Sunday, January 20, 2008
On to a new city
We left Hoi An two days ago. I didn't make it unscathed. I ended up getting a pair of black leather dress shoes made and some long shorts, aka- "man capris" (so I can fit in with all the European travelers). But both were pretty great deals and I am really happy with the shoes, I mean, they were made for me feet, you can't go wrong with that. I am pretty picky though, I couldn't find a shoe for them to copy (in like 4 catalogues) so I had them combine a couple and it worked really well. Definitely a purchase for the States though, I don't really have any need for them in China, in fact, it's so dirty there I am not sure I would want to wear them. We are in Nha Trang now, its in the Southern part of the country and is a beach town. We took a night bus with just seats to get here so we were out of it yesterday. Today we went on a boat tour to some different islands. I went snorkeling for a little while and managed to see a couple cool fish despite the below quality equipment-my mask was purple and pink and looked like it came out of the toy aisle at Fred Meyer. But overall the trip was a lot of fun and there were plenty of beautiful sites and all the crystal blue green water you could ask for. And despite my whiteness I managed to stay relatively burn free. I guess it helps that Jen is packing SPF 50 suntan lotion that I have to use since there is nothing else. We are sticking around here tomorrow as well and then we are on to the city of Dalat in the south central highlands. As for right now, I am going to shower and try and get this dried salt off me and then try convince the girls that they want to splurge for Indian food. Cheers (we've run into a lot of Australians here, I'm picking up some of the overused lines).
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Some of the places I have been...
I'm 9ish days into my adventure and everything is going well. So far we have visited a few different places in Vietnam and it has been quite the experience. We havent had too many chances to get the internet, so now that I have it I will do a brief highlight reel of my thoughts and experiences in the different places as well as a little background info...
Hanoi...the capital of Vietnam, a pretty big city (about 6 million), in the north. some words to describe it...1. motorbikes-so many you wouldnt believe. zooming everywhere. you can't escape them. crossing the street is pure madness. 2. foreigners-there were so many tourists there, there are still so many tourists. it has been a long long time since i have seen this many white people. but it is frustrating being treated like a western tourist. i am not on the same budget as they are and in a lot of ways dont think the same way because of my time in China, just small stuff, but noticable none the less and a pain on my pocketbook. i went to bed exhausted because i had to argue for decent prices all day long. it actually made me glad that guiyang doesnt have much of a western presence. 3. coffee-vietnam has some powerful and amazing coffee, i think i have had some everyday i have been here...good stuff.
Halong Bay...in Northwest Vietnam on the South China Sea. Over 5000 limestone islands. Just beautiful. some words... 1. boats-we slept on a boat one night and cruised a couple afternoons on a boat. there were so many boats and tourists, but you didnt notice when we were moving. the boat wasnt too nice, but it was nice enough. 2. mice-jen and susie had some food that was eaten by mice in there room on the boat (or maybe rats), but I am thankful i didnt run into any. 3. kayaking-went kayaking for 40 minutes, a little disappointing, i would have liked to go all day, but that wasnt part of the tour. 4. Cat Ba Island-stayed on this island for a night, a nice quiet break from hanoi, it was beautiful, felt like i was in Jurassic Park-minus the dinosaurs. 5. $45-the cost of the 3 day/2 night tour 6. 100+ Pictures-number of pictures i took from the top of the boat of the bay around me, it was amazing, just epic. pictures and word can't describe.
Hue...in the middle of Vietnam. historic capital. some words...1. sleeper bus-second sleeper bus of the trip, much better than the first, but at the same time not. i took a middle bed and found myself crunched, literally. i woke up every 45 minutes after having my body scream at me in pain. i found out at 5 am that the other beds were longer and had totally gotten the short end of the deal. oh well, i was rested enough. 2. the citadel-just cruised around the ancient walled portion of the city looking at older sites, laid back, nothing too exciting, only stayed 24 hours
Hoi An...120 km south of Hue. Coastal town with river. some words... 1. Tailors-tons of them here. you can get ANYTHING made. if i a.) needed a suit b.) had a place to put a suit c.) wanted to pay the $50 for a suit... i would get a really nice suit made. but instead i think i am going to opt out for some man capris...yeah...i just feel like i should fit in with all of the european tourists traveling through vietnam. 2. my current location-i am here now, for a few days. there is a beach i am hoping to bike to tomorrow. it was rainy today though, so hopefully tomorrow is better.
Some side notes...i havent been too impressed with the food, it is all kind of bland. i am used the the spice of guizhou. i havent paid over $4 a night for lodging. we have gotten some deals. it has been a cheaper part of the trip. i am not sure where jen and susie are right now. i left them roughly three blocks from the hotel about an hour ago and they have yet to show up, even though i feel like they should have finished at the tailors 40 minutes ago. i am going to look for them. thus, more updates later.
Hanoi...the capital of Vietnam, a pretty big city (about 6 million), in the north. some words to describe it...1. motorbikes-so many you wouldnt believe. zooming everywhere. you can't escape them. crossing the street is pure madness. 2. foreigners-there were so many tourists there, there are still so many tourists. it has been a long long time since i have seen this many white people. but it is frustrating being treated like a western tourist. i am not on the same budget as they are and in a lot of ways dont think the same way because of my time in China, just small stuff, but noticable none the less and a pain on my pocketbook. i went to bed exhausted because i had to argue for decent prices all day long. it actually made me glad that guiyang doesnt have much of a western presence. 3. coffee-vietnam has some powerful and amazing coffee, i think i have had some everyday i have been here...good stuff.
Halong Bay...in Northwest Vietnam on the South China Sea. Over 5000 limestone islands. Just beautiful. some words... 1. boats-we slept on a boat one night and cruised a couple afternoons on a boat. there were so many boats and tourists, but you didnt notice when we were moving. the boat wasnt too nice, but it was nice enough. 2. mice-jen and susie had some food that was eaten by mice in there room on the boat (or maybe rats), but I am thankful i didnt run into any. 3. kayaking-went kayaking for 40 minutes, a little disappointing, i would have liked to go all day, but that wasnt part of the tour. 4. Cat Ba Island-stayed on this island for a night, a nice quiet break from hanoi, it was beautiful, felt like i was in Jurassic Park-minus the dinosaurs. 5. $45-the cost of the 3 day/2 night tour 6. 100+ Pictures-number of pictures i took from the top of the boat of the bay around me, it was amazing, just epic. pictures and word can't describe.
Hue...in the middle of Vietnam. historic capital. some words...1. sleeper bus-second sleeper bus of the trip, much better than the first, but at the same time not. i took a middle bed and found myself crunched, literally. i woke up every 45 minutes after having my body scream at me in pain. i found out at 5 am that the other beds were longer and had totally gotten the short end of the deal. oh well, i was rested enough. 2. the citadel-just cruised around the ancient walled portion of the city looking at older sites, laid back, nothing too exciting, only stayed 24 hours
Hoi An...120 km south of Hue. Coastal town with river. some words... 1. Tailors-tons of them here. you can get ANYTHING made. if i a.) needed a suit b.) had a place to put a suit c.) wanted to pay the $50 for a suit... i would get a really nice suit made. but instead i think i am going to opt out for some man capris...yeah...i just feel like i should fit in with all of the european tourists traveling through vietnam. 2. my current location-i am here now, for a few days. there is a beach i am hoping to bike to tomorrow. it was rainy today though, so hopefully tomorrow is better.
Some side notes...i havent been too impressed with the food, it is all kind of bland. i am used the the spice of guizhou. i havent paid over $4 a night for lodging. we have gotten some deals. it has been a cheaper part of the trip. i am not sure where jen and susie are right now. i left them roughly three blocks from the hotel about an hour ago and they have yet to show up, even though i feel like they should have finished at the tailors 40 minutes ago. i am going to look for them. thus, more updates later.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
We made it to Vietnam
Well, I made it to Vietnam. There were a lot of things working against us, including but not limited too: confusion with Vietnamese Visas, sold out bus tickets, bad directions, etc. But we worked through all of the problems (we bought a ticket two hours from the border and took another bus from there) and we made it to Vietnam. Right now I am at an internet cafe in a border town waiting for our train to depart. So far Vietnam has been good though. No one stares at you and you talk to people in English instead of using hand gestures and broken Chinese. So no complaints. We have been on the go now since the evening of the 5th and everything has gone well. I will continue to keep you updated with good stories and memorable events. Here is one for starters...We arrrived to the bus station last night only to find that all but two of the tickets to our destination were sold out. We made Suzie talk with the lady and she found out we could take a bus to a small town and then take another bus from there, although we had no idea what time the bus would leave from the town. So we decided, why not, and went for it (only after we were sure it was actually on the way). But the best part of this story is the sleeper bus. Let's just say that Chinese Sleeper buses make for experiences that no one over 175 cm (5'10") should ever have to endure. I fit in my "bed," but barely. If you picture a mummy laying down, that was me. Arms crossed, feet flush against the foot of the bed and no room to move left or right. We were all in top bunks and just laid there laughing for the first hour of the trip. I was just happy to be on the next leg to Vietnam and to be moving because everyone had taken there shoes off to lay down and it was smelling a little bit. But the story ends well. We got off our bus, bought tickets and got on another bus and were on our way to the border-only a 15 minute layover, couldn't have worked better if we planned it. Of course Chinese minibuses are a whole new expierence. If you are on a minibus through rural China you can usually expect three things: really bumpy roads (check), a lot of cigarette smoke (check), and some great views (check). We traveled over mountains covered in banana tree farm forests. And viewed other amazing mountains through the morning fog. Not bad, not bad. T-minus 5.5 hours until our departure to Hanoi.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Christmas
12/27/07
It's all been kind of surreal. I am not sure if it happened or what. It was a glimpse of what every Christmas in the past has been, but it's been so different. Is it maybe a good thing to have experienced it in a new light without the standard traditions and events that we sometimes misconstrue to "make" the holiday? That doesn't make missing those events and that time with the family any easier though.
It was quite different, but at the same time, some things were pleasantly similar…At seven o'clock on Christmas Eve I was sitting in a dimly lit room watching a candle lighting service (not at the service in a sanctuary, but similar). On Christmas morning I went upstairs and ate scrambled eggs, blueberry muffins, and two pieces of bacon (not eaten at my Grandmother's/my house, but very very similar). I then read the Christmas story and opened presents with "family" members (not real family members, but my sisters here in China). And after opening presents I spoke with my family in the states (Abby found baby J, for those of you familiar with my family's Christmas traditions. I let my dad take my place this year, a giant controversy in and of itself, but I got to pick the hiding place-the freezer, maybe a little insensitive, but so was the manger and they say it was a cold night, so I figure it's historically accurate. But Abby had given up searching, was eating pie in the kitchen, and randomly spotted the star on the fridge. It was the longest indoor search in family history.) After that conversation I went over to my friend's home, a British family-the husband teaches at my university, and celebrated Christmas in true British fashion. We went over about midday (a highly disputed word, but in British terms it strictly means noon) and we had a very large lunch, played games, sang carols, and just relaxed. It was a great day. A lot of the people I have become close with since I have arrived were there and the family's hospitality is unrivaled. There is no way you can't feel at home when you visit their home. It was great, I learned about many British Christmas traditions (tea rings and crackers, for example) and I wrestled a lot with their young children-who I also tried convincing at every possible opportunity that the U.S. was better than England, just to get a rise out of their mother who jokes about her fears that her children will be made fun of by the other kids when they return to England next year because they have spent too much time with Americans. Great food, great company, a great focus on the reason for the season, it was a very good day.
Things back home went well too. There was a family memory time for my Grandma that I was told went very well. That's all kind of surreal too. I know it is different back home and at times it has hit me, but I don't think there will be anyway to truly grasp that until I am home and she isn't there.
But that was my Christmas. Overall, it was as good as it could have been for being on the other side of the world and it being my first Christmas away from home. I am going to celebrate New Year's with some of the same friends, which I am excited about. And right now I am busy planning my trip to SE Asia. Rough outline is 20 days in Vietnam, 6 days in Cambodia, 10 days in Thailand, then on to Hong Kong for a conference and hopefully to see a friend from Seattle. I am done with classes, which is great. I have been reading a lot too. Working on one by N.T. Wright, it's good stuff.
It's all been kind of surreal. I am not sure if it happened or what. It was a glimpse of what every Christmas in the past has been, but it's been so different. Is it maybe a good thing to have experienced it in a new light without the standard traditions and events that we sometimes misconstrue to "make" the holiday? That doesn't make missing those events and that time with the family any easier though.
It was quite different, but at the same time, some things were pleasantly similar…At seven o'clock on Christmas Eve I was sitting in a dimly lit room watching a candle lighting service (not at the service in a sanctuary, but similar). On Christmas morning I went upstairs and ate scrambled eggs, blueberry muffins, and two pieces of bacon (not eaten at my Grandmother's/my house, but very very similar). I then read the Christmas story and opened presents with "family" members (not real family members, but my sisters here in China). And after opening presents I spoke with my family in the states (Abby found baby J, for those of you familiar with my family's Christmas traditions. I let my dad take my place this year, a giant controversy in and of itself, but I got to pick the hiding place-the freezer, maybe a little insensitive, but so was the manger and they say it was a cold night, so I figure it's historically accurate. But Abby had given up searching, was eating pie in the kitchen, and randomly spotted the star on the fridge. It was the longest indoor search in family history.) After that conversation I went over to my friend's home, a British family-the husband teaches at my university, and celebrated Christmas in true British fashion. We went over about midday (a highly disputed word, but in British terms it strictly means noon) and we had a very large lunch, played games, sang carols, and just relaxed. It was a great day. A lot of the people I have become close with since I have arrived were there and the family's hospitality is unrivaled. There is no way you can't feel at home when you visit their home. It was great, I learned about many British Christmas traditions (tea rings and crackers, for example) and I wrestled a lot with their young children-who I also tried convincing at every possible opportunity that the U.S. was better than England, just to get a rise out of their mother who jokes about her fears that her children will be made fun of by the other kids when they return to England next year because they have spent too much time with Americans. Great food, great company, a great focus on the reason for the season, it was a very good day.
Things back home went well too. There was a family memory time for my Grandma that I was told went very well. That's all kind of surreal too. I know it is different back home and at times it has hit me, but I don't think there will be anyway to truly grasp that until I am home and she isn't there.
But that was my Christmas. Overall, it was as good as it could have been for being on the other side of the world and it being my first Christmas away from home. I am going to celebrate New Year's with some of the same friends, which I am excited about. And right now I am busy planning my trip to SE Asia. Rough outline is 20 days in Vietnam, 6 days in Cambodia, 10 days in Thailand, then on to Hong Kong for a conference and hopefully to see a friend from Seattle. I am done with classes, which is great. I have been reading a lot too. Working on one by N.T. Wright, it's good stuff.
A few stories from the last couple weeks…
12/22/07
I have been giving exams this week to my non-majors students. I co-teach these students with other teachers (Chinese English Teachers). I didn't think I would have to give them an exam, but I found out a couple weeks ago I had to judge their speaking ability. Two teachers that I teach with suggested the best way to assess this would be to interview all of them, all 500 of them. I reluctantly agreed and have thus spent 20 hours the last week two weeks choosing from a list of about 10 questions and listening to responses in Chinese-English (I specify Chinese-English because it isn't normal English, it is draining to listen to and requires a lot of patience and head nodding. It breeds a whole new type of mental toughness, or insanity.). But I made it through. It really wasn't too bad. Well, maybe it was. Four hours straight no breaks of that, let's just say the other foreign teachers here have laughed and then said sorry when I told them about my classes these last two weeks.
I have gone to a couple Christmas parties in the last week. Chinese parties are different than American parties. For example to party I went to with the people I do the English Book Study with-It had an agenda. It had performances. It had speakers and songs. It had chairs and desks set up in a square that we had to sit in. It was not a party. I don't know why they choose to call it such, but I think a new word needs to be created for it. It's just not right. And almost everything was in Chinese so I needed it translated. Granted it wasn't bad and it really recognized the reason for Christmas, but it wasn't a party as you and I know a party. This fact resulted in us being really nervous about singing Feliz Navidad when it came time for our performance, but it went ok and the mood lightened slightly, but only slightly. It was a poor performance by myself and two other Americans, the energy just wasn't there.
It happened again…a cooking disaster. I had the best of intentions to make Christmas cookies. I bought or gathered everything I needed, and I even have an oven now (a cross between a toaster oven and a conventional oven) to use. One thing I had to borrow was flour. My friend gave me "flour," only after adding three cups I decided the consistency wasn't right and what she thought was flour was actually baking soda. Thus, it resulted in a major failed attempt to make cookies. I am just glad I didn't try and bake them or eat them. Either way, it was eerily similar to the Thanksgiving sweet potato incident.
I have received several AMAZING (in the wow, this is hilarious sense of the word) Christmas gifts from students. Here is a small list…
-A Yao Ming Piggy Bank with Yao throwing up the victory (peace) sign-this is my favorite
-Apples, apples, and more apples
-A book about Confucius in Chinese
-A music box with dancing birds that says "My Best Friend" on it
-Wine and Chocolate
-A notebook
-An ethnic minority decoration
-A tea cup
-Over 15 cheesy Santa cards
-Another bottle of wine
I received a Christmas box from my mom. It's amazing (in the true sense of the word). It has wrapped presents in it, which are now under the tree in my friends apartment I will celebrate Christmas at. It had English toffee and Christmas cookies (good things since mine didn't quite work). It had a small fiber optic Christmas tree-they were all the rage 4 or 5 years ago, I still like them. A couple ornaments and just a whole lot of love. It made my month. It will be tough to be away for Christmas, I am really thankful for this box and the wonderful family that sent it.
I have been giving exams this week to my non-majors students. I co-teach these students with other teachers (Chinese English Teachers). I didn't think I would have to give them an exam, but I found out a couple weeks ago I had to judge their speaking ability. Two teachers that I teach with suggested the best way to assess this would be to interview all of them, all 500 of them. I reluctantly agreed and have thus spent 20 hours the last week two weeks choosing from a list of about 10 questions and listening to responses in Chinese-English (I specify Chinese-English because it isn't normal English, it is draining to listen to and requires a lot of patience and head nodding. It breeds a whole new type of mental toughness, or insanity.). But I made it through. It really wasn't too bad. Well, maybe it was. Four hours straight no breaks of that, let's just say the other foreign teachers here have laughed and then said sorry when I told them about my classes these last two weeks.
I have gone to a couple Christmas parties in the last week. Chinese parties are different than American parties. For example to party I went to with the people I do the English Book Study with-It had an agenda. It had performances. It had speakers and songs. It had chairs and desks set up in a square that we had to sit in. It was not a party. I don't know why they choose to call it such, but I think a new word needs to be created for it. It's just not right. And almost everything was in Chinese so I needed it translated. Granted it wasn't bad and it really recognized the reason for Christmas, but it wasn't a party as you and I know a party. This fact resulted in us being really nervous about singing Feliz Navidad when it came time for our performance, but it went ok and the mood lightened slightly, but only slightly. It was a poor performance by myself and two other Americans, the energy just wasn't there.
It happened again…a cooking disaster. I had the best of intentions to make Christmas cookies. I bought or gathered everything I needed, and I even have an oven now (a cross between a toaster oven and a conventional oven) to use. One thing I had to borrow was flour. My friend gave me "flour," only after adding three cups I decided the consistency wasn't right and what she thought was flour was actually baking soda. Thus, it resulted in a major failed attempt to make cookies. I am just glad I didn't try and bake them or eat them. Either way, it was eerily similar to the Thanksgiving sweet potato incident.
I have received several AMAZING (in the wow, this is hilarious sense of the word) Christmas gifts from students. Here is a small list…
-A Yao Ming Piggy Bank with Yao throwing up the victory (peace) sign-this is my favorite
-Apples, apples, and more apples
-A book about Confucius in Chinese
-A music box with dancing birds that says "My Best Friend" on it
-Wine and Chocolate
-A notebook
-An ethnic minority decoration
-A tea cup
-Over 15 cheesy Santa cards
-Another bottle of wine
I received a Christmas box from my mom. It's amazing (in the true sense of the word). It has wrapped presents in it, which are now under the tree in my friends apartment I will celebrate Christmas at. It had English toffee and Christmas cookies (good things since mine didn't quite work). It had a small fiber optic Christmas tree-they were all the rage 4 or 5 years ago, I still like them. A couple ornaments and just a whole lot of love. It made my month. It will be tough to be away for Christmas, I am really thankful for this box and the wonderful family that sent it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
