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!)