Christmas in China!

I officially celebrated my first Christmas away from family; very, very far away. Here was the excitement of my Christmas while here in China!

Christmas Eve

Since we had school on Christmas Eve, the whole day was dedicated to fun and games. Movies were watched and each class had a party. I spent the day before searching for gifts for all my students. Each student ended up getting a bunch of candy, a yo-yo, a little book, pencil, etc- just a grab bag of fun stuff. I ended up getting some nice gifts from my students as well! At the end of the day, we opened our presents, recorded the video in my last blog and then played some games. For working on Christmas Eve, it was not bad at all!

After school, I went to Carrie Jones and Vicki's house (the same house I celebrated Thanksgiving at). There, Carrie had been working very hard all day with a gourmet feast prepared for the three of us. It was a delicious meal and a very relaxing Christmas Eve. We watched some movies, played some games and called it a night.

Christmas Day

Christmas morning in China was Christmas Eve back in the states. This made for an interesting morning- I spent the morning jumping back and forth between Skyping with my family back home and celebrating here in Xi'an. My Christmas celebration here consisted of a brunch and gift exchange. Later in the day, we played more games and had some dinner. It was a great Christmas celebration and very fun.


Meanwhile, during breaks in my Christmas day festivities, I was running to my computer to Skype with my family while they were celebrating Christmas Eve- confusing, I know! I was able to talk with all my relatives, open my gift for that gift exchange (which TJ had delivered during his visit), watch my gift being open and play in a family game of poker! It was hilarious; my brother's laptop was placed on the table and people would hold cards up to me and I would place bets, just like a normal game! The funny thing is, I did really well (third, I think- right mom and dad?). It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity to visit with family. Technology is incredible. I really felt like I was right there in the room!

The Day After Christmas

The morning after Christmas in China was Christmas Day in the states. So, I celebrated again! This time, it was just dad, mom, TJ and Grandma SaLeal. I was able to open the rest of my presents with them over Skype and watch them open their presents. Again, I was amazed at technologies ability to help me fell as if I were in the same room as my family! I am so thankful I was able to spend so much time with my family. Although using the webcam is no substitute for spending Christmas with my actual family, it made this Christmas away much easier. It was a fun and new experience!


A Year in Review

2008 was grrrrrrreat (and it rhymes)! It's hard to imagine a one year ago I was a student at Western Washington University and living with Brad, Eric, Blake and Katie- it seems like a lifetime ago! Big moments from this year: I continued to make incredible friends in college while having way too much fun with the one's I already had, I ran my first Marathon, I graduated from college at WWU, I was at the Olympics in Beijing with my family, and I traveled farther from home than I ever had to teach for a year. In honor of this time of reflection, here is a note that I found that I wrote during my flight to China over 4 months ago:

08/09/08 (6:11 PM/5:11 PM?)
I just passed over Anchorage, Alaska. I really feel that the magnitude of this trip has only just struck me. I was watching "Bee Movie" (fair at best. I'd rather watch 3 episodes of Seinfeld back-to-back) and I started thinking about the movies on my return flight. Then it hit me; I don't have a return ticket. In fact, the only ticket I have is sending me farther into China! Well, no turning back now. It will be a whole YEAR before I cross this ocean again. Here goes nothing! (P.S. I think the guy next to me has restless leg syndrome!)

Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the last year. For my parents putting me through college and always encouraging me in everything I do. For my amazing friends who still talk to me even though I left them for a year. For my family who is so awesome. And to you! All the people who continue to read my blog and follow my journeys, it makes it much easier to write! Thank you for you updates to- I love hearing about life in the states. I love all of you very much!

Looking Ahead...

Only 4 days until 2009?!?!?! WOW! I can't believe it! Here are some exciting things coming up soon:

A new roommate! I will be having a roommate living with me here in Xi'an. I've been reorganizing my apartment in order to make room for him (TJ, you wouldn't even recognize it). He is a college student who is coming to Xi'an to do an internship. I'm very, very excited to meet him and share some adventures!

My Vacation! Because I'm in China, our school did not give us the traditional break that schools in the states receive for Christmas during the winter. Instead, I received a 4-day weekend. Although Christmas is not a huge deal here in China, the Chinese New Year is! So, starting January 16th, I will have a vacation until February 9th! Not only do I have 3 weeks off, I will be spending these weeks in THAILAND! I'm a little sad to miss the Chinese New Year, but I can't wait to travel in Thailand (and to feel some warm weather)! I'm so excited, I've included this countdown:




Engagements! There have been so many engagements lately! I just wanted to say congratulations to all my friends and loved ones and that I will do my best to be back for your weddings!

Amanda and Sasha
Treavor and Heather
Blake and Christie
Cody and Al
Alex and Tyler

Congratulations all!

Finally, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANA!!! I know this may come a little late, but I hope you had a great Birthday and thanks for sending my Christmas gift with TJ. I know Catch Phrase will be a huge hit!

Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hello everyone- It’s me, Brad, again! It’s been a very exciting couple weeks. If you missed out, T.J. visited a couple weeks ago. While he was here, he posted 2 blogs: One for Dec. 2nd to Dec. 9th and one for Dec. 10th to Dec. 16th Check them out if you haven’t already!

While visiting, T.J. took a TON of pictures! Here are the new albums that you can see T.J.'s adventures in:

Around Xian (TJ Visit)	Tienanmen Square (TJ Visit)	Forbidden City (TJ Visit)
My Birthday (TJ Visit)	Temple of Heaven (TJ Visit)	Lama Temple (TJ Visit)
At School (TJ Visit)	Summer Palace (TJ Visit)	Around Beijing (TJ Visit)
Christgiving (TJ Visit)	Olympics (TJ Visit)	Great Wall (TJ Visit)
Terracotta Soldiers (TJ Visit)	Ming Tombs (TJ Visit)	Tang Paradise (TJ Visit)

I'm going to highlight some of our adventures during his stay:

Xi'an... When Brad's not at school!

Although I was working a 40 hour week for TJ's first week in China, we got to do some great stuff. You better believe I took him to my favorite park in Xi'an: TANG PARADISE! And in case you thought this blog couldn't get any cooler, now, for the first time, introducing VIDEO!


Filmed by T.J. ThomasFilmed by T.J. Thomas

Familiar Territory

It was so strange going back to Beijing with T.J. First, it was the farthest I've traveled since I've arrived in Xi'an. Second, it was familiar, but not home... very strange. On good example was my second trip to the Summer Palace and getting to walk on the ice where 4 months ago I was paddle boating! Plus, I have now been to the Forbidden City 3 time! I was thrilled to find that each place I went to offered new experiences.

Summer Palace in Winter	Summer Palace in Summer
Great Wall during the Summer	Great Wall during the Winter (and a different location)

We are NERDS!

As suggested by our father, T.J. and I took several pics at the tourist hot spots in China holding up our local newspapers, the News Tribune and the Gateway... I hope one of those makes it!

@ The Great Wall	@ Terracotta Soldiers	@ Forbidden City

Thanks for visiting T.J.! I had tons of fun (and I got to miss 2 days of class)! Now that we’re all caught up, it’s time for…

CHRISTMAS!


Christmas in China has been very different. Unlike Thanksgiving, you can see Christmas decorations in a lot of areas around China. McDonalds’ goes all out (which, I don’t think they can even do that in the states because of all the “politically correct” issues!). Unlike in the states, I will only be receiving a four day weekend for my Christmas break. But, this does not bother me in the least bit since I have a 3 week-long break in January for Chinese New Year where I will be traveling to THAILAND!!!

I’ve already had the Christgiving (see T.J.’s blog) celebration and I also have a Christmas Eve and Christmas day party to attend this week, so don’t worry about me! Also, T.J. brought over a bunch of gifts that I hope to open with the family over Skype!

This will have to be part one of Christmas. Next week, I’ll catch you up on the rest of the happenings!

Thanks for Reading!

Watch the video below for some Season Greetings from Xi’an China!

T.J. in China Part 2

Hello again from T.J. I am writing one more blog from my trip to China. I am currently back in Gig Harbor, Washington and it is snowing like crazy outside. A lot of these stories go with my pictures so be sure to check them out here.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, we went to the Tang Paradise in Xi’an. It is a big park that has performances from the Chinese culture. While we were there, we saw a dog dance performance that had two people dressed up in a dog costume that jumped from poles to poles. They were very good. Another show that we saw had a group of people on stilts doing dance moves. The third show was a drum show and was very loud. After the shows and some walking in the park we headed to a restaurant and had Beijing duck. It was very good. When we left the restaurant the fountain by the Wild Goose Pagoda had a performance going so we watched it.

Wednesday

Today, I headed to the Wild Goose Pagoda and Brad meet up with me after school. The pagoda is seven stories high and a tough stair climb inside. When Brad met up with me we walked around for awhile and then went back to his place to get ready for English corner. English corner was on a college campus and was a group of Chinese students learning English. During this session Brad and his group decided to sing Christmas songs. It was funny to watch the student sing and do some hand gestures to the 12 Days of Christmas.

Thursday

After school, Brad and I headed downtown to do a little shopping. We also stopped by a Pizza Hut for some dinner. It was a pretty uneventful night.

Friday

I made one more visit to Brad’s very energetic classroom. The students were sad to see me leaving. After school, Brad made up some lesson plans and I headed to his apartment to pack. Went Brad came back we went to his favorite restaurant next to his place. The Chinese restaurant had good food and knew Brad and Cari very well. Went we finished the food it was time to finish packing and head to the train station for an all night trip to Beijing.

Saturday

After a 10 hour train ride in a sleeper car, with three beds on each side, we made it to Beijing. A taxi ride later we made it to the hotel that Brad and everyone else stayed at during the Olympics. It was a cool spot kind of back in an ally. The day had just begun and we started by heading to the Tiananmen Square where we went to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is where emperors use to live and have their day to day life. After the Forbidden City, we crossed the street to Tiananmen Square where we met a lady that was practicing her English and gave us a tour of the square and the area. The lady took us to a tea shop for some drinks, I think the drink cost us our tour fees. After we left that lady, we headed to the temple of Heaven where the emperors sacrificed cows to the gods. After this long day we wanted some food and bed. Brad heard of a Mexican place in Beijing so we went to find it. The Tex Mex restaurant was just like being in Texas and had great Mexican food.

Sunday

Another long day in Beijing that started at the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace was huge area and it was beautiful. I took a lot of pictures here and we even walked on water! Or the lake there that was frozen over. After a few hours at the palace we took the subway to the Olympic Pavilion. The Olympic area is still pretty much a tourist area. We walked around and decided to go into the birds nest. They were playing the opening ceremonies on the big screens. Another subway trip put us in a Hutton area, or ally courtyard, where we got dinner. On the ride back home we found a place to get back massages. It was a great way to finish a long day.

Monday

In the morning we met up with a lady for a Gray line tour. The tour included the Ming Tombs, A Jade factory and a visit to the Great Wall. The tour was a lot of fun but of course the Great Wall was amazing. We climbed about a quarter mile up the wall and then back down. It was tons of fun and you bet I took a ton of pictures. After the tour we got dropped off at the Buddhist temple. Lots of people were praying and lighting incense. After the temple we went for our last dinner at a hot pot restaurant. The restaurant gives you a pot of bowling water and you cook your own food in it.

Tuesday

Tuesday was another early morning, but this time we were heading to the airport. Brad was heading back to Xi’an and I was heading home to the states. I had a lot of fun in China and for those of you that are thinking about visiting Brad, be ready for a different culture and be ready to try some new things. Brad thanks for the fun time and I will talk to you soon.

From T.J. in China 2

T.J. In China

Please enjoy our guest author for this week- T.J. is in China!

Hello Everyone, This time it is T.J. writing from China! I got into China on the 2 of December, China time, and I will be here until the 16th of December. So far, I have seen a lot and experienced a very different culture then back home in the States. Anyways, this is my first blog and I am going to try to give you all the details of my first week here. Well, here it goes.

Day 1

My trip started out of Seatac at 12:30 on Sunday November 30th. I flew of Northwest air on an Airbus 330. The first flight was to Tokyo Japan and was 10 hours long. My seat in the airplane had its own TV screen and control that allowed me to pick movies, games or music to listen to. On the first flight I watched Wanted, Batman Returns, and Walli. It was a fun start to the trip. When I got to Tokyo I had one hour and forty-five minutes to wait for the next flight to Beijing. This trip again was on an Airbus 330 and was about 4 hours long. When I got to Beijing, at 10 p.m., I had 10 hours to sit around for a morning flight at 8 a.m. This is when I knew I was no longer in the U.S.A.

In Beijing I had to walk from terminal 2 to terminal 1 which was a ten minute walk. Not bad, but this walk I would have on my backpack and be pulling a fifty pound rolling bag and also another forty pound rolling bag. It was interesting. Along the way everyone asked if I needed a taxi or a hotel. I said no and found my way to the ticket counter of Hainan Airlines. Once there I found some chairs to sleep on. After an hour or so a lady with an ID badge came to me and said I must go to a hotel or upstairs to sleep. I thought awesome a place to sleep that I don’t know about. I told her no hotel but maybe upstairs. As we walked she told me it would be 300 "Kuai" or ¥. I started to point at chairs and say, “But I will stay here for free.” Anyways, we get upstairs and walk to a restaurant and she told me to wait as she talked to a man. We then walked through the restaurant to a back room that had three “beds” in it. They turned out to be massage tables, but still comfortable. I paid the lady and lay down to sleep for a few hours. It was nice to be able to sleep and not worry what was happening to my bags.

At 5:30 the next morning the man that the lady was talking to came in to get me up. I had already been awake for awhile so it was not too bad. I think he was getting ready for breakfast, haha. Then it was off for my last leg to Xi’an. I went through security that is very similar to security in the U.S.A. and then to my gate. As I boarded the Boeing 737 for the one hour thirty minute flight I notice that I was the only American on the plane. It was very strange, also knowing that I was one of the few that recognized the English announcements.

When I got to Xi’an there was a man with my name on a piece of paper! My driver to Brad’s school. When we got to the car he also had his wife and two children with him. On the drive we dropped them off at his house. The driver, Mr. Mu, knew about two English words, wife and house. Also, driving in China is very different from the states. First of all, there is a lot of swerving and no blinkers. Second, red lights mean very little except if there is a traffic camera on the corner. Third, be happy if there are traffic lights, we came up on a few four way intersections that had no light and no stop signs! Also, people just cross the street, even on a highway that has four way traffic each direction. But, all and all a few horn beeps, near misses and we made it to Brad’s!

At Brad's!

I made it to Brad’s school. It is behind a blue gate with a guard on duty. Check out the pictures on his site if you haven’t seen it. Once we were inside we waited for Brad to come out and then we took my bags and walk to the far side of the compound where his apartment was. It is on the school grounds which made it very easy to get to work. Brad came up with me and showed me around his place. The time was about 12 noon. We got settled in and then we got on Skype to call the parents to tell them that I had made it and all is well. After that Brad went back down to school and finished his class.

When Brad was done with school he came back and we both took a little nap. After that we decided to go out and walk around. We walked down an ally that they call the village because the ally had stored lined down both ends. The store looked like storage sheds that would be opened when the store was open. The stores included: Clothing, shoes, electronics, food, barber shops and others. The interesting part was that the five or so different store just repeated over and over. There were so many people that the small stores were all packed with people. A few times we saw people selling things on blankets. Brad said that if the police came they could pick up their things and move away. Also, I saw a lot of puppies for sale. As for pets, here people tie up cats and dogs are mostly strays. One cat we saw was tied to a tree!

At one of the food places, Brad and I stopped to eat. It was the first Chinese place Brad ate at and it would also be my first. The restaurant had a picture menu that you could point at and Brad was able to talk to the young girl that was waiting on us. Brad ordered eggs and tomato on rice and also a dish that was like hash browns on rice. I ordered chicken with peppers on rice. After we ordered, they took the order and made it on a grill that was on the street. When the food came it was as tasty but different. Brad said that he was sorry but chicken comes with bone and all just chopped up. Brad said it was like Sesame seeds, you have to spit the bone out. It was alright but not something I was use to.

After dinner, we continued our walk and walked by two colleges and looked into a mall. The clothing mall had stores like you would think but only clothing stores nothing else, no food, no major electronics, no furniture, only clothing. After the short mall visit, we walked back to the village café that has the hot chocolate that Brad has talked about before. It was delicious and a very nice spot. Brad didn’t like the location that much because it is mostly foreigners that go into it. After that, we walked back to the school and Brad’s apartment where we watched Kung Fu Panda and went to bed.

Wednesday the 3rd

This morning, December 3rd, I woke up to the sounds of dogs behind Brad’s apartment and the children of the school doing there morning exercises. There is a boarding school of about 350 students that get up every morning and do exercises. After that I typed this log up and took a shower. Brad’s shower is very very low pressure but it does have hot water. After that Brad joined me for lunch and then we both walked down to his class. He has five girls and one boy that have a lot of energy.

Today, they were studying for a science test, but first they wanted to interview me. The questions seemed to be the same: what is Brad’s girl friend’s name? and do you have a girl friend? A little later we went down for P.E. that was going to be kickball with some balls that I brought from the states. Kids were going everywhere but it was still fun. Now, Brad is off to a Chinese class and then we are going to go find some food.

Dinner was down the road at a Chinese restaurant. Brad ordered us some macaroni style noodles dish and also some sweet and sour chicken, this time with no bones. There was also some entertainment at the restaurant. It was a cat that was wondering around the restaurant. An older lady, with a coat hanger, was trying to catch it but it kept getting away. At one point, it jumped on a chair under one of the tables and the lady look under the table but never on the chair. The car kept meowing and it was making me and Brad laugh. Finally, the lady found the cat and took it to the back room, where the kitchen was. The cat did make another escape later after we got our food so our chicken was still chicken, I think. After that, we jumped on a bus to down town.

The bus we got on was two levels, so we got on the second and moved to the front. It is a scary ride from up there and it feels like you are going to fall on the cars in front of you because the bus goes fast and stops fast. When we got downtown, we walked by the bell tower and the drum tower. They are lighted up at night and look awesome. Then we walked through a few of the market places that have everything a tourist could need. The sellers knew just enough English to say, “Buy this T-shirt” or “Come in here.” We also stopped at a Dairy Queen; it is one of two in the city. Downtown was very cool and I think we may go back soon. We rode a taxi back to Brad’s and then headed to bed.

December 4th

On the 4th it was a very nice day out. Brad headed to school and I cleaned up his apartment. It was just a little dirty, haha. After school, we met up with Cari, a good friend of Brad's, and then we went shopping for their gift exchange that they had this weekend. We also hit another famous Chinese restaurant, Subway. Other than that it was an easy day.

Brad's Birthday

On Brad's Birthday we opened presents from home at lunch and then went down to his class. The students gave Brad some gifts and Cari also made a cookie cake that we ate and made a mess in his classroom. After school, we headed to Brad's group and had a game night with some of the people that he knows here in the area. It was a lot of fun.

This Weekend

Every year, the community that Brad knows celebrates Thanksgiving on Saturday and Christmas on Sunday. They call it Christgiving and they do it this early in case people head home for the holidays. So on Saturday we had a giant Thanksgiving dinner and on Sunday we had a brunch. There were also a lot of games and skits.

Monday

We met up with one of Brad's student's families for a dim sum breakfast. It was all you can eat with a lot of Chinese dishes. The dishes include both breakfast and lunch items. The food was very good and we got to try a lot of interesting things. Probable the most interesting of course was a plate of chicken feet. I hesitated for awhile but decided to try a little of it. It was like eating a chicken leg with very little meat on it and a very small bone in the middle. There is a picture of it that I have a link to at the bottom of this page.

After a delicious breakfast we got a taxi cab to the terracotta warriors. The eighth wonder of the world! This is a tomb that has thousands of soldiers that were made in clay to protect the emperor Qin Shi Huang. The soldiers were made in 200 B.C. and were discovered in 1974. It is amazing to see. The pictures show you a little more about it and the many soldiers that are there.

Today

Tuesday, I woke up today and looked through all of my pictures and loaded them on to Picasa. Please check them out. I also put this blog together and now I need to get out into the sun. I may post again next week with the rest of my adventure. Brad is in school now but told me to say hello to all of you. Thanks for reading my long story. Tell next time, so long from Xi'an.

From T.J. In China

Thanksgiving in China

I'm sure you're all dying to know what Thanksgiving was like here in China, so here you go!

Thanksgiving

First, I had to constantly remind myself that Thanksgiving was taking place on Thursday. There were no decorations and I didn't even get a day of school off! None-the-less, it turned out to be a great day! After school on Thursday, I went to my Chinese class, business as usual. After that, I made a trip to Carrie Jones's (yes, a different Carrie- there are 3) house to have Thanksgiving dinner.

I was a little hesitant at how well one could pull off a Thanksgiving dinner with the limited supplies here in China, but it was spectacular! The food was so good and Carrie invited over all the teachers so it felt like a large family atmosphere. My favorite part- Carrie bought a bunch of 'to-go' containers so I was able to enjoy Thanksgiving the following days as well (just like at home!). I also had the honor of cutting the Turkey. Not sure why, but I gladly accepted!

My Thanksgiving meal was great- but then I had to watch my family celebrating the next morning while I was at school. I was a little bummed I missed out- you all looked like you were having a great time! Thanks for letting me call and be a part and we'll have to make up for my absence next year! It was definitely a different but wonderful experience having Turkey in China! If you ever wanted to know some of the people I work with, check out the photo album!

Amazing Race!

After growing tired of waiting for help, I decided to just dive in and get my computer fixed on my own! I used the internet to make a vocabulary sheet with some of the specific words I would need (motherboard, hard drive, drop, broken... seriously, that's what it was). Then, I embarked on a journey! Cari tagged along, so it felt like the show The Amazing Race. We started at a huge Technology Market (see "A" on map below). It has four floors packed with little stores that sell laptops, video games, cell phones, computers- All things electronic! After talking to an HP booth, I was given a number for a HP service store in Xi'an.

After a couple more stops and some broken Chinese, I managed to get an address. Then, using my Xi'an Map, I found where the HP service store was (see "B" on map below). Since it wasn't that far, Cari and I walked to the address. At the store, a man looked at my computer and ran some tests. He told me that they could fix the computer, but it would be much more inexpensive for me to go to an electronic market to have it done cheaper. He gave me 2 characters that were the name of some place. Cari and I flagged down a taxi only to have it take us back to the same block we were on earlier (see "C" on map below)! This time, we found the "Computer Doctor" (电脑医生，literally!) and I left my laptop there for the evening.

(Click on picture to zoom)

18 hours later and two phone calls I barely understood, my computer was FIXED!!!! Hurray! It was quiet an adventure!

MY FIRST VISITOR (that's not a dog...)!!!

My brother TJ is currently spending the night in the Beijing Airport as I type! He will be arriving at my school tomorrow at 10 am! I am very, very, VERY excited! Be sure to check-in next week to hear how TJ's first week in China is going!

Thanks for reading!



(This is the new scarf I talked about in my last blog that my students made me!)

Not a lot to report...

It was a pretty calm week. Nothing very big to report. In addition, I came to the realization that I am not nearly as much as a tourist anymore. For instance, I visited probably the largest shopping area in Xi'an that is not a mall (if you catch my drift... market style), and I didn't even have the heart to take out my camera. I'll try and be better in the future for my friends and family back home, but it's not seeming as "wild and crazy" after 3 months; it feels much more normal now.

It's Getting COLD!

As far as big updates go, it has began to cool off here in Xi'an. We've had a couple days below freezing, but since we are a desert city, no snow yet. I hear it's pretty common to have snow here in Xi'an and I think it stays for awhile.

Just in time for the cold weather, my students made me a scarf!! They are making scarfs to raise money for a nearby orphanage. It's a really nice scarf and I love wearing it around! I also made my largest purchase in Xi'an since my washing machine- I bought a classy (or at least I think so) coat! This was a big deal for me for me, as many of you know, because I have a very difficult time buying clothing. It took several baby steps: first I bought some of those cool fingerless gloves/mittens, then a beanie and finally the coat. Anyways- like I said, not a lot going on here in Xi'an...

But, this week: Thanksgiving! Don't worry, I have plans and I will be eating an authentic Thanksgiving dinner with friends here in Xi'an (even though we don't get a day off!). And, even bigger news:

T.J. IS ARRIVING IN 7 DAYS!!!!!

Stay posted for more exciting updates- Thanks for reading!

TV, Movies and Plays- Oh my!

A pretty standard week and an exciting weekend! First highlight, I'm not sick anymore! Here are the other big events of the week:

The Office

Cari and I have been watching The Office. Cari had never seen it, so I'm catching her up because every week my principal downloads the newest episode and we've been watching them off his computer. Watching episode after episode with no commercial interruptions takes me back to college and rooming with Jake. We've made it through 2 seasons in a week (although, Season 1 hardly counts... only having 6 episodes).


Parent-Teacher Conferences

This school week was the norm- nothing too exciting. I'm healthy again, so that's nice. Thursday and Friday were my first Parent-Teacher conferences! Having only 6 students, I was able to have all my conferences on Thursday, the half-day. This meant Friday I had all day to relax and plan in my classroom. That actually turned into playing cards and Blockus with other teachers who were finished.

Aida

Friday night was a night on the town. After conferences were over, I got ready to go downtown with Cari, Carrie and Vicki. We headed to a really fancy hotel in downtown Xi'an named the Sofitel. This hotel has many restaurants and a theater. It's very beautiful and you can't help but feel like a celebrity walking around inside. Our first stop was dinner. We ate at one of the restaurants that offered an incredible buffet. I was in heaven!

After dinner, we made our way to the theater in the center of the hotel to watch the Broadway production Aida. It was really fun! The play wasn't anything spectacular, but it was really nice to go see something like that. It was in English, but the voices were a little quiet- or the music was too loud, one of the two. Their were subtitles being projected on the walls for the Chinese audience to read. It was a very fun experience.

007

And, as if seeing a Broadway musical in English wasn't enough, Saturday Cari, my principal, his wife and I all went to see the new 007 movie that was playing at a mall in Xi'an. It was so fun! I haven't been to a movie theater in a long time and this one was gorgeous! The movie was in English, so it felt like we were watching at home. And the new Bond movie was GREAT! It had everything you'd expect from Bond- fast car chases, loads of action, a tuxedo party and beautiful locations from around the world. After, to top-off the "Western"experience, we went to Dairy Queen. This mall has one of the two Dairy Queens in Xi'an.

It was a very fun weekend full of entertainment. I have a bit of a long stretch before another break, but the other big news...

MY BROTHER TJ IS COMING TO VISIT DECEMBER 2nd!!!
...yeah, I'm excited! Hope all is going well back home. This weekend reminded me a lot of life in the states, miss you all!

Thanks for reading!


(not this week, but I did eat ice cream this week!)

Happy 3-Month Anniversary!

I feel that I have been doing a pretty good job of keeping everyone in the states updated on my life here in Xi'an with colorful pictures and exciting stories. Unfortunately, this blog will not contain such luxuries because our school's quarter just ended and I have a serious pile of papers to grade (and because this week was rather dull). Plus, I figure I'll reward myself by using this much easier to produce layout. What follows are the highlights of my week in bullet form; efficient and neat.

*English Corner: This is the second week I've attended English Corner. On Tuesdays, our staff takes an approximately 15 minute car ride to a nearby university to speak English with some of the students there. Because there are some many students and so few English speakers, there is normally a crowd of 15-30 students around each teacher. It is so much fun and the students are very excited to practice with us. I love the atmosphere and hope to return often.

*Sick, again: It has been 3 months since I arrived in Beijing for the Olympics and I've only been sick twice; I consider that a victory. None-the-less, I was incredibly disappointed and irritated to be sick this weekend and I spent most of it sleeping or visiting the toilet. Lovely, I know.

*Cell Phone Down: In my attempt to be productive while stuck in my apartment this weekend, I did some laundry. Unfortunately, in my ill state of mind, I threw my cell phone in the washing machine. Pretty lame. I have been having a bad run with these electronics.

Here is a great quote from one of my students about the recent elections I forgot to include last week while I was watching the coverage on my computer. We've been learning about cells in class and in response to one clip about Barak Obama my student stated: "Why do they care about black and white? They are just dead cells." Well put Tommy, well put.

Thanks for reading

(O.K., so I had to put one picture in! Cari snapped this when I fell asleep at a nearby cafe after drinking some of the best Hot Chocolate I've ever had. Let's just say if the Hot Chocolate got me sick, I'll just have to learn to live being sick.)

CONGRATULATIONS BARACK OBAMA!

I spent the day watching the polls here in China while trying to teach; it was quite exciting! As much as I am sad to have missed the excitement and coverage of this historical election, now when everyone asks "Where were you when the first African American became president of the United State?" I'll be able to say "China"- how patriotic!

It was a pretty calm week, but a wild weekend! Here's the update:

Halloween?!

I've been getting a lot of questions from friends and family about Halloween in China. From what I observed, it is not celebrated here in China. I saw a couple western style cafes/bars/restaurants advertising Halloween functions, but you definitely did not see a bunch of Chinese children trick-or-treating in costumes. And no stores carried any special candy.

Despite the lack of celebration, I had a unique opportunity get into a costume. In honor of the elections this week, our school spent Friday afternoon (Oct. 31st) discussing elections and holding a fake election. Since the students would read the book "Duck For President," the candidates for the election were our principal, Mr. Brinegar, and a duck. For some reason, my staff thought I would enjoy being the duck (I've only been here 3 months and they already got me figured out!). The principal and I gave speeches. My speech was delivered in "duck," so I would quack and then my fellow teacher would translate. And the results: DUCK WINS by 8!! Unfortunately the children were upset to hear Mr. Duck had migrated South by Monday...

The other Halloween related event took place Friday night. Several of the teachers and I got together Friday night to watch "Arsenic and Old Lace." I was pleasantly surprised by this edgy, dark and very humorous film adapted stage-play from over 60 years ago! Check it out if you haven't! Got to love those crazy aunts...

To the Mountains!

I know I've made mention of it in the past, but Xi'an often has some poor weather conditions caused by the large amounts of pollution. There will be days went visibility may be less than 50 yards. On top of that, the weather has been getting cold. When you age several cold days that you can't see farther than 50 yards, it begins to weigh on you.

Thankfully, this city has so much to offer that the remedy for SAD is an adventure waiting just around the corner! This weekend, we took one such adventure. About an hour south of Xi'an is a large mountain range that separates North China from South China. Our entire staff took a trip to go hike the mountains! It was the PERFECT day! So beautiful and the air was so clear! I took a ton of pictures, because I knew my words would be inadequate. On returning, I found the pictures were also inadequate. In an effort to better share the beauty of the trip, I will provide the following descriptive narrative accompanied by pictures:

The sun reaches closer to the bottom of the valleys that cut deep into the mountains, brightly coloring the tree tops of green and orange. A warm gust of wind pushes through the narrow separation of rock, bringing with it hundreds of beautiful yellow leaves that shine in the sun's light and dance through the sky as if nature itself was creating a ticker-tape parade for our walk. The rushing river provides an ever constant rhythm that urges you forward. As you watch the dark but clear water racing pass and wonder what it would feel like to wade in the icy liquid, a chill runs through your body...

OK, that's about as poetic as my mind will allow me to be right now. I hope you enjoyed. It truly was the most beautiful thing I've seen here in China (that's right, better than the Summer Palace and Tang Paradise!).

As if Paintball wasn't cool enough...

On our way back from the mountains, we stopped at a place that offered Laser Tag. My previous experience with Laser Tag has been Laser Quest, or something like that: running around inside a dark room with black lights, shooting like a mad-man and screaming like a 6-year-old. This was far from that! Much like paintball, this laser tag was outdoors and performed in full camouflage. Also, like paintball, our guns were made to look like replicas of real weapons: the AK 47 and M4 (and you had to pull the chambers to reload... so cool!). You wore a vest that had sensors on it to for your opponents to shoot at and you had a small speaker that would tell you when you shot someone and when you had been hit (accompanied by vibrating).

It was so fun!!! For all of you concerned that I have joined the military from the pictures that I've had in my last couple blogs, fear not. China just knows how to make things a little more crazy!

Thanks for reading!

"I'm getting too old for this..."

Another incredibly busy week here in China. This time, the business was the product of one event and one event only...

CULTURE DAY!!

Before we dive into Culture Day, I need to first clarify some things about my school because I have a feeling I have not been very clear about what I am doing here. My school is a private international school, meaning, that all the students speak English and, to the best of my knowledge, not a single student was born in China. Most students have come to China with parents that work here. The school is ran just like a western style school (except we have grades k-12 and we operate out of about 15 rooms...) and all our teacher are from the U.S. (with the exception of one brave Canadian).

Now that you know a little more about our school, we had our first big "education fair." This particular fair was called Culture Day. I've been hearing about Culture Day since the first day I've arrived in Xi'an. It's a big event where each class picks a culture, learns about that culture, decorates their rooms for that culture, brings in food from that culture and performs a presentation for that culture. Needless-to-say, it's a little overwhelming (hence, the early warning). This week, my classroom was transformed with the help of my fifth graders into an exciting experience of RUSSIA!

Although I only have a few pictures, I plan to hunt down more; it was a lot of fun but a ton of work, so I need lots of proof it happened! In our classroom, we made a huge time line from Imperial Russia to USSR to the current Russian Federation, we created a replica of Saint Basil's Cathedral in Red Square and we created a tundra and added snowflakes to the class (see below). The students even had the idea of turning the air conditioning way up to make it fell like winter (although, not quite the -34 degrees Celsius that Siberia experiences).

Each student did a project and we covered the subjects of Russian money, language, geography, architecture, art and dance (we even had the Nutcracker playing on DVD). The parents brought some amazing food: potato pancakes, apple cake, stuffed tomatoes, macaroni and some drinks. And this was only my room! We also had Thailand, Czech Republic, China (hosted by the Chinese teachers), Japan, Greece, Mexico, Canada (yep, the Canadian Teacher), Scotland and a couple others.

Then, for our performance, our class acted out the play Peter and the Wolf. Having only one Boy, Tommy was Peter. The other girls played the various animals and other characters while I was elected to be the wolf (and I gladly excepted!). There is video footage of this yet to be uploaded to the internet, so I will let you know as soon as it is!

Lethal Weapon

Due to the chaos of Culture Day, there was little time for other adventures. The other major highlight was a journey that Cari and I embarked on last Wednesday and finished just today. Due to some "flexibility" in the area of movie sales, you are able to buy DVDs in China that have up to 8 different full length movies on it. Because of this, whole box sets are sold on single disks.

Cari bought one such disk.

This disk is part of a series called "Hollywood Picture Collection" and this particular volume was titled "Bloody Fighting Man Mel Gibson." Here are some of the other volumes of the "Hollywood Picture Collection" with spelling as it appears on the DVD case:

Sexy Man Brad Pit
Bold and Passional Tom Cruise
Cafard and Wild Nicolas Cage

One evening, while I was borrowing Cari's computer (because of this), she decided to put in the film Lethal Weapon. It only took a minute of watching, and I was committed. We decide we would have to watch all 4, and we did! I think my favorite is either the second or the forth. I remember watching the fourth before, but I don't think I had ever seen any of the others. They were way better then I thought they would be. Ok, so, yes- the movies are incredibly cheesy, but that's what makes them so fun (Mel Gibson + Mullet = Awesome)! Plus- each movie carries a serious theme with it: LW1;Race Relations/Dealing with loss, LW2; International Affairs/Apartheid (don't believe me? watch it!), LW3; Gang Violence/Urban Sprawl (ok, urban sprawl was a stretch), LW4; illegal immigration... and China- what an appropriate way to end the series.

With all the stress of Culture Day, nothing could relieve the stress quite like Danny Glover and Mel Gibson taking out bad guys and muttering "I'm getting too old for this shit."

I'm not even sure if this happened in the last week, but here are some crazy pictures. The one on the left is of a dog Cari and I saw in downtown. We couldn't get a good picture of it, but yes- that is a full warm up suit for a dog! It was hilarious. It even had a hood! The picture on the right is of a man flying kites in downtown. Although it is very common to see these strings of kites as vendors try to sell them, I have never seen on this long. It was incredible!

There you go, a long blog for a pretty uneventful week.
Thanks for reading!


(old picture... too busy this week for Tang Paradise- only time for Lethal Weapon)

Long Overdue

Thanks to Cari, I was able to update my blog- finally! Unfortunately, it’s been two long, exciting weeks since my last post (except that “Unfortunate Update”) so there is a lot to catch you up on!

First, Ice Peak. This is the newest staple item in my refrigerator. It is a soda that is bottled locally here in Xi’an. It tastes like a watered-down Fanta and each bottle can sometimes taste a little different. The best part about Ice Peak is not the taste, but rather the process of obtaining it. One night, I struggled through a conversation with a shop owner and finally came to the conclusion that after finishing the the six drinks, I would need to return the empty bottles so they could be used again. I made a down payment of 12 kuai and he would return 6 kuai when I returned. This makes each bottle of Ice Peak a whopping 1 kuai (approximately $0.15- can’t beat that price!). I’ve made two trips back to this shop owner now with empty bottles and the last time he was ready for me with 12 bottles of Ice Peak and straws waiting! It’s so fun!

Wild Nights of Xi’an

During our evening wanderings, Cari and I have come across some interesting sights. One such sight was a group of women doing a choreographed fan dance. They also had a band of men with drums and percussion assisting. It was quite a sight and well rehearsed. Not what you would expect when exiting a mall at 11:00 pm.

Another scene that is very common here in Xi’an is large groups of people (mostly senior women) dancing to music. In front of the Wild Goose Pagoda one night, we saw several different dancing groups: one was your swing/ball room style couples dance and another one a strange cross between line dancing and the electric slide. It’s good to know that you can head out at night and find some solid dancing in China.

Finally, one night we came across a group of performers who’s acts were outstanding! I’ve seen some crazy street shows (Venice Beach, California…), but this was by far the most amazing act I’ve ever seen. Some of the stuns would have had these performers kicked off the streets in the states or maybe even arrested. Unfortunately, not all the acts were caught on camera and most are blurry due to the dark, but you’ll get the idea!

Cari's Celebrations!

Another big part of my last week was the celebration of Cari’s birthday. Since Cari’s birthday was on Monday, we used it as an excuse to party all week. The festivities started on Saturday when Cari, Carry J., Vicki and I went to a Haggen Daaz in downtown Xi’an. Like most western food chains in Xi’an, Haggen Daaz was incredible gourmet and posh. It was a very fun experience.

Monday, we used our new Tang Paradise Passes to go visit out favorite park in Xi'an! This time, the weather was amazing! I've added some new photos to the Tang Paradise Album. Check out the difference the smog in Xi'an can make:

After Tang Paradise, we had the standard Apartment party with cake and card games for the official birth date. Then, on this last Saturday, a big group went bowling! In a hotel located on the same street as our apartments, there is an eight lane bowling alley. It felt just like the states (expect there was no greasy food available) and a trip to the lanes will be a very good remedy for homesickness.

Paintball!!!

The men of our group planed a trip to go paintballing. We had no idea what to expect and we were not disappointed. This was unlike any paintball I’ve ever played. First, the setting was a small urban arena with a ran-down jeep, brick walls and close quarters combat. Secondly, we were decked out in full camouflage gear, knee pads, elbow pads and a vest. As if dressing up like this wasn’t fun enough, the guns were replicas of an assault rifle!! SO COOL! The paint balls were much smaller than normal and each gun had a magazine with paint balls in individual casings, meaning that when you shot, a metal shell would be ejected from your gun.

We were broken up into two teams, based on our camouflage color. The matches were quick and carefully monitored by several judges from overhead. For all my fellow gamers out there, this was like really-life CS! It was so fun. My only complaint would be the goofy, bubble shield face masks that were very prone to fogging up (and not nearly as safe as the masks in the states). I will definitely be making another trip to this place!

That should catch you up for the last couple weeks. I’ve been super busy at school with something called Culture Day- I have a feeling you’ll be hearing a lot about that next week! Also, there are plans for Laser Tag- let’s hope it’s as cool as paintball!

Thanks for reading!

An unfrotunate update...

1.) I've been super busy.

2.) My laptop fell off a table and won't turn on.

I still have more than enough ways to stay connected, but I just thought I ought to let you know what the holdup is all about. I have tons of new pictures and fun stories so keep posted for a new blog sometime this week (... I hope). Also, special thanks to Cari for letting me barrow her laptop.

Thanks for reading!

It is Known to Everybody

(If you would like to better understand the title of this blog, please visit the "rules" link in Adventure 3 about Xingqing Park... it is some of the worst English I've seen since I arrived in China!)

As I mentioned in my last blog, I spent the last week on VACATION! It was wonderful! Originally, I was trying to find some exciting trip to do during my week break, but I decided that there is plenty still to see in Xi'an, and, with everyone in a country of over 1 billion traveling, transportation can be a little crazy!

None-the-less, a relaxing break was needed and I enjoyed every minute of it. Here were some of the highlights:

Adventure 1: Because I was so busy and a little sick two weeks ago, it had been far too long since I went on a good bike ride. For this reason I decided to take off on the bike. My motivation was to visit the Subway in Xi'an; I figured I deserved some good, old-fashion Western food after getting sick last weekend. I ended up spending 5 hours 'out-and-about' on my bike in the city of Xi'an. I managed to visit the "Subway Temple," or an old Buddhist temple located right next to Subway, the Muslim Quarters, an area where tons of vendors sell all kind of goods from food to cheap souvenirs, and I visited some of the park that surrounds the city wall.

Adventure 2: There was a birthday party on Friday so I went shopping with, guess who? That's right, Cari! Anyways, we decided to try a new place for lunch- Joe's Cafe. This place does a great job creating the feel of a sports bar in the US. Not only was the atmosphere just like being in the states, but the food wasn't bad!

Next, we browsed the mall that surrounded Joe's. There two kinds of malls in China: there are the Western-style like you would see in the US with a food court or movie theater or pretty water fountain, then there are the ones that floors packed with row after row of small stores, back-to-back and no room wasted on those other luxury items. This mall was the later of the two. It's wild and it can be little overwhelming.

On our way out, we came across a show that was taking place outside the mall. Since this was Chinese Holiday, many stores had exciting things happening and everywhere was crowed. It was a martial arts demonstration with lots of sharp spears.



After the thrilling show, we made our way to a really cool smoothie place where all the seats are hanging from the ceiling! That was fun.


Adventure 3: As I said, traveling is crazy during Chinese holidays. Carrie and I decided we would try to go see the Terracotta Army, Xi'an's largest tourist attraction. To get to the Terracotta Warriors, you must first travel to the train station, then take a bus from the station to the site. Well, we when got to the station, we saw this:

This line was just to get on the bus! It's hard to tell from this picture, but it's at least 200 long... probably more like 400. We figured that if this was the line for the bus, it would be very crowded at the actual site. We decided, instead, to wander- my favorite activity in China (second only to riding my bike!).

First, we found a great video arcade and played one game with balls that you threw at the screen, one game that you used big sticks on a drum and Mario Kart. It was really fun and we always had an audience- one of the perks of being a 外国人 (foreigner).

Next, we found a nice park. It was named Xingqing Park and it was like a mini Tang Paradise (and free!). Cari and I spent a great deal of time trying to understand the rules at this park... very funny! Although similar to Tang Paradise, this park had it's own flavor as well: a ferris wheel, bird sanctuary, sea lion show and go karts. Please enjoy the following:

Getting a feel for my new set of wheels- Hello car #2	Being told to get into a different car by Chinese man...	Getting a feel for my newer set of wheels- Hello car #1!
...I have no idea what he's saying. He better not be bad-mouthing my man purse...	Eat my dust #4!	I totally won. Although I think I got cheated out of one lap...

So there is the excitement from my week. I'm been using the trail version of Arcsoft Panoramic Maker a lot lately and I really like the results! Below are some panoramics I've made.

Thanks for reading!