In Lauf

All year I have been reading about Lauf, Germany, the home of my good friend Drew, via Drew's blog. I have read about its little nooks, crannies, and intricacies. I have read about adventures that have been had and apartments that have been rented. Well, today I am in Lauf, in that apartment, and gearing up for some adventures-and exploration of a nook or cranny. Life is good. Great places and amazing people. More on this later, but just to let you know all is well.

Standard bush league.

So Randi and I got to Chongqing. And of course, no train tickets to Chengdu for five hours, so we opt for the bus. Or, rather, to try and find a bus. On the way to the long distance bus station (that had no buses to Chengdu) we pass a lady with a sign that says Chengdu in Chinese characters. I say "we want to go there" in Chinese. She lists a price, I double check at the bus station to make sure we can't get there a more legitimate way and then we are off. Following two Chinese ladies (who were practically running) who throw us in a taxi, take us to the side of the highway, and sit us down. We managed to escape for a bathroom break, but we werent lucky enough to get breakfast/lunch. Then, a bus pulls up, we hand a guy some money and they throw us on...except when we get on there aren't enough seats and the guy I gave my money to...gone. The two ladies...walking away, trying not to look at me as I am waving them over. No worries, a guy gets up, Randi steals his seat, I slide in next to her, we are good to go-it's good being a foreigner. The other people find another bus or something and then we are off to Chengdu. Sketch...yes, but it worked. Lots more adventures, hopefully I can post them soon. Gotta jet though.

and we're off...and we're stuck...and we're off again

Randi and I have left Guiyang. It was a great last few days there, I left in a fury with some help from my friends to clean up a little mess I left behind (thanks again). From Guiyang we went up to Zhangjiajie, or Wuling Yuan. A beautiful national park with sandstone pillars and some other crazy geological stuff. They supposedly have clouded leopards and giant salamanders there too-we didn't see them, but we did possibly see some leopard scat-the jury is still out, but I am a believer. From there we went to the ancient-style river town of Fenghuang for a night, it was bustling with Chinese Tourists and had some nice sites, but it wasn't worth more time than the 24 hours we gave it. A nice stop over none the less. And now, we are in Huaihua, trying to get to Chengdu, only they don't have any tickets for Chengdu. So...we are going to Chongqing. Which is on the way...and then when we get there, we will try and figure it out, so hopefully...it works. Not quite sure though, we'll see. Hopefully it won't be too painful. Either way, we are having a good time. We have been very fortunate thus far and things are going well. My Chinese skills are getting a workout. I am amazed at how well I have been able to understand and communicate. We are truly being provided for. Well, I am off to find some food and start the next mysterious leg of this trip! Blessings!

did you just say crack?

today i went from "english teacher in china" to "world wanderer." that's right. i am no longer teaching english. i taught my last class today. actually, to be more accurate, i gave my last set of exams. for the past two weeks i have been doing interviews with my students-my 500+ students. i spent a lot, a lot, a lot of time hearing about chinese new year (which is most often referred to as spring festival here) and birthday celebrations. it was...well, it was what it was-twenty hours of listening to chinglish on a limited number of topics-no one's idea of fun. but i would like to share one quote that kind of made it all (ok, not all, but at least that day) worth it. in reference to how chinese people celebrate spring festival- "...families have a large meal and then the parents will give the children money to buy crack." he pauses after i give him my 'slightly confused look.' i have given this look frequently in the last two weeks. he goes on to explain himself, "you know the sssss...boom!" me, "oh, oh. yeah. FIREcrackERs." him, "yeah, yeah, yeah. firecrackers." so rest assured. china's opium struggles continue to be a thing of the distant pass. but i made it through and my teaching responsibilities are done. don't get me wrong, my to do list is still a mile long, but i have officially shifted my life status to "world wanderer, searcher of the next step, one who is seeing the journey as the destination." so that's the big news. i will be in my city just about one more week and then randi and i are off for new places and experiences.

on a separate note. cockroach season is in full swing. two nights ago, as i went into the kitchen late one night i was greeted by a big fella who quickly scurried away out of sight, out of reach. last night, as i went to enter the kitchen again, i was actually expecting to see him again. he didn't disappoint. there he was, middle of the kitchen floor. i still had the slippers from the night before by the door so i went for the "throw one ball high to distract them and hit them with the second ball" trick. only i did it with the slippers and it worked masterfully. i was actually trying to pin him down with the one and gone in for the kill with the other but i missed, he got disoriented, i closed and took care of business. now you may be saying to yourself, jake, really? have you lost it? cockroach killing techniques? but i say to you, have you ever tried to kill these things before? they are fast AND agile. and you need a direct blow here. glances to to exoskeleton won't hack it. but this roach, he was a big one. maybe a PR for my apartment. and so i thought i was safe. but as i was typing an email a few minutes ago i saw one scurry by my feet and under my desk from the corner of my eye. looks like the hunter has another challenge before him.

Graduation: Broken Bottles and Rented Gowns

this week the graduating seniors are leaving (read-getting kicked off) campus. typically they are allowed to leave until the end of the year, but since the school has an upcoming evaluation from the education embassy (or something like that) they are leaving early so they don't create distractions. and to be honest, this is a good idea. since it is their last week things have been a little different around here. most notably at night. i right next door to the female student dormitories. typically, this isn't all that bad and my biggest complaint is that some girls get locked out at night (they lock the dormitory about 11:30 and instead of realizing they are "SOL" they bang and bang on the door yelling for the woman in charge of the dormitory to come and unlock the door. its pretty ridiculous and makes me wish there was a clear path of trajectory from my complex to the door, although this would also need to be accompanied by a store which sells water balloons. but the last few nights, the noise for the dormitories has taken on a whole new...realm of obnoxiousness. the seniors in an act of defiance?/celebration?/utter euphoria(?) throw glass bottles and other items that will make a loud crash out their windows and then scream. yeah...totally ridiculous and definitely wouldn't fly as a tradition thing in the states, but as well all know, this is not the states. so yeah. well into the night my sleep has been accompanied by breaking bottles, screams, and a higher number of slightly inebriated graduating students who were celebrating too much and TOO late.

an a faster note. the second, more amusing, sight this week has been that of seniors taking pictures all around campus in graduation gowns. the "official" ceremony thing doesn't really happen here like it does in the states, but some groups of students get together, rent gowns, and take pictures for an afternoon and the most random places on campuses (next to trees, the track, the main gate, the cafeteria, anywhere). this would be pure misery for me. i am glad i don't teach seniors. chinese students are absolutely obsessed with taking pictures, its ridiculous. i am glad i don't have to reach to point of exhaustion just from smiling too much.

duibuqi, mei you daizi

not sure if you will find this as fascinating as i do. but on june 1st china, and i mean all of china, began charging for plastic bags (as well as outlawing the use of thin plastic bags). that's not really the fascinating part. the fascinating part is that China was using 3 billion plastic bags a day. yeah. 3 billion. they were using more in one month than the U.S. was using in a year, and we all know how much the U.S. likes to waste, i mean use, stuff. so it has been entertaining to see people walking around with groceries in hand and denying plastic bags left and right. it's still taking a little while to catch on in the streets, but you can definitely tell there is a difference. actually, i think it's amazing. and that more cities/nations should consider it. i mean if you really think about it, we waste so many plastic bags. and its not too difficult to get paper or just carry the one thing you bought at the store. either way, its been amusing and i was quick to learn the word for bag so i wouldn't have to pay any thing extra. but shops aren't really even carrying bags anymore, which isn't really a problem anyway (duibuqi, mei you daizi=sorry, we don't have any bags-or its something like that). so i am not sure what bag consumption is down to now, but i know the world is a little less littered with plastic bags.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/china_plastic_bag_ban.php

Shout out to baby sister

This post is dedicated to my baby younger sister, Abby. She left for Zambia on June 1st (and has arrived safely). She, along with a few other teammates, will be living there for the next seven weeks doing an assortment of stuff, like working in orphanages and child development centers, doing AIDS education, visiting terminal patients in hospitals, working with youth groups, and whatever else comes up. She has long had a passion for Africa and it's great to see her stepping out to make this trip happen and see first hand the things she has been learning about for a long time. I still remember choosing to do a big research paper on water and food shortages in Africa when she was in high school. I must say, I am very proud of her and I am excited, not only for the ways she will serve there, but also for how she will be grown and stretched. So if you want to keep her in your Thoughts too, that would be great.