Signs of Spring... ?

Before I start, I want to give another plug for Tracy and Sarah's Website. Although my adventure in South East Asia has long ended, they are still taveling on an incredible adventure through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam! If you want to see some great pictures, videos or their amazing stories, check it out!

Since the last update, I have been keeping busy, but nothing seems quite as exciting as updating from tropical Thailand- but I'll try!

After returning to Xi'an, I was excited about the increase in the temperature- but that was not the only sign of spring! In addition to the Chinese New Year being called 春节 (Spring Festival), things been changing in the city. For instance, you can now buy pineapples from the street vendors (which reminded me of warm, beautiful Thailand). Possibly the most exciting and nostalgic moment of the emerging spring came to while shopping at Metro, a German store that is very similar to Costco or Sam's Club in the states. While walking through the produce isle, I came across something that was beautiful to my eye and warming to my heart- WASHINGTON STATE APPLES! I had to buy them... and they were delicious!

Buddhist Temple

After being here in Xi'an for six months, I had lost my tourist edge. With Ty around, he has helped re-introduce the adventurous attitude! Last week, Ty, Zach, Carrie, Cari and I made a trip to a large Buddhist Temple here in the middle of Xi'an. It was an incredible sight to see the high rise buildings surrounding the ancient architecture and carefully planned gardens.

I would love everyone to check out the album of my pictures from the Buddhist temple but I must warn you- this temple held two rooms with some of the most graphic depictions of hell I've ever seen in an eastern religion. I found it very fascinating how similar the concept of hell is in both western religions and eastern religion. So, for the faint of heart, avoid the Xi'an Buddhist Temple photo album. For the rest of you, enjoy... if you can.

Snow?!

Right when I was turning off the heater in my room and ready to put some shorts on, the weather decided to remind me it's only February. Over the last week, I saw my first snow in China! It was only around for a day or two, but it was great to see the white around the city and any type of precipitation is welcome when you are living in the desert.


In addition to the changing weather, I recently made some bittersweet plans. As of last weekend, I have officially purchased my return ticket to the USA! I will be flying back on the same flight as parents in the end of July. Although it's still 5 months away, if it's anything like the first 6 months here- it won't last long. I am excited to live each opportunity here in China to the fullest while I'm still here (...but I'm also excited to see all my family and friends this summer!).

Shocking Update?

After returning from Thailand, one of the highest priorities I had was buying a new pair of jeans. Now, to most this might sound like a very normal errand but (a little known fact about myself), I have never purchased a pair of long pants for myself in my life. I know, weird, huh? When I was young, mother was kind enough to dress me and in my adolescents, I would either rely on pants that I borrowed (more like stole) from my dad's closet or something from TJ.

For the last 4 years, I've been wearing pair of jeans from a good friend in college. They didn't fit him well, so he gave them to me. They are so thin now that holes are spreading in them faster than a motorcycle taxi running from the police (regional humor, sorry). New jeans was high priority because I had to have some good jeans for Casual Friday!

Well, long story short (you can tell from the length, this was an important moment for me), I followed a very stereotypical male pattern. I walked from my apartment to the closest clothing store and bought the first pair of jeans I looked at. Pretty anti climatic, I know. Get this though- the jeans only cost me 42 Kuai ($6.00)!

So, not the most exciting month, but full of "firsts" none the less; Thanks for reading!

Me in my new jeans... there's nothing to smile about- all business.

The Thailand Update!

I was able to make a few quick updates while I was traveling but I never sat down and gave this special trip justice. So I'll resume my update after my post from Ao Luk, Thailand on January 18th:

Ao Luk, Thailand

After my adventurous arrival in Thailand and first impressions of Ao Luk, I joined Sarah and Tracy in helping teach English to the elementary school there. The school was very large with many students and the classes were out of control! We would show up and not know what students we would be meeting with and how long we would be there. The first couple days we taught some vocabulary on clothing and body parts. Also, we used as many opportunities as possible to play my ukulele and sing songs with the children. Some of our hits included "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," "The Hooky-Poky" and a very special "Build Me Up Buttercup" performance.



Our final adventure with the students was an event called "Scouts' Day." We were part of a journey into the jungle where we watched children do all kinds of challenges and also crossed a river on a pair of ropes. At the end of the day we were invited to be at their "camp fire." The camp fire ended up being a pile of wood with florescent lights on the logs. We watched the children dance and sing and then after, we enjoyed our favorite snack in all of Thailand: ROTI! Tracy and Sarah have posted this videos from their volunteering in Ao Luk, Thailand; take a look: Teaching Video and Thailand Foods.

Other highlights from Ao Luk was the incredible National Park, my amazing hotel (where I stayed 7 nights for less than $60) and the exciting Market located at the city center.

Tourist Thailand

After our time in rural Thailand, Sarah, Tracy and I began the next leg of our journey: Tourist Thailand! Below is a map to help you follow our exciting trip.


View Larger Map

We started our journey on a longtail boat from Krabi, Thailand (the Blue Pin). After about a 40 minute boat ride, we arrived to Railay Beach (the Red Pin) where we had to get out of the boat in knee deep water! Railay beach was a beautiful location and a rock climber's heaven! There were climbers everywhere and limestone cliffs with beautiful views of the green waters and tropical vegetation. It was a little strange going from a town full of native Thai people to a tourist area with so many white faces.


Our next stop was the incredibly small and tropical island of Phi Phi Island (the Green Pen). This island was a tropical playground for tourist. Every word on the island was in English and every business was either a restaurant, a bar, a hotel or some tourist adventure (scuba diving was huge!). There were a couple areas that were very local but you had to make some serious effort to find them. One night on the island, you could hear the music at the bars going until 4:30 am. All this said- it was a lot of fun and a very wild place to visit!

After Phi Phi Island, we made our way to Phuket (the Yellow Pin). Phuket, like Railay Beach, was a on a peninsula. We stayed in a hostel and, as my first hostel experience, I was really impressed. Although I was only in Phuket for one night, Sarah, Tray and I rented mopeds. This allowed us to travel all around the peninsula and see some of the beautiful beaches like Putong (the Yellow Loop). Check out this video for some clips from our travels in Tourist Thailand: Tourist Thailand Video.

The Retreat

As much as I hated leaving Tracy and Sarah, I had a retreat with my friends and co-workers to attend in Thailand (...plus, Sarah and Tracy had to leave Thailand the next day to renew their visas...). Be sure to check out Tray and Sarah's blog for more pictures, movies and some crazy stories from Cambodia: Halfway Round the World.

I flew from Phuket Airport to Bangkok, boarded a bus and rode for 3 hours to the resort where we would be staying. It was a beautiful resort that was located on the beach, but after my two weeks in southern Thailand, the beach wasn't that impressive. It was the hard sand that you would see at the ocean at the Pacific Northwest beaches. The beach did stay surprisingly shallow for a long, long time (literally about three-fourths of a mile!). I enjoyed reuniting with the familiar faces from China for a couple days.

Bangkok

After our retreat, it was back to see the city of Bangkok! Because of my great experience in Phuket, I decided to stay in another hostel in Bangkok and it did not disappoint! It was an incredible place with a great location. I noticed that Bangkok, much like the tourist locations we visited, was very western- there was English everywhere and a good number of large malls. Although I enjoy the balance of Chinese culture and western modernization of Xi'an, I was excited to be able to see movies in English (I watched two while in Bangkok- The Day the Earth Stood Still and Madagascar 2, both on the IMAX screen)!

Also, Cari and I spent a day being tourist and visiting the Grand Palace. To get there, we rode river boats along the main river that runs through Bangkok. This river was the busiest, most-populated river I have ever been on (...and they call the Mississippi the working river!). The Grand Palace was a very colorful and interesting site with an architecture that shared many similarities with eastern culture yet was very unique. Due to the strict clothing policy, I had to borrow pants and Cari had to borrow a skirt. It made the site seeing a little more humorous... and hot.

After several days, I felt like I had seen a lot of Bangkok. I wasn't quite ready to head back to the cold weather of Xi'an and 40 hour work weeks, but I did miss the city where I knew how to get around. My flight from Bangkok left the Bangkok International Airport at 2 AM. Talk about a red eye flight...

Back in China

So I've been back now for several days. Already, we are back into the "rhythm" at school and it seems like months ago that I left Thailand. With Chinese New Year being our big vacation at school, my next break will be the end of the school year in June (with the exception of several 3-day weekends). I'm trying to enjoy every minute I'm here, but it's tough not to be counting down the days until the school year is over.

Thankfully the weather here in Xi'an is starting to get a little warmer. It makes the 40 degree temperature change a more bearable. Plus, it's starting to get brighter in the mornings. If the change from winter to spring is anything like the change from summer to fall- I have a feeling we will be turning off the heaters and on the air conditioners over course of a couple days spring does come. I'll keep you updated on my life in Xi'an (even if it's not as exciting as traveling the tropical locations of Thailand...).

Thanks for reading.