'm trying my best to speak mandarin, but don't understand their responses. and i'm also not sure what i'm supposed to do because i know that the men soak naked, but i'm not sure if the women do. i'm pretty sure they don't cuz chinese women are generally very modest, but i'm not certain. luckily two women come in and i've stalled long enough to just watch and learn...
but when you are in a changing room, watching isn't exactly what should be going on. i'm pretty sure i made one of the women uncomfortable before i realized that i was watching too intently...oops, better look away and just follow the hand gestures, because that is what my communication had reduced to with the women helping me.
so i scramble for the word bathing suit in my chinese book... just to be on the safe side, i'll be clothed. after asking and communicating it quite beautifully i must say (which actually means that they understood me), they lead me to the showers. one must shower before and after the hot tub, sauna, steam room, etc.... so i'm in the shower, which do not have doors or curtains and feeling a little exposed when someone gently and discreetly hangs a bating suit out for me to wear.... at least i thought i had asked for a bathing suit, not a full body suit... which is about what this swimmingsuit was. as i'm pulling it on, i'm thinking, is this ever going to stop? how long is this thing and chuckling to myself at how absurd i'm going to look...finally i have the thing on (i'm sure it was the biggest size they had as well, it was quite large, even on my fat western ass). i catch a glimpse of myself in a marble reflection and can't stop laughing to myself. to top off this swimming suit that goes almost to my kneess all the way to my neck, they hand me a plastic shower cap to cover my delicate golden hair... i'm feeling so ridiculous at this point, i don't even know what to think. so i go out into the hot tub, which is actually a huge pool with warm water and different "stations" with insane water pressure for massage. so this whole time a girl is following me taking care of my every need. she doesn't get in the pool but follows me from the outside and turns on each water thingy as i walk by... i finally decide to go to this one that looks like a chair submerged in the water. i assume that you rest with your back to the back and rest your arms on the U shped arm rests... so i position myself and the woman turns on the water. suddenly there is intense water pressure going up my butt and i'm very uncomfortable thinking, this can not be healthy, who thinks water thrusting up their ass feels good... so as not to look like a total idiot, i play it cool and shift so that the water is massaging the back of my legs and not my bottom... which actually feels quite nice, but is a little awkward to stay in this position. two women move from these reclining chair things with many jets in them that you can lean back and it massages your legs and back. i walk over and get comfortable, knowing exactly what i'm supposed to be doing and feeling relieved cuz its the first time all night that i have.... the woman who were reclining in the chairs go over to the butt exploder that i had been sitting at. however, they have their chest down and i realize that it is actually a "bossom massager" that the brochure i read before going in had talked about. not butt massager, bossom massager.... wow did i feel cool. i'm chillin in my bathing suit from the 1930's while wearing a shower cap with water shooting up my butt.... the other two nights were fine though, i actually knew what was going on...
after the hot tub, steam room, sauna, they give you these disposable underwear and nice pajamas (not disposable) that the women helped me get into. i haven't had someone dress me since i was what 3? very weird, but thats just the treatment one gets at this place. next they take me up to a room with about 100 plush chairs and foot rests. here you can get free drinks, tea, fresh juice, etc... and foot massages while watching tv on a huge screen. it was so nice and so comfortable. all for 48 yuan!!!
after our first fabulous nights rest we go out exploring in the city... there was a lot of traditional acrchitecture, a temple, an old city wall, etc... there was also an old pagoda from the 1500's that was about 9 stories tall and had an amazing view of the city. everyone was so kind to us and treated us so well.... including the man and the boy in the picture. the boy was a student named eruc who translated for the older man, that we'll call "drunken master" not because of his kung fu style, but because he was beligerently drunk on bai jiu (chinese rice liquour). he was however a historian at heart and gave us a run down of chao zhou's history... eruc the student stumbled upon us and translated. eruc had never met foreigners before and was quite happy to use his english with us. after how history lesson, i took this picture... the man busts out the kung fu pose and after the picture is taken, breaks into a full on kung fu show! it was hilarious, he was so funny and probably worth the whole trip there.
after exploring the city on saturday, we went to a nearby mountain town on sunday... the bus ride there was amazing! so beautiful, with tea farms and rice paddies everywhere. more like what we think of china rather than the modern cess pool that is shenzhen, i mean the town i live in. jesse and i step of the bus and its like another world. the town has modern buildings, but very small and people begin staring and we realize that most people have never seen foreigners before. people were screaming for their relatives when we would walk by, when we bought water, we attracted a crowd, when we talked to anyone we attracted a crowd! we decided to walk towards the older part of town with more traditional architecture. we start walking some tea plants when a farmer spots us. this a farmer with gold teeth and black toenails. he tells us it is his tea farm and shows us some plants and then invites us to his house for tea.. it was so kind and great! he lived in a small concrete house with his son, his wife and their daughter. after alot of tea and a wicked caffeine buzz we decide to walk around some more before we make our way to this old circular structure that was once a village...very romanesque, but in the middle of china. anyway, we start walking around only to have more people staring. eventually we run into a local english teacher from the high school.. as we begin talking to him a crowd of about 30 people gather round us. the teacher invites us to the school to speak to his english classes! so we go and speak to one of his classes who know no english whatsoever. the kids get a kick out of it though. we were surrounded by kids and stares and dropped jaws, it was quite surreal... after we left the school we made it to the circular village which was actually still occupied. one of the men living there, showed us around, and of course offered us tea. he was so great, as were most people in hengfuang (the small tea village) and chaozhou. tea is such a part of the culture in hengfuang that beginning this last monday was a 10 day holiday to go and harvest tea! on our way back to chaozhou people were drying the tea leaves on tarps draped acrossed the road. it was beautiful!!!
it really was a great weekend. it was nice to be in china and have people be so kind. not that chinese are unkind, but it is a rarity in shenzhen...
the weekend before last i went to hong kong. there is a film festival going on right now and i saw the hong kong indie film shorts. it was four short films done by directors from hong kong. it was soo great. quite different from the experience in chaozhou....
in one of the films was some great indie music from hong kong called "My Little Airport"... if anyone is interestd you should check them out. quite good!
that's it for now, hope all are well. more pictures from this weekend coming soon. i have to get them from jesse, it was my first excursion without my precious camera :(... luckily jesse is an amazing photographer!
all my love
nrj

a cultural note

2005-03-23T22:15:00.000-08:00

i don't think chinese people are thieves. i love china and there are many wonderful things about it. however, i don't like shenzhen that much and i'd say 99% of chinese people who do steal, live in shenzhen....it is after all where all the money is. most other cities in china are nothing like shenzhen and definitely don't have the pickpockets........the chinese even call shenzhen "the cultural desert"..... i'm afraid my anger in my post about my camera may have given the impression that chinese people are thieves. they certainly aren't.....but the ones that are, are damned good at it!

my class

2005-03-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

the best class
Originally uploaded by organix.

this is my class 11. each class is numbered and they stay with the same class in the same room all day, the teachers go to the students... one day my friend jesse came to visit and took a picture and hung out with our class for a while. this really is a great class and they were sooooo excited when he came to visit. before he was even to the door, they were all screaming "nicole its your boyfriend, your boyfriend has come!!!" and i'm thinking, "really i didn't know i had one" and then jesse walks in the door to screams and cheering and ooohhing and ahhhing. of course their first question is "are you nicole's boyfriend?" and i say "no, he is my friend, he's an english teacher also" of course they are disappointed, but were still excited he was there.... i wasn't feeling so great that day, so jesse says, you can use me if you need to, to distract them. so of course they want to ask jesse questions.... one of the boys ligts up and is like "hey do your listen to nas, dr dre, outkast, etc..." jesse says "nas is one of my favorites" and immediately i'm no longer the coolest teacher they've ever met.... jesse has extremely curly hair and so one of the girls asks if he has ever thought of working on his singing and dancing and teaching "mr mcdonald" something... i am of course horrified, because she means ronald mcdonald.... jesse being the laid back cat that he is just says "no i'm not interested"... i apologized over and over to him, but apparently people think he is ronald mcdonald all of the time and they always ask him questions like that. then another girl asks him for his phone number and he says he has lost his phone (his was stolen as well) and she stands their mortified and i say, oh he won't give me his number either, do you have another question? she says "no i want to cry"... which i'm surprised she didn't, but i'm glad it didn't come to that.
i wanted to share jesse's and a few others from our programs websites. jesse's photos are amazing!
www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=jessewarren
or
www.flickr.com/photos/jessewarren
others:
-mike
www.downdream.org
some of the best photographs of china that i've seen
-christina
more great photos and insight into life in china
www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=smilehellokitty
or
www.flickr.com/photos/smilehellokitty
-tim kelley
www.timkelley.net
there are more, but i'll have to find them and post them later.
hope everyone is well!!!!!!!

city of thieves

2005-03-20T17:22:00.000-08:00

my camera was stolen on friday. just as i was walking along the street in the middle of the afternoon with about oh, 100 people watching. literally, people saw it happen and just stood there. everything is a "non event" in china. people under react, are aloof, irritated.... if there is one thing in the world that i own that i would miss, its my camera.... i had just gotten it for christmas after going 5 months here with no digital camera. my other camera takes advantix film, which i can't find anywhere, so it was such a wonerful addition to my life. if one more person tells me to "just go buy a new one" i'm going to freak out. i don't happen to have money flying out my ass. so, if that is anyone's advice, keep it to yourself.... i am currently thinking of a design for a bag that zips,locks,double locks, and then shocks anyone who tries to get in without the secret code. also, it is going to be knife proof, so that no one can cut it off one's shoulder. so far, that leaves with me huge piece of metal strapped to my shoulder and its not so practical..... i will find a way.... in the meantime, i'm not carrying anything with me and my money will go in my smelly ass shoes and no one will want to touch it.
one thing that makes me feel better is the camera i had is only sold in north america... of course its made in china, but only sold in north america. it doesn't take regular batteries either and needs to be charged quite often. its not worth much to whoever tries to sell it. there is a huge electronics market here with everything!! parts, whole things, broken things, new things, used things, and most of all stolen things.... i'm sure this is where my camera now lives and the next time i'm there i'm going to look for it.... where i'm sure it'll easily be found, because i'm pretty sure its one of maybe 2 in all of shenzhen.....then i'm going to ask all kinds of questions and ask the seller to show me how to use it... then when it comes on and is only in english and he doesn't know what to do with it............. ok, so that is a huge exhausting fantasy and really i just to need to get over it, but i'm soooooooooooo angry. mostly because i knew it was happening and i went after them and they just "disappeared" and because there were at least 15 people who saw it happening and they all just stood there and watched it happened..... nothing stirs the attention of a chinese person.... nothing.
i have to go now, i'm getting pissed off just thinking about it. in the meantime, there will be no more pictures....
total loss this year:
-one purse with 200 rmb and precious american chapstick (stolen from a wedding i might add)
-one cell phone worth $100
-one digital camera (not sure monetary value, but it sure was a lot of fun)
-one attempt to steal something, i have been lucky enough to catch one guy. once again there was about 10 people around me as i was getting on a bus. i felt him feeling in my bag and tried to get his hand out of my purse. when i couldn't, i had to turn around and push him..... not as hard as i could, but just enough to get him to go away.... of course he just disappears and no one says anything, offers any solace, or has any kind expression really. i guess, like my mom said i should be thankful they didn't try to hurt me.... that doesn't really happen here though, there isn't violent crime, just thousands and thousands of thieves... a chinese teacher told me today that the police have no way to stop them...... saving face is so important, they even protect the thieves..........agggghhhhhh!!!
peace,love, and the city of thieves

breakthroughs

2005-03-15T18:23:00.000-08:00

so, i've been feeling much more positive about this semester. maybe because its the home stretch and there is an end in sight. but i'm not sure, because i'm really not ready to leave and when i think about moving back to the u.s. its not all that exciting. i of course miss my friends and family and cant' wait to see everybody, but i'm not just grudging through my time here till i can leave. well, whatever the change is, not that i was unhappy last semester, i feel really good about this semester. i think one of the biggest reasons is that i'm finally starting to connect with my students and get respect and some days i even feel like they've listened and learned something. i think that was part of my frustration last semester.... i felt really unconnected with my job and the students truly didn't respect or appreciate me in anyway... i guess i hadn't realized how it had affected until they started paying attention to me. they like me, they really, really like me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the real inspiration for this entry comes not from one of my students, but from one of patti's. many of you may know another language and if you have learned more than one, you definitely know the struggle. its not just pronunciation and vocabulary, but understanding, truly knowing how to communicate with words (unfamiliar words) and being able to express yourself, with limited experience. anyway, i say this because maybe its this understanding of knowing what its like to learn another language that makes what one of patti's students said really great and amazing. i think its also the teacher in me that feels so proud of a student to say something clever. whether you've helped the student or not, its really exciting to have a child say or do something really brilliant because you feel like there is at least one of 'em out there that might care or is at least trying..... having said all this i'm afraid i've set up too many expectations for what the student said..... remember too that chinese students are trained to take examinations, not think or have ideas.
so anyway, our students did a unit on food and healthy eating. patti asked her class "what food would you be and why?" these kinds of questions are the most conducive to creative thought, so they tend to have a lot of fun with them. anyway, one of patti's students said " i would be an apple.... but i would be a special apple. i would be the apple that fell on newton's head..." brilliant!!!! genius!!! a native speaker of english would have a difficult time thinking of this answer. i know it may not seem like much, but wow, it really is great when all the answers you are getting are,"i'd be an apple because they are lovely and delicious".....
it really brings a tear to my eye.....
ha! anyway, i've been doing the same with my class and haven't gotten really great responses, but in my last class i got a few good ones. i began the class by asking about their favorite foods. as i'm writing them on the board, one kid yells out "shit".... i of course tend to not make a big deal of these things, because they need to know those "bad"words, but i also don't want to give him any more attention than he's asking for. anyway, i turn around to him and say "you really enjoy eating shit?" "that is something you really eat?".... not expecting this reaction, he gets embarrassed and shuts up. eventually its his turn and he says "i'd be chocolate because its the same color as shit and i like shit".... i couldn't help but laugh cuz he had that "i got the last word in" look on his face, but these are the knobhead answers i get most days cuz no one takes the class seriously. it was funny though and the rest of the class of course got a huge kick out of it.
another student said "i'd be an egg. because then i could become a hen. and then i could lay more eggs. and really i'd never die" (slow clap an head nod here....) great answer! one girl gave a similar answer at least on the same lines of the death thing. she said, "i'd be rice. because then i'd have the biggest family of all food. when someone came to cook me, most of my family would die with me and that would be better than dying alone." now, maybe in the u.s. i'd be a little concerned with the morbidity of this answer, however, the fact that she didn't say "lovely,delicious,or pretty color" deserves a mention here today!!
as i've mentioned before, the chinese education system is based on examinations... how well a student does on examinations determines so much of their life. they test into the schools they go to (which means many have to live away from home at school, because they did not test into a nearby school), they test into the class they are assigned and there is continuous and insane amounts of pressure for them to stay where they are or test high enough to move up to a better class or school. so at the ripe ol' age of 16 or 17 (senior 2, soph/junior at home) they must decide their major for college. yes, they must decide what they will study at university, two years before they get there. the reason, when the students finish their last of high school they must take a national examination which determines whether or not they can go to university. because there are so many chinese people and not enough universities, it is extremely competitive and many students don't have a chance to go (i think less than 50% will test high enough). so during their second year of high school, the students decide their fate and begin a more intensive study on that subject so that they may do well on the exam and get to university. (the universtiy exam will test them on all subjects, their "major" subject will of course be more difficult on the exam?)
amidst this brief run down of chinese education is actually a story. this semester i have been asked to teach the senior 2 "english major" class. or the oral part i should say. so, once a week i meet with these students and practice oral english. well, yesterday we did proverbs like i had been doing with my senior 1 classes. i got a couple of really goo responses that i would once again like to share. now, i drilled into their poor restricted brains that i wanted them to come up with their OWN answers, something creative they have thought of themselves. so, i think they better understood than my senior 1's, but i still only got about 2 really good responses. i couldn't stress enough to them that they could not say "an apple a day keeps the doctor away", they absolutely had to think of something new. so one student said "an apple a day, 2 apples 2 days"...the other one that i think we can all learn from "what you don't know, is what everyone else is thinking about"......
in conclusion, if you are teaching english in china, its the rare, tiny, tiny moments that make you feel like you are actually a teacher and have given some small amount of insight to the trapped brains of chinese youth.
more later.......................................... p.s. spell check will not work i can not be completely responsible for spelling errors... its not my fault, its the computers...
(you see how i've learned to save face?)

miscellaneous

2005-03-13T18:15:00.000-08:00

my mop!!!!
Originally uploaded by morningmilk8.

i've posted some pictures of my broom closet that was taken over and then abandoned.... however, my mop and bucket are still captive because there is a lock on the door..... needless to say my floors are still disgusting because asking everyday for a new mop is not enough to get anything done here. i wonder what kind of gift is a good exchange to get MY mop back? hmmm... i really should just buy a new one. its the principle of the whole thing that's holding me back. someone taking over my space and then locking the door behing them.... asking and asking and asking for a new mop and no one listening. when will it end?!!??
so patti and i have been eating in the cafeteria again. mainly because they have fruit. delicious oranges and pineapple.... the key is that you have to get there early to get any. the cafeteria best demonstrates the survival of the fittest/communist attitude. you better run and run fast if you want any of the good fruit or food. its set up buffet style, but unlike many western countries (mainly america) there isn't an endless supply of food. what you see is what you get and if you're not fast enough, it'll all be gone. except the rice, there is always enough rice!! and its not just about arriving early, but taking more than your share, or at least not being afraid to. i mean people love their fruit and are not afraid to take 3 or 4 oranges and half a pineapple for themselves. so, in order to get what you want you can't be afraid to throw elbows, run, or push your way to the front.... i apologize now if this behavior follows me home, but a girl has got to look out for herself.....
on the other hand, i do have an advantage being a vegetarian. there usually are not many vegetarian choices, so i often have to deal with picking around the meat to get to the veggies and all the meat eaters pick through the veggies to get to the meat. therefore we can happily eat each others scraps.... i was really excited the other day when they had this really good tofu, but soon realized there was little pile of meat resting on top. once again, someone had picked all the piles of meat off the top and left just the tofu. while this sounds disgusting, its the way things have to be here. i eat around the meat infected area and just remember to be thankful that i have a free meal and if i'm fast enough and tough enough i get fruit too.
another interesting aspect of the cafeteria is the dynamic... mostly that its extremely segregated. all the men sit with each other, all the women sit with each and then....
well, there's patti and i. yes those crazy, weird, foreign teachers, all should be sure to avoid them and their democratic ways. beware of their suspicious eyes and never divulge any secrets. never make them feel comfortable, they are simply to be stared at and mocked and used for their language ability. don't ever stand in front of them during photo ops, we need to let the world think, we are proud of them and that we are working hard to promote foreign relations........ maybe this is a bit dramatic, but certainly there are days when it feels this way. nevermind though, i just wanna eat my damned fruit and go home to take a nap.
crazy things i've seen lately, that are actually common here: 4 people riding on a tiny motorbike get wiped out by a taxi...my contact teacher pick his nose for 10 minutes, scratch his ass, spit a huge lugee and farmer blow and never once seeing him wash his hands.... i'm pretty sure there is more, but i'll save those for another day.
last week i was teaching my kids proverbs in english. side note: they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away as well... anyway, i typed up a bunch of common ones and left some of the words out so that they could come up with their own proverbs. well this presented a challenge because chinese students are not taught to think for themselves they are taught to do well on the 8,000 examinations they will take in their lifetime. so, when i say "use your own words" that usually means nothing and everyone writes the same thing, or they already know the proverb and just finish it... so, i tried and tried to get them to use their own words, which has little value and/or meaning in the chinese classroom, but for those students who weren't afraid to think for themselves, they ended up really good and pretty funny, which was the intention of the excercise. i thought i'd share some of their responses... remember i have about 400 students and of these 400 i only got about 10 worth mentioning... i'm trying, but i feel it may be dangerous to encourage such awful behavior as thinking outside the examination box.....
"Beauty is on the inside,Beauty is maybelline"
"He who plants a tree, plants patience"
"Curiosity killed people's minds"
"Time is gold"
"Time cures sad"
"The best things in life are no homework"
"Time is hell"
"Curiosity killed ourselves"
"Never have a gift horse in your mouth" (the student did however know the meaning)
"Old soldiers never lose way, they clever"
These are the future leaders of the world...
More later.
nrj

happy women's day!!!

2005-03-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

happy women's day to all of you wonderful women, or men who wish you were women.... china proudly celebrates this most important day of the year and although its mostly like any other day my students gave me a present and a card this morning and it really made my morning!!! i was so excited and it was really thoughtful. they gave me a set of candles and some incense, along with a card. i most loved the card and i wanted to share it with all of you. partly because its so sweet and partly because of the bad english. the card was not written by my students, i'm pretty sure they can do better and its a very typical chinese-english translation or creation, i'm not sure which it is. anyway, they did write on the inside "we love you not only as our teacher but also friend". then a girl drew a picture of a watering can with some flowers sprouting around it. so cute, i'm so proud.....
anyway, here is a copy of the card... please also keep in mind that this was for women's day... of course there is no right or wrong thing to say on this joyous occasion, but... anyway enjoy.....
Wishes for you
sometimes life can make you crazy
it can really put a body to the test you try so hard
to make sure everything is light and you find
you've only wound up with a mess
its a common situation
when though you feel abandoned and alone child
you ain't first to experience a hart so don't panic when
you hit the danger zone that you need's
little change of heart

forget this fear and frustration
love will always play the greater part
when your battles wear you down
here's my advice
when you're feeling down and out
and you've got troubles on your mind
love will save the day when you're feeling
full of doubt and year has got you in a bind
love will save the day
when your world's falling apart
all you got to do is say a prayer
love will save the day

amen, halelujah (my words)
happy women's day!!!!!
watch for my next post soon.... Propaganda and blue suits

it all comes down to this....

2005-02-28T18:25:00.002-08:00

i'm back in shenzhen and already feel settled in my old routine. its a bittersweet feeling as i had such a great vacation, but am glad to be stationary, at least for a little while.
thailand was amazing. we spent about 4 or 5 days in bangkok and about 4 or 5 days on koh phagnan island off the central coast. bangkok was a crazy big city with tons of backpackers and travellers from all over. the beach was the same on one part of the island, but we moved to a quieter, more relaxed beach and it was much more my speed.
because i wasn't able to post that often i made a ton of notes about things i wanted to write about. i've decided to just list things, i learned, saw, felt and hated along the way. most of the time i felt so overwhelmed and over stimulated that it was hard to just relax and focus on what i was thinking about/feeling at the time. so i just made notes here and there and now i will try to convey these thoughts and feelings the best that i can......
~southeast asia is so cheap (including china) i can never pay western prices again.... you guys are seriously overpaying for everything!!
~when you are traveling somewhere in thailand (lets say on a bus) and they say wait a moment, that usually mean 1-2 hours.....
~china has the worst bathrooms of any country i've been to.
~i prefer travelling alone.... i'm not cutout to be around someone 24 hours a day for a month straight... its also more exciting that way.
~i don't really like travelling.... i like living in other/different places. travelling is exhausting
~i saw a cat in a sweater tied to pole by a string in han oi, vietnam... a cat in a sweater!!!
~the poorest areas/families in most western countries will never know poverty like they have in s.e. asia.
~i'm tired of seeing old, crusty western men with young, beautiful asian girls who have no other choice but prostitution.
~prostitution is a HUGE problem/issue/fact in s.e. asia but its different everywhere you go. in china brothels are disguised by massage parlors, in vietnam, they are disguised as karoke bars, in cambodia, there is no disguise, just women (mostly under 18) standing beneath pink fluourescent lights, and in thailand the prostitutes are the disguise, one can never be sure if its a man or woman.
~cambodia is the furtherst from home that i have ever felt. it has also left the biggest impression upon me.
~australians and israeli's are the 2 most common backpackers in s.e. asia
~i saw a kid vomit in the floor at a restaraunt in ho chi minh city and nobody (including his parents) do a damned thing about it.
~the vietnam war was worse than any of us in the u.s. and elsewhere could ever imagine.
~mosquitos like to bite susan more than they like to bite me
~s.e. asia has the craziest drivers.... maybe not thailand and cambodia so much....vietnam and china, insane!
~the foreigner price for things is about 5x's the local price and they will try to screw you in every way possible.
~money affords us many luxuries, especially free time and retirement.... i saw a woman about 70 years old doing construction in thailand. she was wearing a long skirt, flip flops and carrying huge bags of cement.
~i think women run vietnam. i mostly saw the men sitting in cafes while the women were out making the money.
~don't ever ride an elephant in thailand.... i saw a man severely beat an elephant's head when it would not do what the man wanted it to... which was stand still.
~you can hang a mango shake from a towel rack in thailand. they put everything in bags in asia.... including food and fruitshakes, and soymilk. whatever, if it fits its in there. my friend amy and i have nicknamed china "baglandia"
~when thai women are pregnant they drink the milk of a young coconut everyday... it is meant to have the most nutrients for a woman and her baby.
~i appreciate living and travelling in china more now because there are no foreigners and it is much more of a challenge.
~thai people love those menthol nose inhalers.... even children have them.
~did i mention prostitution is everywhere?
"not all that glitters is gold, not all who wander are lost" j.r.r. tolkein

it all comes down to this....

2005-02-28T18:25:00.001-08:00

homeward bound

2005-02-18T04:19:00.000-08:00

busy uploading pictures, so i'm not going to write much.... can only do one at a time, when i'm paying for it... leaving for china tommorrow, oh how bittersweet...
what an amazing trip i've had!!!! i'll write more from work on monday:(
good news you can check out my pictures!!!!
hope all are well
nicole
"a good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving" - lao tzu

bangkok,thailand

2005-02-10T08:09:00.000-08:00

not much time to write.... only 6 minutes till my free 30 minutes are up. i am in bangkok now. what a contrast from cambodia!!! we've only been here for a few hours, so i'll give a complete update later.
all i'm gonna say is that we took a bus from siem reap, cambodia and from siem reap to the thai border is a dirt road. 150 km on a dirt road..... do you know how long that takes? 5 hours!!!!!! for like 100 miles! in 35 celisius weather... more later when i'm not exhausted.
america really needs to jump on the metric scale bandwagon, its so much better.
peace, love, and chaos
nicole

siem reap, cambodia

2005-02-06T07:01:00.000-08:00

we have arrived yet again, or at least we are in a new town. my friend adria was already here when we arrived, so when we got off the bus a guy was holding a sign that said nicole and susan for jasmine guest house. (i've always to arrive some place with my name on a sign) at first we thought they had just sold our names from the last guest house (which they often do) to try and guilt us into staying at one they are affliliated with in another town, but it was adria who set it up for us. sooooo nice! as soon as we pulled into the bus station the bus was mobbed by moto and '"tuk tuk" drivers saying lady, miss, miss, you need driver?? it so much chaos and commotion you can't even say no before someone else is asking you again, and again, and again... i told one guy no thanks i already have a ride and he said, but i don't see anyone and the guy was behind me and said, its me. quite irritating sometimes. so anyway, it was a relief to have someone waiting for us and we didn't have to pay to get to the hotel. since when is anything free in southeast asia?
since not too much has happened since i last wrote, i think i'm gonna back it up a bit as i keep remembering things i meant to mention before.
for one, in the last email i talked about the horrors of cambodian political history and the s-21 museum.... i had forgot to mention the p.o.w prison in han oi, vietnam. unfortuantely this may be a little depressing like the last one, but i'll do my best to make fun of the bull shit that they had in this museum. (traveling through vietnam was really great since its such a huge part of american history as well).
so there is this museum in p.o.w museum in vietnam. at first it was used as a prison by the french who tortured and killed political vietnamese political dissidents during the french colonial period there. this part of the museum consisted of various stories of torture and abuse by the french on the vietnamese, including pictures and the actual devices used. it was quite interesting and informative, quite sad for the vietnamese who just wanted their country back from the french.
but then..................... one walks across the other half of the museum. i should preface this by saying that i don't know a complete history of the prison, therefore these are solely opinions i have on the bias and absurdity that i saw. anyway, after the french left the vietnamese alone they turned the prison into a state run prison, run by the vietnamese. during the american-vietnam war, it was once again used as a p.o.w prison this time for the americans who won't leave the vietnamese alone.
in the part about the french vs. vn (vietnamese) they made the french seem like torturous brutes and devils and praised all the brave souls who fought for an independent vietnam (this is of course true). basically the french are arseholes, the vn are helpless.
however, in the part where the americans are stored in the prison, it becomes a weird "happy" place where american soldiers were living the high life in prison and thank god for the vietcong rescuing them from the horrors of the war in the jungle....
i couldn't believe some of the exhibits! like i said, i don't know the entire history of the prison or the prisoners and maybe they didn't get medevial type torture as in the days of the french occupation, but my god they made this place sound like the hilton.
they had nice,clean tennis shoes on displays, playing cards, jump ropes, clean silver ware and bowls that the americans "all enjoyed during there stay at _ prison"". according to the exhibits the soldiers not even recieved packages from home, but were given gifts by the "uncle ho's" men???!!! can anyone confirm this for me? susan and i were shocked and angry. it was so absurd the way they tried to make the place sound so nice. of course i now know the extent of the damage the americans did on the rest of the country, but this museum was ridiculous!!
its quite strange traveling in such politically turbulent and unstable countries. me as a foreinger and outside observer can see the bias and bullshit the government tells the people here, but the people can't... well probably some or most can, but they are too afraid of what will happen if they speak out.
as "ündeveloped" and sometimes unstable as these countries are, it is so easy to travel and get around here. i've seen more foreigners here and eaten more western food in the past 3 weeks than i have in the past 6 months in china. i feel priviledged to have the opportunity to see all these amazing places, but with all these people here it seems a little less adventurous and maybe takes away from the beauty and greatness of some of these places. daily life is definitely much more of a struggle than a month in the rest of s.e. asia. don't get me wrong, its still amazing, but if you really want an adventure live and travel in china.... it makes for funnier blogs and a more hectic life!
keep it real
nrj

phnom penh,cambodia

2005-02-03T02:54:00.000-08:00

susan and i have made it to cambodia and i have to say that getting here was an experience in itself. the bus was ok to the border, but the border was just as i imagined. hot and chaotic and dusty. there were all these women tugging on us to exchange our money for cambodian riehl, men grabbing our luggage to haul on carts across the border and men asking for bribes to get us through customs faster.... susan and i of course stuck $1 bills in our passports (u.s. dollars are like precious gold here!!!), however the guy wanted more. $2 per person, so we said forget it and just did it ourselves, it didn't take any longer and we had to wait for everyone on the bus to get through anyway.... once we were let out of vietnam, we had to walk about a kilometer to the cambodian border and go through customs there. it was really surreal actually, cuz like i said it was just as i imagained.
the bus from the border to phnom penh wasn't so great, actually it was the road, or lack of them that made it rough. so bumpy! there wasn't enough room in the bottom of the bus for our luggage so we had to store it on the bus wherever there was room.... which wasn't much. luckily they played decent western music instead of ethnic karoke as they often do in vietnam and china....
we arrived in phnom penh after fours and a brief ferry across the river. we pulled into the front of a mosque where there were children playing football. immediately they run over to the bus and start begging. one little boy jumped up and was hanging from the window trying to get money from us. that is the hardest part of cambodia, there are so many children begging. in china its mostly physically deformed or elderly, but its kids here and pretty hard to take.
there was one little boy who followed from me the beginning, cuz i usually talk to them instead of giving something. (sometimes i give in) anyway, he found me at the place we were eating, so i gave him some of my sandwich and a couple of french fries. its so hard, cuz really it does no good in the long run, but there are sooooo many of them everywhere!!
we ran into a couple of people here who are also in our program in china. albert and vikki. we all decided to hire a mini bus for today.
i don't know how much cambodian history people know, but i knew only a little about the killing fields and the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot. in the 70's he set up a prison called S-21 and tortured and killed people who were not for his revolution. including, children. they put the bodies in mass graves after killing them. after this was discovered they turned both the fields where the mass graves are and the prison into "museums". i believe over 9,000 people were killed in the prison and maybe more outside of the prison. anyway, it was the most intense and emmotional "tourist attraction" i have ever seen. more so than anne frank's house which was also very touching. anyway, when they discovered the graves and all of the bones of the victims, they still had clothes on them. they have put all of the skulls and some of the clothes into a "stupa"or memorial. the skulls are just stacked into this temple like structure and the clothes are piled in a glass case underneath. you can see on many of the skulls where the bullets blew out the back of the skull or where they were beaten and their skulls cracked... all this while a parade of children hang outside of the fence begging for just one dollar so they can eat....... as you walk around the fields where the mass graves once were there are still bits of bone and clothes sticking out of the ground.
the prison is of course not much better. there are mugshots of all the prisoners and you can see the terror on their faces. there are also pictures of the dead bloody bodies. very hard to handle. you can also see the cells where the prisoners were kept and there are still blood stains on the floor......
all of this was so horrible and of course much of the regime to this day denies the existence or involvement in the prison. and after all this which was only about 20-some years ago, the people here are so amazing! it may seem cliche, but i don't feel like i'm being taken advantage of like i did in vietnam and do in china. people here are so much more laid back..... its definitely the furtherst i've ever felt from home. such a poor and unstable country, but people just go on living there lives.... quite interesting.
alright, i'm sorry to be so depressing, but that is part of traveling in 3rd world countries. there are the really,really ugly sides to it. (much of the abuse to the prisoners was not unlike the recent events of abu garhib however). so, i've decided to never complain about anything in my life. i'm healthy, i'm traveling, and i get to eat (very well i might add) 3 meals a day.... 6 if i'm greedy!!
í hope this email finds everyone healthy and happy as well... more uplifting ridiculousness later!
nrj

dalat,vietnam

2005-01-29T06:01:00.000-08:00

well, we are still in vietnam, but getting close to the end. after hue, we went to hoi an and then to nha trang and now we are in dalat. nha trang was good, we spent one day on the beach and the other soaking in mud and hot springs. so relaxing, but soooo resorty!!! i think i was glad to move on, but have dalat to be a bit resorty as well, except its in the mountains and so beautiful.
the man who owned the hotel in nha trang was extremely friendly and one of my favorite mornings was chatting with him. he and his family had quite an interesting life story. he not only wanted to share his life, but was interested in ours as well. its so great when you are traveling to meet someone so genuinely kind. for the most part vietnamese people are wonderful, but many are out to get our money and its a constant hassle in the streets. its also nice to have such a nice, stable, and sane place to sleep, because the lady who works at the hotel we are at now is psycho!
so we arrive and she tells us $8 (american) for the room and we say no $5 (this is why it is so exhausting to travel and live in asia, you have to bargain for everything!). we go back and forth and i insist that $5 is the most we will pay. (yes $5 for both of us!! so cheap here...) anyway, she shows us one room, but after deciding on $5 she puts us in another room. the room is the same, however its on the first floor right by the door and the lobby where people sit and chat. i make a comment to susan that i hope it isn't too noisy, but for $5 we'll take it. the lady leaves and we begin to relax for a bit before we head for the day. 20 minutes later there is a knock on the door and the woman asks us to move rooms, in fact, insists that we do because it'll be much to noisy where we are..... ??? k, so we move.
all the while, she is pushing us to buy a tour that the hotel offers. we have only been in town for like 10 minutes and keep saying, we haven't decided, we'll look later..... oh yeah, on our way into town we met a guy selling motorbike tours and he was an "independent agent" we'll say, so we were interested in patronizing the local man rather than this huge tourist maze they have going on here. soooooooooooo, we've changed rooms and are extremely irritated with this pushy woman, but are ready to settle in and go explore.
"side note": not only is this woman pushing her damned tours, but there is meek little woman following her offering to do our laundry..... really, every 5 minutes she says she can do our laundry and every 5 minutes we have to say no, we just had it done. i saw this woman 4 times today and she asked me every time.... white people, we all look the same.......
ok, so we leave the hotel, but not without this woman attacking us once more. we finally escape to do some errands and decide to go back and talk with the man on the square. i once again bargain a price (not a very good one, but i think i'm catching on to this negotiating crap) and he says he'll pick us up at 8:30 at the hotel. great! deal is done.(this is how things are done here, you have to be careful, but its really safe) we go back to the hotel and get our key from the front desk hoping that crazy lady won't notice us, but she comes running to the front desk and insists that she'll have 2 motorcycles pick us up in the morning we just have to tell her what time. i say, sorry, we've already made plans. and she says "with who? why didn't you buy one from us?". she has this disgusted, sad, insulted look on her face, and i think who the hell is this lady? i try to make it sound like we were meeting another friend and they had already booked the trip, but i couldn't lie, so i just said "its ok, it doesn't matter, its no big deal".... now, i'm not sure why i said that, because i couldn't tell what emotion this lady was feeling. i come to find out, it insult and disgust, because every time susan and i have seen her since she gives us this disapproving look and makes us feel totally uncomfortable.
the story doesn't end there.......................
we get up this morining about 7:30 to get ready for the day and there is a knock on the door. susan and i look at each other with confusion... i answer the door and its HER. i'm really, really pissed off, cuz i'm sure she's going to either try and sell me something or tell me off for not booking a damned tour with her or she's kicking us out.
nope, she asks us to move rooms again...... she gives us some story and walks away in a hurry, scared i'm sure that susan and i will check out right then or not pay at all. so anyway, we move rooms and whose in their cleaning? the laundry lady!!! she's so sweet, but come on, you have to know that we are the girls who have been 3 different freakin' rooms and that you've already asked 50 freakin' times about the laundry. apparently not, cuz she proceeded to ask me four times today. ugh! so that's my rant on vietnam. not bad for 10 days of traveling so far. there definitely have been other annoyances, but similar to those in china, so i'm better able to overlook them. if you ever come to dalat, vietnam DO NOT STAY AT THE PEACE 2 HOTEL. the woman is crazy and she will hassle you and make you crazy..... oh, and the moto guide we had was so great i'm so glad we went with him. he even took us to a com chay or vegetarian restaurant afterwards and bought us persimmons from the roadside.
today we also met a monk they nicknamed the "crazy monk" because he lives in a pagoda by himself and is an artist. an amazing artist actually. its been one of the highlights of the trip. we went in and immediately he sat us down and had us help him translate a poem from vietnamese into "good" english so he could better explain it to people. we took quite a while and he told us that if we were poets, we would understand and know the words right away... ha! anyway, he was really great and not actually crazy. most of the money he makes from his art he gives to charities and he has art shows all over the world. i have pictures, i'll try to get them up soon. the internet here is really crap. whooooo, this is long and i'm tired... i'll write again soon, probably from cambodia!!!! hope all are well.
peace nrj

hue,vietnam

2005-01-23T01:35:00.000-08:00

ok, this is the third time i've tried to post something, so its gonna be short. vietnam is great. hue is amazing!! the weather is warm, it smells good, and the food is great. i highly recommend traveling here. wish you all were here.
peace,love, and vietnam

Han Oi, Vietnam

2005-01-21T03:53:00.000-08:00

Susan and i are having a great time in Vietnam. Han oi is so great! it smells better, the bathrooms are cleaner, and nobody stares at us cuz we are foreign. i imagine that has to do with the mass amounts of foreigners here, but its nice to blend in...... han oi even has teeeny tiiiny cats in teeeny tiiiny sweaters. no joke! wish i could've gotten a photo, but wasn't quick enough. in fact there are many teeeny tiiiiny cats tied to strings here. we went for a tour of halong bay yesterday and today, and then are getting on a bus in a few minutes to head south to Hue. can't wait for warmer weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! too tired and not enough time for the deatails. will write more when we are stationary for a couple of days.
peace, love, and baguettes p.s. because of the french influence in the north, there are baguettes
and amazing pastries everywhere. i love vietnam!

susan and i are on the road

2005-01-17T01:44:00.000-08:00

on the bus
Originally uploaded by sbucha004.

this is susan the girl i'm traveling with.....
we left shenzhen saturday night at around 7 p.m. and arrived in nanning,china at around 5:30 am., oh yeah it was an overnight bus. we stopped at the most amazing and the cleanest rest stop i have ever seen!! even in the u.s. a far cry from the hole i had to pee in a couple of months ago, before getting on the wrong bus...
anyway, we had to get to nanning to get a train to vietnam. there was no train yesterday, so we've been hanging out here for a couple of days. our train leaves for han oi, vietnam tonight at 9:15..... more overnight traveling!
last night we were bored and seeing as our room is as freezing as it is inside we decided to go for a walk and get some tea. we got tea and walked to a park nearby to watch some people ballroom dance. it was so nice to watch everyone fluttering about....
people in nanning have proved to be soooo much nicer than in shenzhen, so some people began chatting with us. in chinese of course... susan fortunately speaks chinese, so pretty soon, we had a crowd around us. it was like "hey they're foreign and they can talk to us". it was so fun. people were really nice. i can't believe how absolutely different people are here than in shenzhen. people back there are mean and angry and in a hurry... nanning is much more laid back, much less worried about who they are screwing over to get more money. (i really need a break from shenzhen).
so far so good! can't wait to get to vietnam where it'll be warm.
i'd also like to say hello to patti who is in australia right now. i hope she can get a chance to read this, since i can't. hope you are having a great time!
hope everyone is well. more later.......

rooster heads

2005-01-13T00:13:00.000-08:00

chicken head
Originally uploaded by sbucha004.

this is a display at a calvin klein store somewhere in hong kong... as i mentioned before we are approaching the year of the rooster and apparently calvin klein was feeling festive and thinking their clothes would look really good on manequins with rooster heads... i'm a little frightened actually, but i'm all for being festive.
i leave on saturday for a glorious month of traveling.... i'm traveling with my friend susan (she's the one behind me in the escalator picture). we are doing it true travelin' style by taking a bus across southern china to nanning in guanxi province and then taking another bus or train to vietnam. i was a little annoyed by this decision this morning, however it is much cheaper and really overnight bus trips in china make for the best stories...... we will be meeting up with people from our program on the way, but no set plans....
i will update this along the way and will hopefully be able to see it myself. have i mentioned that the powers that be in beijing will not let me view my blog, but i can still post!?!?? big brother watches my every move here. (mao's chilren in this case)
no developments in the broom closet case. did i mention that they have moved out? the room is still locked but the stuff is gone including MY MOP AND BROOM. that's all for now, i'm going to my apartment and unthawing in front of my heater. its cold again and raining!!!!!!!!!! hope everyone is doing well.
all my love
nrj
"a good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving"~lao tzu

hooray its the lunar new year!!! (feb 9th)

2005-01-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

abstract escalator
Originally uploaded by sbucha004.

this is my new year celebration pose. i'm not only excted for the lunar new year(it be the year of the rooster), but i;m off for 5 weeks and will be traveling around southeast asia soon. today was my last day of "work" which entailed giving a speech to the entire school, inviting them to my new office for english conversation and cultural exchange. so many people! not sure i'll ever speak in front of a crowd that large ever again. everyone seems pleased though and i wore my cui yuan uniform proudly! have i mentioned that we finally got our uniforms? the pants of course don't fit, but patti and i are now ready to take on corporate america. our suits alone can get us a good job.
a new mexican restaraunt opened up here last week. oh sweet cheese and salsa!! its amazing how much i miss mexican food. its quite the hot spot for all shenzhen expats.
i met with an american professor and his wife and a chinese man last night, to help with a guide book they are writing. they saw my picture in the paper and called the school to ask if i could give any suggestions for their book. it seems really great, but is in the very early stages, so i'm not sure if it'll get published before i leave............ not sure what credit i'll get either, but maybe a mention under contributors?? the chinese man also designs mirrors for this glass company that makes lead-free mirrors (hooray for environmental and health safety). he gave me some mirrors and asked if i could give input on some of his designs sometimes. their biggest market is europe, so he wanted a western pointt of view. mostly i think he wants to practice english, but i got a free mirror out of the deal. anyway, this entry's a lil dry, but i'm really tired and pre occupied with making travel plans! (my life is soooo horrible) maybe something will happen today that's more exciting...... i'm eating mexican food, that's exciting right?

morning exercises,stolen purses, forgotten broom closets

2005-01-06T17:48:00.000-08:00

morning exercises
Originally uploaded by sbucha004.

this photo is of morning excercises at a primary school my friend susan teaches at. (i've stolen all these pictures from her website, i'm still trying to figure out this techno crap) anyway, they do this at every school every morning, including the primary school i live next to.... the one that plays "jingle bells" as their bell to change classes everyday, all year long, even on saturday and sundays. have i mentioned that?
now, for the sad news, i didn't mention this when i wrote before about the wedding, but my purse was stolen at the wedding! right from the very chair i was sitting in. it was the end of the evening and everyone was leaving. i turned around to take a photo and reached back to grab my purse and it was gone!!!!! luckily, i had my camera and my keys in my coat pocket. the purse was very small, more like a little pouch, but i had 200 rmb in it and my chapstick... i can't decide which one i miss more???
never fear living in china will always provide comic relief and the more i think about this, the funnier it is. patti and i live on the top floor of our building. if you are facing our front door, there is a wee staircase to the left and at the top is a wee room that is(was) quite disgusting, but was a good place for storing our brooms and mop and bucket. (our school gave us about 10 brooms, so they really needed a room of their own). anyway, one day i start cleaning and get everything ready to be swept and mopped. i of course need the broom and mop/bucket, so i walk out the front door, up the tiny staircase and notice there is a padlock on the door, which wasn't there before and there are only two apartments on each floor and i know the family across the hall doesn't use the room. anyway, i'm mad cause i'm all ready to clean, but i pull on the lock and it comes open... i open the door, look inside and find.............................................................. the room had been cleaned out and someone is living in there!?!?! what the hell? the room was so tidy and there was a cot, a small table with a lamp and house shoes next to the bed. AND they gotten rid of our broom collection only to be using the one they kept and the mop and bucket which was full of water. i couldn't believe it!
so, since this is china and nothing is private, i decide to use MY mop and broom and such. i take the broom, sweep the apartment and go back up to get the mop. well, when i scoot it towards me to pick it up, i accidentally slosh the water everywhere and spills all over the floor.... eeekkk. oh well, they shouldn't have comadeered my broom closet! so i kind of mop up the excess water, but think if i leave some maybe they'll get the hint.... well they haven't and actally i've never seen or heard anyone up there, so i'm not sure they still live there. i haven't been up since, but my apartment is nasty so i'm thinking of making a trip this weekend... i'll let everyone know how it turns out.
i told my contact teacher and he started cracking up.... "someone is living there?" that is the foreign teahcers room, not someone's house"... not sure what he's gonna do about it. i don't want them to be kicked out of their closet house, i just want a clean apartment.

chinese hip hop

2005-01-06T16:58:00.000-08:00

at true colors
Originally uploaded by sbucha004.

this is at a club called true colors in shenzhen, we were in the hip hop room and this was one of the bands. i don't think they were so much hip hop, but the break dancers afterwards, oh man, if only i had pictures.....they were quite good.

lan kwai fong at new year

2005-01-06T16:50:00.000-08:00

lan kwai fong at new year
Originally uploaded by sbucha004.

this is a picture of new years in hong kong. the street is called lan kwai fong.... its a popular spot for westerners, however there was a good mix on new years.... sooooo crowded and cold!! it was the coldest new year's in 20 years. there is no central heat in most places in china and as far as i know hong kong either (in the south its not really necessary,usually). we stayed at the ywca, which was really nice however extremely cold, my bones ached when i woke up in the morning cuz i was so cold. my friend amy comes by susan and i's room in the morning opens, this big cabinet and says, look what i just found this morning.....two huge extra blankets. not quite sure how i feel about that, next time i'll certainly search the room up and down.

keeping my options open

2005-01-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

the title of this blog is also the name of the article about me that was in the english newspaper here in shenzhen. they have an expat section and they interview a person each week to feature in this section. (don't be freaked out by the title "expat" its just that, a title. they call every foreigner here an expat no matter what their nationality.... i think it also gives the chinese a sense of pride that people would leave their own country to live in china) anyway, it was in the paper a long time ago and i was out of town when it was published, so i never actually saw it. however, a man named edward zhang saw it and has been in contact with me about a couple of projects he wants me to help him with and he sent me a copy in a christmas card. its quite funny actually.... weird funny. i don't remember writing most of the quotes and i'm sure its been edited a bit, but the last part says that i may stay in shenzhen because there are a lot of opportunities for foreigners and i'm definitley "keeping my options open". thus the title of this blog entry and the article were born. whew, long introduction.
things are well back in shenzhen. it is sooooooooooooooo cold!! there is absolutely NO central heat anywhere either. i wear long underwear, unerneath two layers along with a coat and scarf at all times. its much colder inside than out anywhere you go. in fact there have been reports of teachers teaching class fully dressed in coat, hat, scarf and mittens. the students wear mittens with the fingers cut out of the tips. its a far cry from the sweaty days of september.
went to a chinese wedding on the 2nd. it was so great!! i was hoping to see one while i was here. i think its like it is in the states in that it has traditional undertones but has been modified to these modern times. it was at a hotel in a large banquet hall. the room was decorated in traditional chinese colors, red and yellow. there was a big stage at the front and the couple marched in to the wedding march song used in the west (what's it called?) and were dressed in western wedding clothes, white dress, tux. there was one brides maid, no groomsmen. behind the couple and brides maid was a woman dressed in tradtitional chinese clothes with a tradtional headdress. the couple marched to the stage and faced the guests. now, because most people aren't christians in china, there was no minister, preacher,father, reverend,rabbi,or the such, there was however an m.c. yes, a master of ceremonies. he told jokes, wished the couple well, made us laugh embarassed the bride and groom, it was so fun! then a "party" member of the communist variety came to the front and read their marriage license aloud to make it "official". then people gave speeches, only a few, but the line up included patti and i...... we were told this might happen, but of course had nothing prepared, so we had to go to the front and give a speech about a couple we don't even know while our contact teacher translated into chinese. another example of being exploited for our foriegness..... quite funny, but very weird. after the speeches the couples bowed to their parents and elders in the family (3 times each) then they had a toast, then they both bit out of an apple hanging from a string that the girl dressed in traditional chinese clothing held.... and that was it, time to eat! oh yeah, my contact teacher's daughter played the violin after the speeches.
ok, so next we eat and first they turn off the lights. then a group of waiters and waitresses line up along the carpet the couple marched down holding platters with baby pigs that are all flat on the plate but still have the head and in the eye sockets are red blinking lights and inside the mouth is the battery pack operating the lights!! i wasn't sure if i should laugh or be worried, but no one else seemed freaked out, so i kept my cool. i have pictures, i'll try to get them up on the web soon..... that was about it, it was over in a couple hours really. the bride changed clothes three times. after the white gown she wore a red silk traditional chinese dress and then she put on a what looked like a wedding gown, but was more of a seafoam color. i was so honored to have been invited. it wasn't entirely "traditional", but as traditional as things remain here in shenzhen.
well, i've been interuppted about 3 times since beginning this, so i'm going to stop here cuz my flow's been disrupted. i know there is more tell, so i'll write more later, when its not so busy here........ happy new year!

On the road again

2004-12-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

well, my time at home is coming to an end..... i had a really great christmas with the family and am very, very grateful for the chance to see them and talk on the phone with friends that i don't ever get to talk to. its nice to hear everyone's voice rather than read an email!! i've been playing phone tag with corie, hopefully we'll catch each other before i leave.
got a digital camera! i feel incredibly spoiled and 21st century at the same time. i rejected using computers for the longest time (i used a smith corona word processor through most of college) and am just now experiencing the wonders of technology. i'll be posting pictures on here as soon as i figure out how to do it. seriously people, i know how to type and turn the thing on, that's about it.
am going shopping today for a few last minute things for myself and for things people have requested that they miss : special hair conditioner, panty hose, reese's peanut butter cups, pretzels, etc...... hopefully i'll get "suzanne's" shoes, but don't know if i'll make it to target...(sorry "suzanne" i'm going to try) its really amazing what you miss when you are so far from home for such a long time. i find myself wanting things i wouldn't even want if i were home....or, eating at mcdonald's in china cuz i just can't eat dumplings (jiaozi) for one more meal...... they serve egg mcmuffins all day long, so i can get one without the meat or a big mac with no meat. both are quite disgusting and i would never do it here, but china makes you do strange things. you know the saying "what happens in vegas stays in vegas", same goes for china...
anyway, i've certainly eaten well since i've been home... my mom is a great cook and has kept me well fed since i've been home. tonight i will eat mexican and drink a margarita (maybe 5) to wrap up the u.s. tour of eating....cheese, mostly i've eaten cheese. all right i think this is it till i return to the "motherland". hope everyone has a wonderful new year's celebration or chill out, whatever you may be doing. take good care.....
~may you never live in exciting times. ~ Chinese Proverb

Explanations

2004-12-24T08:52:00.000-08:00

just a foot note about this blog.... the name "the adventures of ninnybockers" is inspired by a project my sisters and i are working on. the name may or may not be copyright-ed so don't steal it.........
second, excuse my language at times, my writing tends to be stream of consciousness. i can not be responsible for all offensive slip ups.
third, i may or may not use different names when talking about friends and family. i prefer to protect the innocent (since this is a public journal). however, i may find it fit at times to expose their true identities.

peace
nicole r johnson

jet lag,happy holidays, and watches

2004-12-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

its day 3 of my visit home to the u.s. and i'm finally starting to feel like i'm on a normal schedule. unfortunately i'm fighting off a cold or something, but i think i'll be o.k. . Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! its christmas eve and i can't wait till 24 hours of a christmas story begins (or maybe it already has) how is it that movie never gets old?
so, living in china one can get many things that are knock off versions of designers' stuff. watches, handbags, clothes, etc..... i was quite excited to buy my dad and brother in law knock off rolexes for christmas. now, the term knock off implies these are just cheap copies, however much of the merchandise is made exactly as the originals, its just not the real deal, so its sold extremely discounted. anyway, buying things in china is never an easy task. one must bargain and be prepared to walk away many times. never take a first offer kind of deal. at first it was sort of a game, but as i began buying christmas presents it became an exhausting chore.
i visited the train station which has 5 floors of knock off merchandise and really anything else you could want, including viagra that they will offer to any man that walks by. i went to many stalls selling watches and inspected many,many, many watches and negotiated many, many times trying to get the best quality for the best price. at one point early in my buying journey we visited a store which sells real rolexes to ensure we were getting the best quality fake. i looked and looked and finally found two women who weren't so dodgy and willing to bargain even when i gave a ridiculously low price. (maybe that in itself should have been a warning sign). well, i finally settle on two watches that upon inspection seem to be great quality and represent the truest of rolexes. i pay the money and am completely relieved that i don't have to continue bargaining and i have two great presents. i was quite proud as i left the train station that day and felt i had finally gotten the hang of the buying process in china.
WRONG!!!
my father came to pick me up from the airport as it was a surprise to my mom that i was coming home. he and i were chatting and the subject of fake merchandise came up. he goes on about how he wants a fake rolex and how the second hand should move smoothly (not like a quartz watch which sticks at every second). i gleam with pride as i feel i've gotten the coolest gifts ever for he and my bro in law. the pride soon turns to anxiety as i realize i never really checked out the watches after buying them. why the hell wouldn't i have looked at them before walking out of the damned stall? does the second hand stick? will the clasp break? was there even glass (or crystal in the case of a "rolex") over the face? shit, shit, shit, i should've inspected.
well, i get home and check on my prize christmas presents only to find that the second hand does stick and on one watch the date hasn't changed. not so bad i guess, i'll give them the crappy ones and then get new ones and send them good "A" quality ones, as they say. i continue to have anxiety over these stupid watches, because one, i was really excited that they were the coolest gifts ever, and two, i had been HAD and taken advantage of and my pride was crushed, i had fallen into the dumb ass foreigner trap and had thought myself smarter than that. anyway, i went to check on my poor sickly watches for a second time only to find they DON'T WORK AT ALL. son of a bitch, i need to cry. i certainly realize i'm not the first person to be had and definitely not in china, but here i am on christmas eve with nothing to give the two coolest men in my life :) let this be a warning to you all.
on the other hand, i don't think the spirit of christmas is supposed to be about stuff right?!?!?? ha... i'll catch on to the ways of china eventually. in the meantime, i'm crying over my dead, A quality, fake watches.

home sweet home

2004-12-23T02:18:00.000-08:00

well, i'm back in the U.S. for christmas. it is going to be a very short trip, but am glad to see my family. the jet lag is killing me... what's a girl to do? so, i'm visiting my parents who now live in soddy daisy, tn. yes, the town is called soddy daisy and its just up the road from possum creek (no O in this possum people) the differences are too numerous to list, or i should say i'm not prepared to write that much, but the silence, ahhhhhh the sweet silence. china is an incredibly noisy place and i live in such a big city that i never find myself with a silent moment. i'm enjoying every minute of it along with the delicious food. although, my body isn't used to the richness of the food here so i find myself not able to eat as much as i'd like. probably a good thing, but i only have a week to fit it all in.
ok, this is quite a boring entry, but i was anxious to write the first one. its 2 am and i've just woken up from what my body thinks was a nap, but was meant to be a full nights sleep...
more later, when my body and mind know which way is up.....
peace and cookies to all......