9/9/07
It's 8:20 am, I get a phone call. We aren't leaving till 9:00. Good, time to eat an actual breakfast. Well, an actual breakfast is just peanut butter and jelly on sweet rolls, but that was better than the cup of OJ which had been the only option seconds earlier.
You see, I am going to the countryside and we need to catch a bus. Only two go directly to our destination per day, we are gunning for the second one. The bus station brings bad news, the bus is broke, can't leave till 3. We opt for two buses over the one. Nothing special one the first leg of the trip, but the second leg is the type I was hoping for. I get on the bus and am greeted two chickens, which I'm not sure if they were dead or alive until one seems to wink at me. We aren't been driving more than two minutes before we stop and some guy is throwing 10 pieces of 20 ft long aluminum piping on the top of the bus. We head up windy roads that I wouldn't dare take any car I own on. It's rained the past few days and the dirt road isn't doing so hot. But the bus goes on, weaving past terraced rice fields that accent the side of ridiculously green mountains. We pass another bus, only this bus is stuck in the mud and all its passengers are out pushing it. The bus has only been half full, but a trip through a village in the middle of market day (once every five days), fills it to the brim and I am sandwiched between a couple of old Chinese dudes puffing on cheap cigarettes who we eventually drop off somewhere in the hills to head who knows where.
We arrive in Huangping, a city of sorts, and its already 4:30, but the trip went fast, it was an amazing ride that brought entertainment in a brand new way. Nothing too crazy tonight except for accompanying a basketball court full of Chinese senior citizens in their nightly dance aerobics. They seemed to appreciate my raving aerobics. The combo of new moves and being white will captivate most any people not living in a city of 5 million+ here.
Not knowing what to expect I am not let down as Friday brings a run in with a sip of some drink that makes even the Chinese guys faces grimace in pain, three trips to schools to hand out scholarships (one of which we walk to b/c rain took out the road) and spend time with some of the cutest kids ever, and a lot of people saying "No, you can't go, you must come eat with us."
A new day, thus a new place to stay. This time in a hotel which is built on the riverside, a beautiful setting really-nothing like sleeping along the river. Also nothing like waking up to the cock-a-doodle-doos of what seems to be every rooster in the province and 20 minutes straight of firecrackers (paving the way for someone's afterlife).
A hike up a mountain to a minority village of 100 people and another forced (but also welcomed-we skipped breakfast-and you know I don't do well if I don't eat) meal later I have forgotten of my bitterness towards the roosters and am again in awe of the beauty of the countryside and the simplicity of country living. Our hike brought us alongside a water buffalo that was out for a little breakfast, past fields of peppers, and through rice fields a week away from harvest.
Funny thing is, I started the weekend not really liking hot food, but I now think food isn't served any other way-actually I kind of missed it at my next meal back in Guiyang.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Cockroachs...
I am a competitive person. This is no secret. I try my best to only express it in moderation, and as I have matured I have definitely seen this happen. Although some friends like to stir up my competitive side, I usually contain it pretty well. But I love good spirited competition. I feel like it just makes everything more interesting, gives life a little more “pizzazz” if you will. Yes, it can easily backfire, especially if you get a group of strong personalities (my friends) together, separate into teams, and play a game like nouns in a bucket, but when it doesn’t get too intense and people have a loving, yet cutthroat spirit, it’s great. Being in China, I haven’t had many competitive moments or people who really bring that side out of me, so it has rested like a sleeping giant.
As I was getting ready for bed the other day I suppose you could say I had an epiphany of sorts. I was brushing my teeth and came face to face with a cockroach. This wasn’t my first encounter, actually it was my fourth. And as I killed it, I said to myself (I find I have been saying a lot of things to myself lately, I guess this is what happens when no one else understands the language you speak), man, I have to keep track of how many of these things I kill. And then, BAM! It hits me. A cockroach kill sheet. Not only does it allow me to express my competitive side by seeing how many I can kill, it gives me something to decorate my barren walls with-granted it’s only a six inch by ten inch paper that is now curled up b/c of the humidity, but it is quite decorative. I proceeded to put four tally marks on the sheet posted it and called it a night.
The next day was a let down…zero roaches (a let down, but also a relief. I like it when bad news is also good news. The same reason I didn’t put any Lions on my fantasy football team. If they do poorly I won’t have them on my fantasy team and if they do well, I am happy because they are the team I cheer for. And if they do poorly, it is someone else’s problem).
But the cockroach count doubled last night. It was a little crazy. I literally started brushing my teeth (again) and said to myself, hmm, no cockroaches tonight. I guess that is ok. Then I walked into my kitchen and there were four. Three were already dead (my roach killers got them-and yes, I am counting them still-they are MY roach killers). The fourth one though, let's just the only reason he was alive was because he didn't fit in the roach killers to get the poison. So I swiftly stomped him, resulting in some messy clean up, but if you aren’t swift they run and you wouldn't believe how fast these things are.
This series of events also gave me a hypothesis for why it is customary to wear slippers in houses and apartments in China. Not to keep the house from getting dirty, but to always have on hand (well really they are on your feet, things aren’t that backwards here) to kill bugs. So, yeah. The count rests at 8
As I was getting ready for bed the other day I suppose you could say I had an epiphany of sorts. I was brushing my teeth and came face to face with a cockroach. This wasn’t my first encounter, actually it was my fourth. And as I killed it, I said to myself (I find I have been saying a lot of things to myself lately, I guess this is what happens when no one else understands the language you speak), man, I have to keep track of how many of these things I kill. And then, BAM! It hits me. A cockroach kill sheet. Not only does it allow me to express my competitive side by seeing how many I can kill, it gives me something to decorate my barren walls with-granted it’s only a six inch by ten inch paper that is now curled up b/c of the humidity, but it is quite decorative. I proceeded to put four tally marks on the sheet posted it and called it a night.
The next day was a let down…zero roaches (a let down, but also a relief. I like it when bad news is also good news. The same reason I didn’t put any Lions on my fantasy football team. If they do poorly I won’t have them on my fantasy team and if they do well, I am happy because they are the team I cheer for. And if they do poorly, it is someone else’s problem).
But the cockroach count doubled last night. It was a little crazy. I literally started brushing my teeth (again) and said to myself, hmm, no cockroaches tonight. I guess that is ok. Then I walked into my kitchen and there were four. Three were already dead (my roach killers got them-and yes, I am counting them still-they are MY roach killers). The fourth one though, let's just the only reason he was alive was because he didn't fit in the roach killers to get the poison. So I swiftly stomped him, resulting in some messy clean up, but if you aren’t swift they run and you wouldn't believe how fast these things are.
This series of events also gave me a hypothesis for why it is customary to wear slippers in houses and apartments in China. Not to keep the house from getting dirty, but to always have on hand (well really they are on your feet, things aren’t that backwards here) to kill bugs. So, yeah. The count rests at 8
8/29/07
Arriving to Guiyang has been relieving. I have been anxious to get to the place I would call home for the next 11 months. My first day has been good. My apartment is…an apartment. It’s mine, a place to call “home,” to be comfortable in, to have food at my finger tips, a place to go to and not have to worry about how to communicate, read, or act. But it will need some adjustments. Like turning my 7 ft x 11 ft entrance/living room into my entrance/bedroom and my 10 ft x 11 ft bedroom into a space capable of hosting people. The kitchen/laundry room…well it has a rice cooker, hot plate, fridge, and some utensils…that will do. The bathroom…the dolphin and penguin shower curtain I got at Walmart (which is underneath the People’s Square overlooked by Mao-a bit ironic if you ask us foreigners) has been a good edition. Oh, but the cleaning, that was a project. The first thing I bought…cleaner. It’s ok if my place is dirty (everything in China is dirty), but I want it to be my dirt. Not mystery dirt. So everything at least got sprayed down. It’s nice to have a place I can call my own.
9/1/07
You know, if you just don’t look at the people staring at you it isn’t THAT bad. It’s only frustrating if you let it be. I never thought I was cool/weird enough to be stared at for the sake, but I guess that is the case. There aren’t many foreigners here in Guiyang, we’re about 1 in 10,000. This being the case, we are quite the spectacle when we go out in public. Not because we are doing anything strange, just because we look different. I sort of want to just start walking on my hands to do something to actually warrant the stares, but I guess I will just have to settle on the fact that I just look different and that is why people stare. I suppose it makes you grateful for diversity in the states. Even if we think we are in a bit of a bubble sometimes we still don’t question the presence of someone who looks different from us. They have the same amount of rights to be there as we do. Not that I am complaining ;-) Culturally it is acceptable and I have only been here for a couple of weeks, who am I to question 3,000 + years of culture?
9/3/07
I guess the “September 3” on my teaching schedule was a misprint. I went to teach my first class this morning and to my surprise class doesn’t start until next week. Wait…actually, let’s have it start Friday. So I have classes Friday…I think. Maybe we won’t start until next week. Maybe I will go in again tomorrow and ask for another confirmation. If I don’t have to teach on Friday that means I may go out to the countryside with some new friends and visit a school that the company they work with helped fund. Visiting the countryside is something I really want to do, so in a way I hope I don’t have class.
Speaking of new friends…I have met some amazing people here. They are people with huge hearts, doing great things. The world is a broken place and these people have set out to try and make it a little better. Strong willed and trusting they love people and show people Fathers love. What an inspiration. Leaves me scratching my head and searching my heart as to what more I can do, as to what more is desired of me.
Arriving to Guiyang has been relieving. I have been anxious to get to the place I would call home for the next 11 months. My first day has been good. My apartment is…an apartment. It’s mine, a place to call “home,” to be comfortable in, to have food at my finger tips, a place to go to and not have to worry about how to communicate, read, or act. But it will need some adjustments. Like turning my 7 ft x 11 ft entrance/living room into my entrance/bedroom and my 10 ft x 11 ft bedroom into a space capable of hosting people. The kitchen/laundry room…well it has a rice cooker, hot plate, fridge, and some utensils…that will do. The bathroom…the dolphin and penguin shower curtain I got at Walmart (which is underneath the People’s Square overlooked by Mao-a bit ironic if you ask us foreigners) has been a good edition. Oh, but the cleaning, that was a project. The first thing I bought…cleaner. It’s ok if my place is dirty (everything in China is dirty), but I want it to be my dirt. Not mystery dirt. So everything at least got sprayed down. It’s nice to have a place I can call my own.
9/1/07
You know, if you just don’t look at the people staring at you it isn’t THAT bad. It’s only frustrating if you let it be. I never thought I was cool/weird enough to be stared at for the sake, but I guess that is the case. There aren’t many foreigners here in Guiyang, we’re about 1 in 10,000. This being the case, we are quite the spectacle when we go out in public. Not because we are doing anything strange, just because we look different. I sort of want to just start walking on my hands to do something to actually warrant the stares, but I guess I will just have to settle on the fact that I just look different and that is why people stare. I suppose it makes you grateful for diversity in the states. Even if we think we are in a bit of a bubble sometimes we still don’t question the presence of someone who looks different from us. They have the same amount of rights to be there as we do. Not that I am complaining ;-) Culturally it is acceptable and I have only been here for a couple of weeks, who am I to question 3,000 + years of culture?
9/3/07
I guess the “September 3” on my teaching schedule was a misprint. I went to teach my first class this morning and to my surprise class doesn’t start until next week. Wait…actually, let’s have it start Friday. So I have classes Friday…I think. Maybe we won’t start until next week. Maybe I will go in again tomorrow and ask for another confirmation. If I don’t have to teach on Friday that means I may go out to the countryside with some new friends and visit a school that the company they work with helped fund. Visiting the countryside is something I really want to do, so in a way I hope I don’t have class.
Speaking of new friends…I have met some amazing people here. They are people with huge hearts, doing great things. The world is a broken place and these people have set out to try and make it a little better. Strong willed and trusting they love people and show people Fathers love. What an inspiration. Leaves me scratching my head and searching my heart as to what more I can do, as to what more is desired of me.
Shanghai to Xi’an
8/26/07
We just finished up traveling from Shanghai to Xi’an. I had a lot of fun, but I have been anxious to get to Guiyang and find out a little more what my next year will look like. I have been traveling with all my stuff for the year, which makes travel days very interesting. There have been times where I have nearly doubled my weight to help my teammate Jen make it up the stairs with her luggage. A 45 lbs. duffle bag, a 40 lbs. backpack, a 20 lbs. messenger bag, and a 50 lbs. suitcase, it was quite the sight to see. No one really wanted to get in my way.
But the two weeks of traveling have included some very cool things. Shanghai was a huge city that just went on and on with skyscrapers. I actually had an opportunity to meet up with an old friend from high school there (Jonathan Meador). It was great to see him and he is doing very well there. He is studying Chinese and working very hard at it, it definitely shows as he was able to talk with people effortlessly. It was fun to see all the lights and to get my first taste of China. Shanghai is definitely a blend between East and West though, a good city to transition into life in China.
From Shanghai Jen and I went to Nanjing to stay with an old family friend of hers that lives there with her husband, who works for Ford there, and nine month old son. It was a nice break from the big city and it was wonderful to be in a well lit place that was clean, unlike the Shanghai Youth Hostel. Nanjing was nice, but nothing super note worthy. BUT, I did see my first pagoda there--something that I had been anticipating.
My favorite part of traveling was Xi’an. In Xi’an we met up with two more teachers that live in Guiyang and work with our same company, so our teammates. They were a lot of fun and one of them, Kara, even went to Seattle Pacific and lived in Seattle for a few years after that, something that definitely made me feel a little more comfortable and a little more homesick. Suzie, my other teammate is originally from Colorado. They both appreciate the outdoors and camping and backpacking, so that is nice to have some people on board with similar passions. Xi’an is a very neat city though. It has a ton of great history (along with what seems to be a lot of cities in China). The old city wall is still intact and you can walk along it (which we did) and there are other areas of town that are very interesting, specifically the Muslim quarter, an eclectic combination of culture, shopping, food, and tourists. The big hit in Xi’an though is the Terracotta Warriors. This army of over 7,000 clay warriors built to guard and emporer in the afterlife was discovered in 1974 and is quite the sight to see. They date back 3,000 years and their detail could be described as mind boggling. No two are alike and many of the weapons were still sharp when they were unearthed.
While at the Terracotta Warriors I had a pretty crazy experience. I was looking into one of the pits and I turned to my left and I see a guy that looks a lot like Jared Hiebert. I was actually convinced it was him. But I start thinking to myself…I don’t recognize the guy he’s with, he doesn’t see me, and wait…does he have blue eyes? Maybe it isn’t him, but maybe I should take a picture b/c if it isn’t him then he needs to see how much this guy looks like him. Well, truth be told, his eyes are blue, I hadn’t ever met his brother, and yes it was him. He looks up and sees me as is like, Jake? So yeah, 5900 miles from Seattle and I run into one of my classmates. Very weird.
We just finished up traveling from Shanghai to Xi’an. I had a lot of fun, but I have been anxious to get to Guiyang and find out a little more what my next year will look like. I have been traveling with all my stuff for the year, which makes travel days very interesting. There have been times where I have nearly doubled my weight to help my teammate Jen make it up the stairs with her luggage. A 45 lbs. duffle bag, a 40 lbs. backpack, a 20 lbs. messenger bag, and a 50 lbs. suitcase, it was quite the sight to see. No one really wanted to get in my way.
But the two weeks of traveling have included some very cool things. Shanghai was a huge city that just went on and on with skyscrapers. I actually had an opportunity to meet up with an old friend from high school there (Jonathan Meador). It was great to see him and he is doing very well there. He is studying Chinese and working very hard at it, it definitely shows as he was able to talk with people effortlessly. It was fun to see all the lights and to get my first taste of China. Shanghai is definitely a blend between East and West though, a good city to transition into life in China.
From Shanghai Jen and I went to Nanjing to stay with an old family friend of hers that lives there with her husband, who works for Ford there, and nine month old son. It was a nice break from the big city and it was wonderful to be in a well lit place that was clean, unlike the Shanghai Youth Hostel. Nanjing was nice, but nothing super note worthy. BUT, I did see my first pagoda there--something that I had been anticipating.
My favorite part of traveling was Xi’an. In Xi’an we met up with two more teachers that live in Guiyang and work with our same company, so our teammates. They were a lot of fun and one of them, Kara, even went to Seattle Pacific and lived in Seattle for a few years after that, something that definitely made me feel a little more comfortable and a little more homesick. Suzie, my other teammate is originally from Colorado. They both appreciate the outdoors and camping and backpacking, so that is nice to have some people on board with similar passions. Xi’an is a very neat city though. It has a ton of great history (along with what seems to be a lot of cities in China). The old city wall is still intact and you can walk along it (which we did) and there are other areas of town that are very interesting, specifically the Muslim quarter, an eclectic combination of culture, shopping, food, and tourists. The big hit in Xi’an though is the Terracotta Warriors. This army of over 7,000 clay warriors built to guard and emporer in the afterlife was discovered in 1974 and is quite the sight to see. They date back 3,000 years and their detail could be described as mind boggling. No two are alike and many of the weapons were still sharp when they were unearthed.
While at the Terracotta Warriors I had a pretty crazy experience. I was looking into one of the pits and I turned to my left and I see a guy that looks a lot like Jared Hiebert. I was actually convinced it was him. But I start thinking to myself…I don’t recognize the guy he’s with, he doesn’t see me, and wait…does he have blue eyes? Maybe it isn’t him, but maybe I should take a picture b/c if it isn’t him then he needs to see how much this guy looks like him. Well, truth be told, his eyes are blue, I hadn’t ever met his brother, and yes it was him. He looks up and sees me as is like, Jake? So yeah, 5900 miles from Seattle and I run into one of my classmates. Very weird.
Getting Here
8/15/2007 Getting Here
So…I can’t get access to my blog over here, but that is ok. I have some contacts back home that are more than happy to post things for me (thank you Abby). But I am a ways behind in sharing my experiences and I want to make sure that I share them b/c there have been some great ones and I am learning a lot. Something to be Thinking about is that I can’t check my friend’s blogs either and it is really important to me to be connected with them, so I hope to find a way to do that still.
Well, how about my first story… I arrived to SeaTac only to find long lines and disgruntled travelers. I finally made it to the security checkpoint only to be told that my Nalgene full of water couldn't go through (I am a fool, should have known). The security lady said I could poor it out outside and wait in line again/drink it/toss it. I decided there was no way I was standing in the Hades line again and then I debated about drinking it, but it was full and I felt like the guy behind me was sympathetic and I could have asked him, but didn't want to, so I just tossed it. I then made my way to the N gates where I get in line for a bagel only to be standing next to the same guy again. Not that weird, but I board my plane an hour later...he is on it. I get to San Francisco and have to leave the security gate to deliver mail I forgot to take care of earlier and then go back in and as I am on a moving walkway to my gate someone hits my bag, same guy. I am like "Where are you going?" of course...Shanghai. I tell him I am going there as well and I ask him what he is doing and he tells me he has been studying there for 8 years and he has a lot of the same Passions I do about living here. We got a chance to talk some more and then I met some more people on the same flight from his company and we all talked for a while and sat in the same area of the plane (which was only half full...great deal). On the plane we exchange information and he tells me that he wanted to help me drink my water...too bad I didn't ask. But I get to Shanghai and one of my bags doesn't come through. I am like, what in the world do I do. I don't know where I am staying, what Jen's cell # is (she is my teaching teammate in Guiyang that I would be traveling with and she was on the other side of customs), or how to even tell them my bag is missing. But this guy just comes in, has them send it to his place gives him his # and takes care of it all. The next day he has them drop it off at my hostel and bam, everything is just fine.
Quite the story, I think. Just a reminder of how I am Taken care of.
So…I can’t get access to my blog over here, but that is ok. I have some contacts back home that are more than happy to post things for me (thank you Abby). But I am a ways behind in sharing my experiences and I want to make sure that I share them b/c there have been some great ones and I am learning a lot. Something to be Thinking about is that I can’t check my friend’s blogs either and it is really important to me to be connected with them, so I hope to find a way to do that still.
Well, how about my first story… I arrived to SeaTac only to find long lines and disgruntled travelers. I finally made it to the security checkpoint only to be told that my Nalgene full of water couldn't go through (I am a fool, should have known). The security lady said I could poor it out outside and wait in line again/drink it/toss it. I decided there was no way I was standing in the Hades line again and then I debated about drinking it, but it was full and I felt like the guy behind me was sympathetic and I could have asked him, but didn't want to, so I just tossed it. I then made my way to the N gates where I get in line for a bagel only to be standing next to the same guy again. Not that weird, but I board my plane an hour later...he is on it. I get to San Francisco and have to leave the security gate to deliver mail I forgot to take care of earlier and then go back in and as I am on a moving walkway to my gate someone hits my bag, same guy. I am like "Where are you going?" of course...Shanghai. I tell him I am going there as well and I ask him what he is doing and he tells me he has been studying there for 8 years and he has a lot of the same Passions I do about living here. We got a chance to talk some more and then I met some more people on the same flight from his company and we all talked for a while and sat in the same area of the plane (which was only half full...great deal). On the plane we exchange information and he tells me that he wanted to help me drink my water...too bad I didn't ask. But I get to Shanghai and one of my bags doesn't come through. I am like, what in the world do I do. I don't know where I am staying, what Jen's cell # is (she is my teaching teammate in Guiyang that I would be traveling with and she was on the other side of customs), or how to even tell them my bag is missing. But this guy just comes in, has them send it to his place gives him his # and takes care of it all. The next day he has them drop it off at my hostel and bam, everything is just fine.
Quite the story, I think. Just a reminder of how I am Taken care of.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Final Preparations
The last couple months have been a bit of a whirlwind. After graduating in early June, I spent sometime with my family in Seattle and then headed home at the end of the month. It was quite the trip, I have never driven that much before in my life. I spent a little while in Montana, but the latter half of my trip included two 14 hour driving days. But my time at home was great. I was able to spend more time with my family and also I had some training for my upcoming time in China. A lot of it focused around adjusting to living in another culture and teaching English as a second language, among some other good things. After a week in Michigan I spent time in Idaho with friends and I am now in Seattle making final preperations for my trip. I leave August 14th for Shanghai. I will be travelling with a fellow teacher for the first two weeks. We are going to spend time in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Xi'an. I am very excited for this and I think it will be a good warm up to actually living in a new and very different culture. It is exciting to think that I leave in two weeks, but a lot of my feelings seem to deal with me not really knowing what to expect. I guess I am just looking forward to getting on the plane and going because until then I don't think I will feel much different than I do now. I still have some things to complete before I go, but everything is coming together pretty well...hopefully before the 14th I will have everything ready to go as needed.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Teaching
Hey Team,
So not to long ago going to China became a little more real. I now know where I will be spending my next year. I will be teaching English at a university in the Guizhou Province in southwest China. Guiyang is the capital city of Guizhou, and it has a population of 800,000 city and 3,000,000 for the whole metropolitan area--so it is right about Seattle's size. I also found out I will be working alongside another teacher and that two other teachers, that work at another university, and a couple and their family (my team leaders) will also be in Guiyang. I have had the chance to email most of them and they are all very nice and most of them have some kind of ties to Michigan or SPU, so you can't go wrong with that.
But things are coming along. I still have some paper work that needs to get completed, as well as many other tasks such as: raising start up costs ($5,000), learning Chinese (I want to at least get "an ear" for it and be able to distinguish between different words before I go), training, getting life organized, oh, and graduating. So that is what I am busy with now, but I am really excited to be going to Guizhou. Oh, Guizhou is home to Asia's largest waterfall and some cool mountains and caves, etc. I just wanted to update with what all was going on though. Once something else exciting happens, I will write again.
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