Friday/Saturday

On Friday, I blobbed* a bit in the afternoon before heading over to the Kiwi household for company. I ended up crashing at their place and then waking up to have an awesome Western breakfast: bacon, waffles, etc. I followed Mr. Kiwi's lead and made a waffle with bacon, syrup, and 1/2 a banana. It was delish! Funny thing happened as I was eating. I was cutting the waffle and raising my fork to my mouth (while watching the others at the table do the same) when I suddenly realized that something was very weird. Yes, I was once again eating with a knife and fork after almost two whole months of only using chopsticks!! =)

Ran home after breakfast to take a quick shower and meet up with 2 of my students to go eat Hot Pot. We had a great time. It was pretty similar to the hot pot in Beijing, except our pot of boiling broth had a divider down the middle so that we could enjoy two broths-- one la (spicy) and one bu la (not spicy). My two students ordered a wide variety of dishes to cook-- spinach, squid, clams, beef, mutton, Chinese cabbage, and cow's stomach. The last was obviously the most interesting, though definitely not the most savory. It is pretty much what one would imagine it would be-- hairy from the many cilia that aid in quick digestion and absorption of vitamins. Pretty sturdy meat as well. A bit chewy. Perhaps the only surprise was that it was white as a newborn baby's bottom =) So, I can check the digestive innards off my list of "Things I've eaten but needn't be repeatin.'"

After lunch, we walked over to the beach to meet back up with the Kiwis and to got out on the water. Below is a picture of the waves only beginning to pick up. They were over our heads by the time we finally pulled the boat in and took it back to storage for the winter.

I went water skiing and also got to drive the boat for others. It was insane!! We will have to wait until spring for more water action. =(

Say Goodbye To Flip-Flops

It is winter time!! Saturday was still quite sunny and warm. And then, the RAIN began. It drizzled on Sunday and became fiercely windy by early afternoon/evening.* On the truck home from the Kiwi House, we saw that many bikes had hit the dust (and perhaps even a motorcycle/scooter vehicle). They haven't turned the heat on yet in the building and my toes, fingers, and nose can tell that the weather has changed. Luckily, our apartments came with a big fuzzy (but hideously red and flowered) blanket that I snuggled under last night. I am thinking about warm hats, mittens, scarves, and long underwear even though I haven't purchases any of these items yet!

Other news: Shandong has a running club run by a fellow foreign expert. I've joined in the short little runs up the mountain and plan on inking it into my calendar from now on. The word is that we run through winter (with a varied route, of course . . . wouldn't be wise to run next to the seaside when the temperatures drop once again).




*For those friends who hiked Roan Mtn. during our camping trip, the wind is pretty much like it was at the peak of the mountain.

Part Deux: The Great Wall

After talking with some Beijingers, Neal and I decided to take their advice and head out on the 6 am bus to the Great Wall. That meant getting up a little after 4 am and rolling out of Josh's apt. around 5. We jetted out on the subway which was unsurprisingly empty and arrived at the bus depot around 5:45 am. We waited around a while before Neal jumped up and asked some women in uniforms what the deal was. They just said that we had to wait. So, we waited until the ticket office opened at 6:30 am and then we bought our tickets. Of course, I had to go to the bathroom, so I attempted to ask one of the bus drivers where the WC was. He laughed at me, said that my Chinese was horrible (in Chinese, btw), and then told Neal that it was down the way. Well, we didn't find it and I opted to take cover in a bush/tree and relieve myself. After a short scare that the bus had left during this quest, we managed to find the bus and get on. At 8 am or so, the bus was full and we could leave. While we waited, I had a nice little conversation with some people from Ecuador who are currently living in Holland. Four hours later we were in the parking lot of the Simatai seciton of the Great Wall. Here is a pic. of the map at the bottom of the climb:

Part way up the climb (we are climbing the section opposite what you see here, but it is pretty much the same):

This climb was definitely interesting. In several sections the steps are only as deep as my foot is wide. I had memories of my climb up the Eiffel Tower-- I was holding onto the wall to help steady my mind. It was a bit scarier coming down the steep sections that trucking up them. What I found quite surprising was that there were hecklers up on the wall. I was approached about 8 times to relinquish custody of my water bottle which I refused to do for the entire hike up and back . . . as fate would have it, I left the darn thing on the bus when I got off!! Anyways, here is another picture from the end of the "legal" section of the wall (you can continue past the warning sign if you are willing to pay the 200 RMB fine which, I might add, is a pretty small amount if the purpose really is to deter the determined)

According to the guidebook, the hike should have taken 3 hours up and 3 more back. We were quite proud that we did it in about 3.5 roundtrip and even had plenty of photo opportunities!

When we got back down the mountain, we stopped at a restaurant to have some sweet and sour cabbage, rice, lots of water, and Cola-- a small snack as we had plans to go to a duck restaurant. Plans changed and I think that we ended up at Pizza Hut. Call me a loser, but it was heavenly. If Weihai had a Pizza Hut, I think I would be broke right now-- it is quite the ritzy place here!

Pictures from Beijing, Part Uno

Despite the fact that my "decent" camera batteries ran out early into our Beijing trip, I still managed to take quite a few pictures. (I say decent because I purchased batteries off the street that were probably recylced and each set lasted for an average of 5 photos. Grand bummer. I learned a lesson about street vendors!! haha)

This first photo is from Day One--we visited the Summer Palace. Visiting it was quite the undertaking. There are several different entrance gates and we were trying to meet up with some people at a certain gate . . . I think we ended up taking a couple different buses. But, we finally got there and had a great time walking around the expansive grounds. Below you can see an old man writing calligraphy on the sidewalk with a sponge brush. His paint? Yes, that's right-- WATER!! Pretty cool, eh?


This is the, creatively named, Seventeen-Arch Bridge at the Summer Palace. I didn't actually count to make sure that it has seventeen arches, but I trust that it does. You can rent boats to paddle around the lake that you see!

Again at the Summer Palace. This is one of the many temples. You can access it by going to the Long Corridor and then taking a left at some point. After entering this section, you have several climbs and several different temples. Also, there are several nice trails to walk around.

The Scary Net

After getting eaten alive on my first night in China (when I crashed at Josh's apt. in Beijing), I decided to purchase a bug net upon arrival in Weihai. Much to my surprise, my apartment came equipped with such a suspended net. Roz told me that she had had no trouble with bugs, and I made the mistake of thinking bugs would likewise leave me in peace. I think I got about 10 bug bites added to my collection of 8 from the previous night. For some reason the bug nets are impossible to set up in the stupor of sleep. Believe me, I tried. So, now I put up my net everynight. It was bit creepy the first few nights.

Here is a picture of me inside the "net."

A bit artsy, don't you think? It was an accident, but I think it looks rather creepy. For some reason it reminds me of The Matrix-- my heat capsule is a bug-net. Hmm...

My apartment

The view/the kitchen. I'm standing in the doorway of the hallway taking the photo so that you get the "full view" of the apartment. That dark shiny object in the foreground on the left is my pint-sized refrigerator. Certainly, a step-up from the mini-fridges I've become accostomed to in dorm rooms, but a mite smaller than the fridge that Jewel and I shared on Poplar Street. For me alone here in China, it isn't really an issue because I eat out quite a bit. (Notice how I've cut out the picture of the stove which stands directly across from the fridge in the kitchen). There is also a sink to your right =)













My living room (replete with elegant vinyl furniture--there's another armchair around the corner to the right in my bedroom)













My bedroom. Notice the hanging bug net? The table-like thing to the left of the bed is an electrically wired unit that controls all of the lights in the apartment--including the "Do Not Disturb" sign underneath my doorbell in the hallway.









The bathroom. My towel has a funky monkey on it. Not much to be said here. I took this picture while standing in the shower (fully-clothed). So, you needn't worry, I do, in fact, have a shower.

An email from Dad

NEW YORK, NY - A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement. He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

"Al-gebra is a problem for us," Gonzales said. "They desire solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code name like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval evil with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are three sides to every triangle'."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said,"If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes." White House aides told reporters they could not recall a more intelligent or profound statement by the president.

--what a trip. it certainly made me smile on this tired friday morning =)

You say "po-tay-toe"

I say "pa-tah-toe." You say "Chen Bao-Lian," I say "Chamberlain."

According to some official somewhere between the US and Weihai, I am Chen Bao-Lian. Shandong has readily accepted this Sino-American version of my name and perhaps even went so far as to tell my students this was my last name. Imagine everyone's surprise when I walked in the room the first day of class and it was at once obvious that I, in fact, am pretty much as far from being Chinese as is possible.

To make the situation even more comical, I was asked to pose for a photo about a month ago. Two days later, Neal, Roz, and I discovered that these photos had made their way onto a huge billboard welcoming the incoming freshmen and their parents!! There seems to be no rhyme or reason guiding the names--as you can see there is quite the mix of last names (Gann, Palmer), first names (Rachel), and invented names (me). Oh well, it is worth a laugh. I wonder where this posterboard has been stored . . . .

In a word*

Before you go asking yourself, "where are the pictures," let me say that I am currently in Beijing on holiday and opted for not bringing my cables to hook up my camera. Little did I know that there would be an uber-fast internet at my cousin's apt . . . we return to Weihai on Wednesday the 4th of October, so I should be able to get lots of pictures to update you on everything that I see on a daily basis.

So, having not written a blog since 17 Sept (and then only rather cursory ones at that), I feel that I should do a bit of backtracking.

This week is National Holiday Week. Something like the 4th of July, I suppose but think bigger--they get the whole week off!! Included in this holiday is the Mid-Autumn Festival which has some ancient story connected with it. Something about a man shooting down eight of the nine moons for his love. I think his love ended up stuck on one of the moons and he's still looking for her. The traditional sweet concoctions--the moon cake-- celebrate the love. There is another story about these buns. A long time ago the Chinese people planned a rebellion of some sort by baking directions pertaining to the rebellion in sweet buns. Those are the dumbed-down versions that I've heard at least.

To celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and the arrival of the foreign experts, we were all given Moon Cakes and boxes of apples. Neal counted his apples and the total was around 55. That's a lot of apples for one person to eat before they spoil. I've already boiled down about 8 to freeze. I've eaten 3 a day since returning from Beijing. They are quite yummy. The Moon Cakes, not so much. The version I have has dates inside. There are rumors that there may be small traces of chocolate as well, but I have not been able to decipher this ingredient at all.

Beijing was fast and crazy and fantastic and tiring all at the same time. Oh, and polluted. I blew my nose each night to find black mucous. Gross, I know, but I had to share. We visited the Simatai section of the Great Wall--definitely worth the extra hour or so drive as it was not very busy. Also caught the Lama Temple, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Forbidden City, and Tia'namen Square (saw the flag raising at 6 am and then went back to bed for another couple of hours).

Funny story about the Great Wall and guide books-- we slithered out of bed around 4:20 am and left the apartment at 5. Got to the bus station at 5:45 am to catch the 6 am bus to the Great Wall. Well, the ticket office didn't open until 6:30 am. It gets better-- we had to wait until the bus was completely full before setting off. That happened sometime after 8 am. In the meantime, we met some nice Ecuadorians and got to practice some Spanish (which made me happy and was pretty much worth being tired all day). So, beware of those guide books. They can be sneaky and lead you astray in the wee-hours of the morning.

The trip was good and I have quite a few pictures (despite the already used, cheap batteries that I fell for and bought . . . they stopped working after about 4 pictures . . .) I will post those up here tomorrow morning or afternoon depending on the speed of the internet.

As nice as Beijing was, I am sure glad that I live here in Weihai where the pace is slower, the air cleaner, and the people less likely to kill me with bikes, taxis, rickshaws, etc.

*For all curious minds: "in a word" is a phrase that flows from the pens of my students as if it were the only transitional phrase in the English language. The most amusing part? They all continue on for much more than a word. It usually clocks in at about an additional paragraph or two.