So, after about FOUR months this place is finally starting to feel like home. I'm beginning to comfortably establish routines. The main reason why I took this job is to study Chinese, but because I had accepted the position so last minute and was thrown into the whirlwinds of work, Shanghai, living on my own and adulthood, I had really lost focus on what I want.
Earlier I had been quite lonely. Initial friendships are exciting and I love to meet new people, but new friendships never have the same steadfastness loyalty that you have with friendships that have won the test of time. To compensate the complete rush, workload, chaos and overwhelming independence I had found myself neck high in, I began to eat some comfort foods: namely ice cream and chips. This (obviously) affected my body which added to the cycle of not having that much control. In college I was working out a lot- I felt so good afterwards both mentally and physically, and I think it's important to establish healthy habits when you're young so as you get older (and your metabolism slows down) you don't have to worry much about dramatically changing your habits and lifestyle.
But finding a gym in China (and having almost no free time in the beginning of the school year) proved to be difficult. When I finally found a few gyms in the area, compared prices, and finally joined, it was equally difficult motivating myself to actually go.
On top of all of this, it seems that THE THING for foreigners to do here is to go out at night. While I enjoy bars I have always had trouble having one sleeping pattern Monday - Friday (sleeping 10pm-6:30am) and dramatically changing it Saturday and Sunday (sleeping from 1am-10 or 11am) very difficult. In addition, I usually don't feel the best the next day and I find that I waste most of the day after I go out at night. I prefer going out with people I've known for a bit longer, because if I am drinking I feel safer with people I trust. So the fact that most people were using alcohol to bond (and I thought this phase was over in college) startled me a bit. I'm not sure if I alienated myself from some people because of my unwillingness to get completely trashed, but I really dislike peer pressure of any sort. I honestly didn't deal with peer pressure in college, and that was one huge thing I loved about school. I will respect other people's decisions and they should respect mine.
The point of this entry is that I've finally turned a corner. I think it's been a combination of my Dad visiting, me settling into my apartment, starting real routines, and maybe even lighting the menorah makes this strange suburban apartment in the outskirt (almost farmlands) of Shanghai feel like home, but I'm really enjoying myself here.
This is not to say I wasn't happy before, but I know I'm happier now. On Monday I went to the gym and had a great run on the elliptical and lifted weights. I started (finally) seriously studying Chinese on Monday night. I studied 40 new vocab words. Tuesday I had people over and cooked dinner. That same day I also bought a blank notebook and started a Chinese journal. Wednesday I also worked out at the gym (cardio and weights), had a quiet meal at home, and studied Chinese also also wrote in my journal. Yesterday I had two hours of Chinese one-on-one with Stephanie (a Mandarin teacher at my school). We corrected my journal entries and worked on the new vocabulary that I had studied. Wednesday I also worked out and randomly met some friends at the local restaurant I go to where we ate together. I once again wrote in my journal and tried (in Chinese) to explain what Hanukkah is.
Today I have a relatively light day. After school I'll go work out, and this evening my friend Kelly, who also works at the school, organized a bus to see a comedy improv show. So I'll get to see that. Tomorrow night I'll hopefully do some holiday shopping, maybe play field hockey, maybe work out, and hopefully go out with my friend Jade from Wes. Sunday morning (if I get up early enough) will be dedicated to bike riding through the farmland, and I plan to just relax and straighten up later Sunday afternoon. Monday I will have people over for dinner, Tuesday I'll have Chinese class then some dinner plans, Wednesday I'll work out and most likely eat on my own, Thursday is the Winter Concert at school, and Friday is the annual SCIS Holiday Party!
I need to keep busy because that's when I'm the most productive. It may mean I'm a bit tired, but if I have too much spare time to myself I'll begin to pine for my family and friends at home. I do miss you all, but I'm finally realizing what wonderful an opportunity is for me, and the beauty of actually having a real income to spend money on yourself and people you care about.
I hope this optimism lasts for a long, long time.
Friday, December 7, 2007
A Universal Truth
It seems that no matter where you go, you almost always end up with spare socks that have no match, even if you don't have a dryer. Isn't it supposed to be the dryer that eats them and not the washing machine? Maybe they work together...
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Whomping Wallets!
So! I've told you the awesome boots story. In fact, I'm wearing the boots right now. The style I've seen here is wearing cool boots over (bootleg cut) pants, or wearing stockings, shorts and boots that go together. I'm wearing the later style. I've already gotten one compliment from a student. I guess I look "cool" or something...
Upon leaving Qipu market, as I went through the exit I had opened my handbag to take out my scarf. I was only carrying one bag (with the boots in it), but I remember saying to myself, "just be careful, Amy." I did not heed my own warning. I closed my bag and walked down the steps to catch up with my friends. A beggar was heckling me (very aggressively) and I walked away from him. The next thing I know I look at my bag and it's open. I thought to myself, "Did I forget to close it? Oh no. CRAP." I checked inside and my wallet was missing.
I told my friends. They asked, "Amy are you sure?" I double-checked. Yes. Some guy who was just sitting on a parked motorcycle said he saw it happen. I asked him what the thief looked like (in Chinese) and where did he go? The guy was frustratingly apathetic, a total jerk. JiangJiang asked him in Chinese for the details, and he just said "他是一个新疆人。" (He is a XinJiang person.) Xinjiang people are a minority group from Western China.
The people from the region are predominately Muslim. They are a minority group that has had constant bouts with the Han Chinese. Usually some of the XinJiang people migrate to cities to find work, but the Chinese impression of them is that they can't be trusted. They usually have
The man on the motorcycle was most likely in on the scheme but there is no way to prove it. He told me the thief ran in one direction when he could have easily gone either way. I was so angry at the time and I still am. My friends then called the police who arrived within about 5 minutes.
Previously I have been very scared of the police because in a country where I don't really know my specific rights, I honestly just don't want any altercations with people in uniform. But I really want to give props to the Chinese government. The police officers actually responded to the call, arrived quickly, and did what they could to interview the man on the motorcycle and try to fix the incident. The motorcycle guy said the thief took the money out of the wallet and put it on a motorcycle that zoomed off. I don't believe this story because it would make sense for the thief to get away first and then inspect his spoils, not hang around the incident where the theft occurred. After all of this, the police drove us all to the police station and were very patient trying to look up my passport number (which I didn't have with me), in order to identify me. They also helped me with the police report and were incredibly kind. They said they would do what they could to help find my wallet, and hopefully someone would turn it in.
At the station, I called Natalie who was nice enough to call my dad (who answered the phone at 5:30am, already awake), to tell him to cancel my credit card and debit card. I also called my Chinese bank and changed my pin number and canceled the card.. or something. It was complicated. Jiangjiang said that if it was Xinjiang people they usually work in groups, and it was better they took my money than hurt me. One of our mutual friends (Eva) had watched a child (who was a Xinjiang person) try to steal. She told the person who was going to be stolen from, and an older (xinjiang) man went up to her, kicked her, and told her to mind her own business. Now I don't want to sound racist, but I'm just explaining things that have been told to me about this particular group of people.
After we left the station, Jiangjiang and Tianwen gave me some money so I could go home. I took a cab and spoke to the driver a bit about Xinjiang people. He didn't seem to like them either. He told me that they shouldn't be trusted. I didn't quite understand everything he was saying, but I did understand he wasn't particularly fond of them.
Sunday afternoon Jane (the LS principal) called me saying the police called her because someone had turned in the wallet. Jane was kind enough to arrange transportation for me to go into Puxi (I didn't really have enough cash to get there myself), and I got my wallet back. The policemen at this station were also very friendly, and happy I could say a few words in the Shanghai dialect. I got everything back except my transportation card (which only had 15 kuai), and I lost about 300-350 kuai (about $45-$50). It could have been worse, but not I have to deal with the debacle of getting all of my cards re-issued while abroad. Ugh.
Upon leaving Qipu market, as I went through the exit I had opened my handbag to take out my scarf. I was only carrying one bag (with the boots in it), but I remember saying to myself, "just be careful, Amy." I did not heed my own warning. I closed my bag and walked down the steps to catch up with my friends. A beggar was heckling me (very aggressively) and I walked away from him. The next thing I know I look at my bag and it's open. I thought to myself, "Did I forget to close it? Oh no. CRAP." I checked inside and my wallet was missing.
I told my friends. They asked, "Amy are you sure?" I double-checked. Yes. Some guy who was just sitting on a parked motorcycle said he saw it happen. I asked him what the thief looked like (in Chinese) and where did he go? The guy was frustratingly apathetic, a total jerk. JiangJiang asked him in Chinese for the details, and he just said "他是一个新疆人。" (He is a XinJiang person.) Xinjiang people are a minority group from Western China.
The people from the region are predominately Muslim. They are a minority group that has had constant bouts with the Han Chinese. Usually some of the XinJiang people migrate to cities to find work, but the Chinese impression of them is that they can't be trusted. They usually haveThe man on the motorcycle was most likely in on the scheme but there is no way to prove it. He told me the thief ran in one direction when he could have easily gone either way. I was so angry at the time and I still am. My friends then called the police who arrived within about 5 minutes.
Previously I have been very scared of the police because in a country where I don't really know my specific rights, I honestly just don't want any altercations with people in uniform. But I really want to give props to the Chinese government. The police officers actually responded to the call, arrived quickly, and did what they could to interview the man on the motorcycle and try to fix the incident. The motorcycle guy said the thief took the money out of the wallet and put it on a motorcycle that zoomed off. I don't believe this story because it would make sense for the thief to get away first and then inspect his spoils, not hang around the incident where the theft occurred. After all of this, the police drove us all to the police station and were very patient trying to look up my passport number (which I didn't have with me), in order to identify me. They also helped me with the police report and were incredibly kind. They said they would do what they could to help find my wallet, and hopefully someone would turn it in.
At the station, I called Natalie who was nice enough to call my dad (who answered the phone at 5:30am, already awake), to tell him to cancel my credit card and debit card. I also called my Chinese bank and changed my pin number and canceled the card.. or something. It was complicated. Jiangjiang said that if it was Xinjiang people they usually work in groups, and it was better they took my money than hurt me. One of our mutual friends (Eva) had watched a child (who was a Xinjiang person) try to steal. She told the person who was going to be stolen from, and an older (xinjiang) man went up to her, kicked her, and told her to mind her own business. Now I don't want to sound racist, but I'm just explaining things that have been told to me about this particular group of people.
After we left the station, Jiangjiang and Tianwen gave me some money so I could go home. I took a cab and spoke to the driver a bit about Xinjiang people. He didn't seem to like them either. He told me that they shouldn't be trusted. I didn't quite understand everything he was saying, but I did understand he wasn't particularly fond of them.
Sunday afternoon Jane (the LS principal) called me saying the police called her because someone had turned in the wallet. Jane was kind enough to arrange transportation for me to go into Puxi (I didn't really have enough cash to get there myself), and I got my wallet back. The policemen at this station were also very friendly, and happy I could say a few words in the Shanghai dialect. I got everything back except my transportation card (which only had 15 kuai), and I lost about 300-350 kuai (about $45-$50). It could have been worse, but not I have to deal with the debacle of getting all of my cards re-issued while abroad. Ugh.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Qipu (chee-pu, almost like "cheap") Market
So... Saturday night.
I was at a place called Qipu market (七铺路） where many Chinese residents go to buy things. I went with my friend Jiang Jiang and two of her friends (Tianwen and Lianglili). We met at the Nan Jing East road subway station and walked 10 minutes to get to the market.
This isn't my first time there. I had gone there two previous times but I've never really bought anything when I went. Because a person is a foreigner, upon entering the premises you are bombarded with people trying to sell you watches, bags, DVDs... of course for the most part they ignore the Chinese people. I guess they just assume that if you're a foreigner you're automatically going to have a lot of money that you'll enjoy spending on items listed in their highly informative sales pitch. One thing I don't understand about Chinese culture is that if they are unsuccessful in selling you listed items in their little brochures, why don't they change their sales pitch? Just because this type of sales may have worked in the past doesn't necessarily mean it works now, especially when there are about 20 of these sales people for every one foreigner.
Anyway... before we entered the market the girls taught me how to say "Stop following me" which is "别跟着我“。 I said it in an impolite way but having people following me can be so frustrating at times on Saturday I didn't really care whether or not I was being polite. The sales people who were heckling me were often surprised and even laughed (in disbelief?) that I said something like that to them. But it was effective. They stopped following me.
I wanted to buy many many gifts for various family and friends, but I ended up just buying myself stuff. I've come to a point where I'm bored with my wardrobe. I brought two suitcases but I really didn't bring that much clothing with me and I've been repeating outfits week by week. China is an ideal place to experiment with personal style because clothes are inexpensive here, so even if you buy something hideous or clothes that go out of style within a week you're not losing that much money. For the most part my style is pretty simple and plain. Being in China gives me a new slate with fashion and I just realized this on Saturday.
The Chinese style here lacks... elegance. Older women tend to wear plaids with checkered prints and sometimes they even throw a nice floral into the mix too, but there are some strengths with style here that I do want to utilize. Chinese women enjoy wearing cute often very girly clothing with lots of lace and random bows. While this can be a bit too much at times, the tackiness in some of the clothes can be utilized, in my opinion, to create an interesting wardrobe. Over my remaining months here I plan to cautiously expand my wardrobe and try to combine some of the flashy clothes with my plain ones.
Saturday I was looking for boots. Chinese style boots. Over the summer, my friend Monty had shown off her Ukranian fur lined glitzy boots and I was inspired by her to get Chinese boots for myself (that wouldn't be nearly as effectively warm). When Dad was here he also mentioned that I need to get some glitzy tacky Chinese boots, but when we looked at Daranfa (the local grocery store/mall complex near my home), the boots didn't fit and were quite expensive.
So the search for boots began. I must have tried on at least 4 or 5 pairs of boots that varied in color from black and brown to red and purple. Sometimes they wouldn't even have my size (too big!) Other times the quality of the boot was just terrible, or the shoe didn't fit.
FINALLY we went to a stand that had these cute black boots that went to just below my knee. Around the ankle was a cute silver buckle, and toward the top of the boot were a few jewel embellishments. It sounds tacky but they were (somewhat) tasteful. I asked for a size 39. They had it, I tried them on and they fit so well!
Then the haggling begins. I ask her, "How much?" I see a sparkle in her eyes. She takes out her calculator (which annoys me because I asked her in Chinese, I would understand her response, and they only use calculators with foreigners)... the number reads "680". "SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTY KUAI?! Are you joking?!" I respond, flabbergasted, in Chinese. "Why are you giving me the foreigner price?" She says, "it's not the foreigner price." At the fabric market you can get a custom made cashmere coat for 550, so the fact that she wants me to pay 680 for (fake) leather boots is insulting and ridiculous. I then say "100", she makes a face, so I walk away. She quickly changes her mind and says "yes yes" but I don't bother-- I want to give my business to someone who's more trusting than her. I just say to Jiang Jiang, "This is China and we are at a market. We will find similar, if not the same shoes somewhere else here." We turn to go down the isle, look at a few stands, and there are the same boots on display. JiangJiang asks the price and tries them on, pretending to be interested in them, and asks the price. The man starts at 260 (not nearly as bad), so then I come in and say I'd like to try them on. They fit, and I say to him "70 kuai". He says he can't, so I go up to 75. He says no, so I say "fine, 80 is the most I'll pay." He says no so I walk away. He then tells me to come back and I get the boots for 80 kuai.
Phew. Later that same day my wallet got stolen. I will update you with this story in the near future.
I was at a place called Qipu market (七铺路） where many Chinese residents go to buy things. I went with my friend Jiang Jiang and two of her friends (Tianwen and Lianglili). We met at the Nan Jing East road subway station and walked 10 minutes to get to the market.
This isn't my first time there. I had gone there two previous times but I've never really bought anything when I went. Because a person is a foreigner, upon entering the premises you are bombarded with people trying to sell you watches, bags, DVDs... of course for the most part they ignore the Chinese people. I guess they just assume that if you're a foreigner you're automatically going to have a lot of money that you'll enjoy spending on items listed in their highly informative sales pitch. One thing I don't understand about Chinese culture is that if they are unsuccessful in selling you listed items in their little brochures, why don't they change their sales pitch? Just because this type of sales may have worked in the past doesn't necessarily mean it works now, especially when there are about 20 of these sales people for every one foreigner.
Anyway... before we entered the market the girls taught me how to say "Stop following me" which is "别跟着我“。 I said it in an impolite way but having people following me can be so frustrating at times on Saturday I didn't really care whether or not I was being polite. The sales people who were heckling me were often surprised and even laughed (in disbelief?) that I said something like that to them. But it was effective. They stopped following me.
I wanted to buy many many gifts for various family and friends, but I ended up just buying myself stuff. I've come to a point where I'm bored with my wardrobe. I brought two suitcases but I really didn't bring that much clothing with me and I've been repeating outfits week by week. China is an ideal place to experiment with personal style because clothes are inexpensive here, so even if you buy something hideous or clothes that go out of style within a week you're not losing that much money. For the most part my style is pretty simple and plain. Being in China gives me a new slate with fashion and I just realized this on Saturday.
The Chinese style here lacks... elegance. Older women tend to wear plaids with checkered prints and sometimes they even throw a nice floral into the mix too, but there are some strengths with style here that I do want to utilize. Chinese women enjoy wearing cute often very girly clothing with lots of lace and random bows. While this can be a bit too much at times, the tackiness in some of the clothes can be utilized, in my opinion, to create an interesting wardrobe. Over my remaining months here I plan to cautiously expand my wardrobe and try to combine some of the flashy clothes with my plain ones.
Saturday I was looking for boots. Chinese style boots. Over the summer, my friend Monty had shown off her Ukranian fur lined glitzy boots and I was inspired by her to get Chinese boots for myself (that wouldn't be nearly as effectively warm). When Dad was here he also mentioned that I need to get some glitzy tacky Chinese boots, but when we looked at Daranfa (the local grocery store/mall complex near my home), the boots didn't fit and were quite expensive.
So the search for boots began. I must have tried on at least 4 or 5 pairs of boots that varied in color from black and brown to red and purple. Sometimes they wouldn't even have my size (too big!) Other times the quality of the boot was just terrible, or the shoe didn't fit.
FINALLY we went to a stand that had these cute black boots that went to just below my knee. Around the ankle was a cute silver buckle, and toward the top of the boot were a few jewel embellishments. It sounds tacky but they were (somewhat) tasteful. I asked for a size 39. They had it, I tried them on and they fit so well!
Then the haggling begins. I ask her, "How much?" I see a sparkle in her eyes. She takes out her calculator (which annoys me because I asked her in Chinese, I would understand her response, and they only use calculators with foreigners)... the number reads "680". "SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTY KUAI?! Are you joking?!" I respond, flabbergasted, in Chinese. "Why are you giving me the foreigner price?" She says, "it's not the foreigner price." At the fabric market you can get a custom made cashmere coat for 550, so the fact that she wants me to pay 680 for (fake) leather boots is insulting and ridiculous. I then say "100", she makes a face, so I walk away. She quickly changes her mind and says "yes yes" but I don't bother-- I want to give my business to someone who's more trusting than her. I just say to Jiang Jiang, "This is China and we are at a market. We will find similar, if not the same shoes somewhere else here." We turn to go down the isle, look at a few stands, and there are the same boots on display. JiangJiang asks the price and tries them on, pretending to be interested in them, and asks the price. The man starts at 260 (not nearly as bad), so then I come in and say I'd like to try them on. They fit, and I say to him "70 kuai". He says he can't, so I go up to 75. He says no, so I say "fine, 80 is the most I'll pay." He says no so I walk away. He then tells me to come back and I get the boots for 80 kuai.
Phew. Later that same day my wallet got stolen. I will update you with this story in the near future.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Life!
While plane flights may bring relatives (read: my Dad), schools bring diseases, namely many forms of the common cold. Teaching 165 students a week certainly exposes me to many wonderful diseases, and while I am not deathly ill I do have a cumbersome cold.
That aside, my Dad arrived in Shanghai last Thursday. The grade level teacher for my last class on Thursday afternoon, Jen, was nice enough to start and end five minutes early. So, at 2:45pm I rushed out of the school and took a cab to the airport to meet my Dad. Despite the 30 minute EARLY arrival (unprecedented for an international 14+ hour flight!), Dad only ended up waiting for me in the area for only 15-20 minutes. We took a cab home where I showed off my apartment, and then he settled in by resting his eyes. But it's not jet lag! He was just tired. :)
Following the nap Daddy unpacked his belongings and we decided to eat at the local hole in the wall restaurant down the street. We were originally going to go to a fancier restaurant, but Dad simply said, "Amy, let's eat at a nicer place when I'm more awake and I can appreciate it." So instead we dined at the Muslim restaurant. There is this Muslim restaurant about an 8 minute walk away. I drew Dad a map of the surrounding area and at the Muslim restaurant we ordered spicy cucumber, a scallion/beef dish, 20 dumplings and two bowls of rice. It cost 40 kuai, or about $5.28. Total.
Following dinner we went to DaRanFa, the local grocery store/super Wal-Mart right across the street from the Muslim place. DaRanFa has everything imaginable. We purchased CD holders (8.8 kuai, or about $1.25), milk, random food and other random purchases. Then we went home and went to sleep.
I had school Friday and Dad relaxed at home. At the end of the day he stopped by the school! I showed him all the work I've been doing. We spoke with a colleague of mine named Tom who teaches Physics and we had good conversation. Following this Dad and I stopped by the gym where they said as long as I go with my Dad, he can exercise for free. We finally got home to my apartment. Dad fell asleep again then because it was late and raining, around 7/7:30pm we took a 10 minute cab ride to the neighborhood of Zhoupu. This is a really Chinese area near where I live/work. We wandered around the night stalls that sold various trinkets, DVDs, and snack food. For dinner we had Mongolian hot pot. They heat up soup broth and you put in various veggies and meats to cook in it. Dad was delighted. He was also thrilled to find seasons 1-3 of Boston Legal for only 15 kuai (about $2).
Saturday morning we woke up, lazed around a bit then worked out. Following working out, we returned home, got ready and went downtown. The weather was still dreary and rainy but we took a cab to a subway to People's Square. There we explored the area, and went to the Shanghai Museum. Friday Dad had been enthusiastic about going to a museum (despite museum prejudice!) but when we entered he immediately changed his mind. I convinced him to go inside and we looked around for about 1-1.5 hours. We then walked down Nanjing road to try to find a place to eat and the Peace Hotel. We had wanted to go to the Peace Hotel Friday night to listen to jazz, but it was gross and late so we decided to postpone it for Saturday.
Unfortunately Saturday was equally if not more miserable. Walking around on no food after working out a lot Saturday morning didn't help things. What's worse, the stupid Peace Hotel was closed. It's been going through revamping for over the past year. It was AWFUL.
And the beautiful view on the Bund that I thought would blow my Dad away was uneventful in his eyes. It is such a shame because on a beautiful day (like how I saw it) I was so amazed and enjoyed that area so much that the dreary rain on top of the Peace Hotel being closed just was a total disappointment.
We ate on Nanjing road, took the subway and then a cab home.
Sunday morning we met up with Tom, his wife Mary, and another woman named Mary. We went to the fabric market. I wanted to pick up my coat and I wanted to take Dad there to see if he wanted anything made. The fabric market reminded him of the dry cleaners. He decided to get nothing made (I personally think that's a shame, but he said there's nothing that he needs), and my coat STILL didn't fit right, so we left the fabric market and just walked along the random alleyways/neighborhoods. Winding through the different areas, we then went to the Wen Miao (Confucius) temple. It was perfect because it doesn't have many tourists, there is a random book market there (that wasn't there when I first went!) and it's not over the top like the Yu Gardens.
We then snacked on some dumplings and took a cab home. When we got home we went to DaRanFa (again!), and stocked up on some major food. We then ate some food at the Muslim restaurant and the rest of the night was spent lounging and watching Boston Legal.
Through all of this I've been developing a cold. Monday I tried going into school and taught my first three (out of four) classes, then I came home around 11 and just relaxed the whole day. Friday I got this ridiculous gas bill for like 2000kuai. There are problems with the water heater and these problems finally began to be addressed yesterday. Nickael was nice enough to stop by the house to make sure people were coming to fix it, but when a problem happens in China, you have to complain a lot to get something fixed. Usually when it is fixed, it only looks like it is fixed properly. It's time consuming and frustrating, but eventually this heating problem will be fixed. The apartment is heated by either the AC/heater unit, or by the gas heating the hot water which somehow heats up all of the floor tiles. The floor is then warm and the warm air rises.
Dad was at the apartment this morning when the gas/water people came. Hopefully all went well!
That's all for now-- Dad and I may go to Hong Kong this weekend but I'm not sure yet.
That aside, my Dad arrived in Shanghai last Thursday. The grade level teacher for my last class on Thursday afternoon, Jen, was nice enough to start and end five minutes early. So, at 2:45pm I rushed out of the school and took a cab to the airport to meet my Dad. Despite the 30 minute EARLY arrival (unprecedented for an international 14+ hour flight!), Dad only ended up waiting for me in the area for only 15-20 minutes. We took a cab home where I showed off my apartment, and then he settled in by resting his eyes. But it's not jet lag! He was just tired. :)
Following the nap Daddy unpacked his belongings and we decided to eat at the local hole in the wall restaurant down the street. We were originally going to go to a fancier restaurant, but Dad simply said, "Amy, let's eat at a nicer place when I'm more awake and I can appreciate it." So instead we dined at the Muslim restaurant. There is this Muslim restaurant about an 8 minute walk away. I drew Dad a map of the surrounding area and at the Muslim restaurant we ordered spicy cucumber, a scallion/beef dish, 20 dumplings and two bowls of rice. It cost 40 kuai, or about $5.28. Total.
Following dinner we went to DaRanFa, the local grocery store/super Wal-Mart right across the street from the Muslim place. DaRanFa has everything imaginable. We purchased CD holders (8.8 kuai, or about $1.25), milk, random food and other random purchases. Then we went home and went to sleep.
I had school Friday and Dad relaxed at home. At the end of the day he stopped by the school! I showed him all the work I've been doing. We spoke with a colleague of mine named Tom who teaches Physics and we had good conversation. Following this Dad and I stopped by the gym where they said as long as I go with my Dad, he can exercise for free. We finally got home to my apartment. Dad fell asleep again then because it was late and raining, around 7/7:30pm we took a 10 minute cab ride to the neighborhood of Zhoupu. This is a really Chinese area near where I live/work. We wandered around the night stalls that sold various trinkets, DVDs, and snack food. For dinner we had Mongolian hot pot. They heat up soup broth and you put in various veggies and meats to cook in it. Dad was delighted. He was also thrilled to find seasons 1-3 of Boston Legal for only 15 kuai (about $2).
Saturday morning we woke up, lazed around a bit then worked out. Following working out, we returned home, got ready and went downtown. The weather was still dreary and rainy but we took a cab to a subway to People's Square. There we explored the area, and went to the Shanghai Museum. Friday Dad had been enthusiastic about going to a museum (despite museum prejudice!) but when we entered he immediately changed his mind. I convinced him to go inside and we looked around for about 1-1.5 hours. We then walked down Nanjing road to try to find a place to eat and the Peace Hotel. We had wanted to go to the Peace Hotel Friday night to listen to jazz, but it was gross and late so we decided to postpone it for Saturday.
Unfortunately Saturday was equally if not more miserable. Walking around on no food after working out a lot Saturday morning didn't help things. What's worse, the stupid Peace Hotel was closed. It's been going through revamping for over the past year. It was AWFUL.
And the beautiful view on the Bund that I thought would blow my Dad away was uneventful in his eyes. It is such a shame because on a beautiful day (like how I saw it) I was so amazed and enjoyed that area so much that the dreary rain on top of the Peace Hotel being closed just was a total disappointment.
We ate on Nanjing road, took the subway and then a cab home.
Sunday morning we met up with Tom, his wife Mary, and another woman named Mary. We went to the fabric market. I wanted to pick up my coat and I wanted to take Dad there to see if he wanted anything made. The fabric market reminded him of the dry cleaners. He decided to get nothing made (I personally think that's a shame, but he said there's nothing that he needs), and my coat STILL didn't fit right, so we left the fabric market and just walked along the random alleyways/neighborhoods. Winding through the different areas, we then went to the Wen Miao (Confucius) temple. It was perfect because it doesn't have many tourists, there is a random book market there (that wasn't there when I first went!) and it's not over the top like the Yu Gardens.
We then snacked on some dumplings and took a cab home. When we got home we went to DaRanFa (again!), and stocked up on some major food. We then ate some food at the Muslim restaurant and the rest of the night was spent lounging and watching Boston Legal.
Through all of this I've been developing a cold. Monday I tried going into school and taught my first three (out of four) classes, then I came home around 11 and just relaxed the whole day. Friday I got this ridiculous gas bill for like 2000kuai. There are problems with the water heater and these problems finally began to be addressed yesterday. Nickael was nice enough to stop by the house to make sure people were coming to fix it, but when a problem happens in China, you have to complain a lot to get something fixed. Usually when it is fixed, it only looks like it is fixed properly. It's time consuming and frustrating, but eventually this heating problem will be fixed. The apartment is heated by either the AC/heater unit, or by the gas heating the hot water which somehow heats up all of the floor tiles. The floor is then warm and the warm air rises.
Dad was at the apartment this morning when the gas/water people came. Hopefully all went well!
That's all for now-- Dad and I may go to Hong Kong this weekend but I'm not sure yet.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Jump to the present
Okay, I will update you soon on my trips to Suzhou and Hangzhou (about 4 and 3 weeks ago, respectively), but I wanted to inform you all about my new hobby: Mountain biking.
Recently I've borrowed Jane's mountain bike, and I think I'm going to buy it from her. I went biking on Saturday morning with a man named Bret and Tom, Jane's husband, and we biked about 42k (25 miles). We biked to the subway station and to a plaza with Western restaurants. There we met two other friends for breakfast. Unfortunately one the ride Bret fell and really hurt himself (broken fingers and a broken arm), but he kept biking and didn't say anything about the severity of his pain. We biked to several bike shops, and I purchased biking gloves.
Saturday morning I biked about 42k (26.10 miles).
I enjoyed biking so much I joined a group of regulars who go for long bike rides every Sunday morning. I joined them and we went through farmland and also over bridges that went over canals filled with gross water. We had the chance to really see how some of the poorer Chinese people live, but it wasn't to the point of being destitute.
I got a flat tire along the way, so one of the guys in the group, Barry, was with me and helped me repair the flat tire. Of course we ended up with a crowd of about 10 watching Barry change the tubing of the tire... haha.
Following the villages/farms/bridges we headed under the mag-lift, which is the fastest train in the world. It goes from the Shanghai Pudong airport to the LongYan subway station. We biked under it, and shortly before that we went over a pedestrian overpass (over a busy road) that was covered in rice. The rice was there because you need flat open spaces for the harvested rice to dry. Of course it's fine if you bike/walk/whatever over it-- hopefully at some point they'll clean it off! Otherwise I guess the boiling water helps.
After we went under the mag-lift, we actually ended up in the factory yard where they originally constructed the mag lift. The area was desolate and huge! Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera but next Sunday I plan to.
We biked even farther and saw signs for a Buddhist temple called the 会 龙 寺(Hui Long temple) because it was on Hui Long street. The temple was beautiful. We spoke to some monks and went inside where we saw a huge wooden statue of Buddha and many other wooden statues around the area. We also passed a cool candle factory that I want to check out at some point.
Sunday morning I biked 52k (32.31 miles).
Last night (Tuesday morning) I also went biking with Tom and we met a friend named Sharyn at a place called Century Park. There we biked several loops around Century Park, relaxed at Starbucks (I had a hot chocolate and a scone), then Tom and I biked back to school. So, last night's total ended up being 40k (24.85 miles)
So basically I have biked 134k (83.26 miles) in the past four days. CRAZY!
I'm tired.
Recently I've borrowed Jane's mountain bike, and I think I'm going to buy it from her. I went biking on Saturday morning with a man named Bret and Tom, Jane's husband, and we biked about 42k (25 miles). We biked to the subway station and to a plaza with Western restaurants. There we met two other friends for breakfast. Unfortunately one the ride Bret fell and really hurt himself (broken fingers and a broken arm), but he kept biking and didn't say anything about the severity of his pain. We biked to several bike shops, and I purchased biking gloves.
Saturday morning I biked about 42k (26.10 miles).
I enjoyed biking so much I joined a group of regulars who go for long bike rides every Sunday morning. I joined them and we went through farmland and also over bridges that went over canals filled with gross water. We had the chance to really see how some of the poorer Chinese people live, but it wasn't to the point of being destitute.
I got a flat tire along the way, so one of the guys in the group, Barry, was with me and helped me repair the flat tire. Of course we ended up with a crowd of about 10 watching Barry change the tubing of the tire... haha.
Following the villages/farms/bridges we headed under the mag-lift, which is the fastest train in the world. It goes from the Shanghai Pudong airport to the LongYan subway station. We biked under it, and shortly before that we went over a pedestrian overpass (over a busy road) that was covered in rice. The rice was there because you need flat open spaces for the harvested rice to dry. Of course it's fine if you bike/walk/whatever over it-- hopefully at some point they'll clean it off! Otherwise I guess the boiling water helps.
After we went under the mag-lift, we actually ended up in the factory yard where they originally constructed the mag lift. The area was desolate and huge! Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera but next Sunday I plan to.
We biked even farther and saw signs for a Buddhist temple called the 会 龙 寺(Hui Long temple) because it was on Hui Long street. The temple was beautiful. We spoke to some monks and went inside where we saw a huge wooden statue of Buddha and many other wooden statues around the area. We also passed a cool candle factory that I want to check out at some point.
Sunday morning I biked 52k (32.31 miles).
Last night (Tuesday morning) I also went biking with Tom and we met a friend named Sharyn at a place called Century Park. There we biked several loops around Century Park, relaxed at Starbucks (I had a hot chocolate and a scone), then Tom and I biked back to school. So, last night's total ended up being 40k (24.85 miles)
So basically I have biked 134k (83.26 miles) in the past four days. CRAZY!
I'm tired.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Bali, pictures from part IV
Okay okay my apologies. I'm getting worse and worse at updating this regularly. I'm like 3 weeks behind in updating you all about my life here in Shanghai. I've been working on progress reports (due Thursday) since forever ago! I was in on Sunday for many hours, and I stayed at work until 8pm last night to get them done.
Here are the remaining (interesting) Bali pictures:
Dinner with the Dutch/Indonesians
The raft
Amy and (Dutch) Company
Tanah Lot (lucky?) snake.
Some more of Tanah Lot
Tanah Lot
The sunset at Tanah Lot
_________________________________
Thursday morning at the beach before returning to Shanghai
View of the beach at Legion
Here are the remaining (interesting) Bali pictures:
Dinner with the Dutch/Indonesians
Delicious food
White water rafting
White water rafting
The raft
Amy and (Dutch) Company
Tanah Lot (lucky?) snake.
Some more of Tanah Lot
Tanah Lot
The sunset at Tanah Lot
_________________________________
Thursday morning at the beach before returning to Shanghai
View of the beach at Legion
Monday, October 22, 2007
Bali, pictures from part III
Views from the Moped
Views from the Moped, p2
Putu and I
Around the temple and burial grounds
Me wearing a sarong
More of the burial ground area
Monkeys!
Blogspot won't let me add more pictures because there is some problem, so I'll post more (from white water rafting and the rest of the Bali trip) later today or sometime tomorrow.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Bali, part IV
After I was done swimming, Mike and Cathy's driver picked me up from my hotel around 3pm. I then went down south to Legion, where the driver picked up Mike and Cathy. From there we went to Tanah Lot, one of the most famous temples in Bali. It is known for its remarkable sunsets, jagged rocks, and is known for having some snakes guard the temple.
Now I know some of you loathe snakes, but there was only one around that I saw. We walked down to the beach area (that was more of a rockbed with puddles because it was low tide), and in one of the cave areas you could pay to touch a blue and black snake. Of course I did it because it was awesome. You could also donate money and wash your hands with holy water, have a bit of oil on your head and rice put on your forehead to be blessed. Both the snake and the blessing were quite enjoyable.
Sunset was a disappointment actually because it was quite overcast, but in general the temple was breathtaking. We did not have that much time to see the temple itself because once the sun set most of the little cafes, vendors, and shops began to close down. I bought some beautiful wood carvings as well as some postcards for my postcard collection. Exploring with Mike and Cathy was a lot of fun!
We then drove back to Legion where Mike and Cathy helped me find a hotel in the area. It was a lot less expensive than the place I stayed at before but not nearly as comfortable. We then met up for dinner and had a wonderful meal. Mike and Cathy paid--- SO GENEROUS. I honestly have never met people quite like this before. Earlier in their trip, they had met a person at a jewelry store (who didn't earn much money). His English was good and he wanted to become a tour guide but didn't have the money or time to finance the course. It only cost about $80 US dollars (or whatever it was in Australian), and Mike, based on a simple gut instinct, just said to the guy, "If you give us a good price on the jewelry we want I'll give you the money for you to take time off of work, and to pay for the touring license.) And that's what they did. Mike and Cathy then invited this man and his wife into the main city for dinner, where they had never used utensils before. The man and wife didn't even know how to cut the meat properly with a fork and knife. They thanked Mike and Cathy profusely. Honestly a gesture like that to a complete stranger boggled my mind. They really (hopefully) made a difference in these people's lives. If that money is really spent on the training, and this Indonesian man can start earning more money for his family, this will increase opportunities for future generations of the family. I am really moved by what they did.
Following dinner we went out for a few drinks, then I went home and slept at my weird hotel. I woke up in the morning, had a leisurely breakfast at a restaurant on the beach, then walked on the beach by myself for about an hour, went in for a quick swim, returned to the hotel, showered, packed my bags, went to the airport and came home.
All in all it was a great trip. I learned a lot about myself, and frankly traveling alone really isn't that bad. I'm happy I can keep myself company and meet new great people along the way.
Now I know some of you loathe snakes, but there was only one around that I saw. We walked down to the beach area (that was more of a rockbed with puddles because it was low tide), and in one of the cave areas you could pay to touch a blue and black snake. Of course I did it because it was awesome. You could also donate money and wash your hands with holy water, have a bit of oil on your head and rice put on your forehead to be blessed. Both the snake and the blessing were quite enjoyable.
Sunset was a disappointment actually because it was quite overcast, but in general the temple was breathtaking. We did not have that much time to see the temple itself because once the sun set most of the little cafes, vendors, and shops began to close down. I bought some beautiful wood carvings as well as some postcards for my postcard collection. Exploring with Mike and Cathy was a lot of fun!
We then drove back to Legion where Mike and Cathy helped me find a hotel in the area. It was a lot less expensive than the place I stayed at before but not nearly as comfortable. We then met up for dinner and had a wonderful meal. Mike and Cathy paid--- SO GENEROUS. I honestly have never met people quite like this before. Earlier in their trip, they had met a person at a jewelry store (who didn't earn much money). His English was good and he wanted to become a tour guide but didn't have the money or time to finance the course. It only cost about $80 US dollars (or whatever it was in Australian), and Mike, based on a simple gut instinct, just said to the guy, "If you give us a good price on the jewelry we want I'll give you the money for you to take time off of work, and to pay for the touring license.) And that's what they did. Mike and Cathy then invited this man and his wife into the main city for dinner, where they had never used utensils before. The man and wife didn't even know how to cut the meat properly with a fork and knife. They thanked Mike and Cathy profusely. Honestly a gesture like that to a complete stranger boggled my mind. They really (hopefully) made a difference in these people's lives. If that money is really spent on the training, and this Indonesian man can start earning more money for his family, this will increase opportunities for future generations of the family. I am really moved by what they did.
Following dinner we went out for a few drinks, then I went home and slept at my weird hotel. I woke up in the morning, had a leisurely breakfast at a restaurant on the beach, then walked on the beach by myself for about an hour, went in for a quick swim, returned to the hotel, showered, packed my bags, went to the airport and came home.
All in all it was a great trip. I learned a lot about myself, and frankly traveling alone really isn't that bad. I'm happy I can keep myself company and meet new great people along the way.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Bali, part III
After the burial grounds we stopped by a "bird sanctuary" which consisted of just a few trees that housed at least 200-300 herons. There were so many it was amazing. We returned to the hotel and we went out to dinner afterwards. The restaurant had a traditional Balinese dance performance with many men in strange pirate shorts chanting "chika chik" at different intervals. The effects of these intermixing sounds was unlike anything I've heard before. I tried to record a video on my camera so we'll see if it works. The quality isn't good because it's dark, but listen.. Here it is:
Tuesday morning Jenny and Lars (the couple from Germany) headed out so I walked down to the main street to go shopping. Unfortunately I bought almost nothing. The beautiful island fabrics and dresses looked great on the mannequins but when I tried clothing on it just wasn't flattering at all.
After eating lunch, I wandered down one of the main streets to the monkey forest, an area that is a sanctuary/temple for monkeys. After paying 10,000ruipah (about $1.10) to enter, I was amazed by how much green luscious forest there was. And there were seriously monkeys of all ages, shapes and sizes everywhere. You aren't supposed to touch them but it's okay if they touch you. As a way to prepare before going, I put away my sunglasses and made sure I had no loose things on me or any food. And those monkeys were relentless! One just climbed up my leg and put his hand in my pocket to try to find food. I took some amazing pictures that I will also post soon. At the monkey sanctuary I met a couple, maybe in their forties, and the woman was freaking out when the monkey approached her. I started chatting with them, Mike and Cathy, who happened to be from Australia. They were staying in an area about 40 minutes south of Ubud, near Kuta, in a town called Legion (Leg-e-on). I had asked what they were doing in the next part of their trip, and they told me they wanted to see the temple at Tanah Lot. I had briefly read about this place and had also wanted to go. These people were so friendly that they offered for their driver to pick me up at my hotel, then drive down to Legion, and we'd all go to Tanah Lot together Wednesday afternoon! What luck!
I finally went back to the hotel, but I spent most of the morning getting pricing on hiking a mountain the next day, as well as snorkeling and scuba diving, but they all were pretty expensive. I also felt like the hotel I was staying at was really pricey. Even though $33/night doesn't seem like a lot, there were other places in the area for 75,000-100,000 ($8-$10.50) a night. But after much consideration and thought, I just stayed at the same hotel. It was beautiful, convenient, and the staff there were incredibly friendly. That same night, while I was painstakingly deciding what to do on Wednesday, Putu suggested I go white water rafting. So I decided to, even if by myself. Putu has a friend who runs a white water rafting place so I got a discounted price. As I moved back into the hotel (I originally had checked out), I met a family of people. Of course I introduced myself. It was a family from Holland. Carla and Ricardo had two sons, Gilbert and John, and Gilbert is dating a woman named Negina (?). Ricardo was from Indonesia, and Negina was from Lithuania but had moved to Holland. I asked them if they wanted to go rafting with me on Wednesday morning and they said yes! So we all went out to dinner where I tried a dish with fish wrapped in banana leaves- delicious!
Wednesday morning we got up around 7:30 and left for Ayung River at 8:15. We arrived at the rafting place around 9, paid, signed insurance policies, put on our helmets, life jacket and took a paddle down to the river. We walked down at least 400 steps to get to the river, and we were surrounded by beautiful tropical trees. Putu came with us, and we also had a guide for the river as well. We put our items in a waterproof bag and went rafting down this random river.
Rafting was awesome. We would chant "one, two, one two" in a variety of languages: from English, Russian, Dutch, and German, to Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. Mid-way we took a break. There was a huge rock that we could jump off of, and also two random waterfalls you could swim towards and stand under. Consequentially, you'd get drenched too, but I was wearing a bathing suit so it was okay! There were also random parts of the river where the rockface on certain sides would have Hindu carvings which were gorgeous. I've never seen anything like it. After rafting we had a nice buffet lunch. We then got back to the hotel and we went swimming. At around 3 I got ready to be picked up to meet up with Mike and Cathy.
Later I'll explain my Wednesday afternoon and the rest of my trip. Tomorrow Jade and I are going to Suzhou, which is supposed to be the Venice of China (gardens, canals, and silk factories included!)
Tuesday morning Jenny and Lars (the couple from Germany) headed out so I walked down to the main street to go shopping. Unfortunately I bought almost nothing. The beautiful island fabrics and dresses looked great on the mannequins but when I tried clothing on it just wasn't flattering at all.
After eating lunch, I wandered down one of the main streets to the monkey forest, an area that is a sanctuary/temple for monkeys. After paying 10,000ruipah (about $1.10) to enter, I was amazed by how much green luscious forest there was. And there were seriously monkeys of all ages, shapes and sizes everywhere. You aren't supposed to touch them but it's okay if they touch you. As a way to prepare before going, I put away my sunglasses and made sure I had no loose things on me or any food. And those monkeys were relentless! One just climbed up my leg and put his hand in my pocket to try to find food. I took some amazing pictures that I will also post soon. At the monkey sanctuary I met a couple, maybe in their forties, and the woman was freaking out when the monkey approached her. I started chatting with them, Mike and Cathy, who happened to be from Australia. They were staying in an area about 40 minutes south of Ubud, near Kuta, in a town called Legion (Leg-e-on). I had asked what they were doing in the next part of their trip, and they told me they wanted to see the temple at Tanah Lot. I had briefly read about this place and had also wanted to go. These people were so friendly that they offered for their driver to pick me up at my hotel, then drive down to Legion, and we'd all go to Tanah Lot together Wednesday afternoon! What luck!
I finally went back to the hotel, but I spent most of the morning getting pricing on hiking a mountain the next day, as well as snorkeling and scuba diving, but they all were pretty expensive. I also felt like the hotel I was staying at was really pricey. Even though $33/night doesn't seem like a lot, there were other places in the area for 75,000-100,000 ($8-$10.50) a night. But after much consideration and thought, I just stayed at the same hotel. It was beautiful, convenient, and the staff there were incredibly friendly. That same night, while I was painstakingly deciding what to do on Wednesday, Putu suggested I go white water rafting. So I decided to, even if by myself. Putu has a friend who runs a white water rafting place so I got a discounted price. As I moved back into the hotel (I originally had checked out), I met a family of people. Of course I introduced myself. It was a family from Holland. Carla and Ricardo had two sons, Gilbert and John, and Gilbert is dating a woman named Negina (?). Ricardo was from Indonesia, and Negina was from Lithuania but had moved to Holland. I asked them if they wanted to go rafting with me on Wednesday morning and they said yes! So we all went out to dinner where I tried a dish with fish wrapped in banana leaves- delicious!
Wednesday morning we got up around 7:30 and left for Ayung River at 8:15. We arrived at the rafting place around 9, paid, signed insurance policies, put on our helmets, life jacket and took a paddle down to the river. We walked down at least 400 steps to get to the river, and we were surrounded by beautiful tropical trees. Putu came with us, and we also had a guide for the river as well. We put our items in a waterproof bag and went rafting down this random river.
Rafting was awesome. We would chant "one, two, one two" in a variety of languages: from English, Russian, Dutch, and German, to Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. Mid-way we took a break. There was a huge rock that we could jump off of, and also two random waterfalls you could swim towards and stand under. Consequentially, you'd get drenched too, but I was wearing a bathing suit so it was okay! There were also random parts of the river where the rockface on certain sides would have Hindu carvings which were gorgeous. I've never seen anything like it. After rafting we had a nice buffet lunch. We then got back to the hotel and we went swimming. At around 3 I got ready to be picked up to meet up with Mike and Cathy.
Later I'll explain my Wednesday afternoon and the rest of my trip. Tomorrow Jade and I are going to Suzhou, which is supposed to be the Venice of China (gardens, canals, and silk factories included!)
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Bali, pictures from part II
And here are some more pictures:
Hotel in Ubud, view of the pool from my porch.
Porch to my room in Ubud.
Riding on a moped through rice fields towards a burial ground.
Putu drove the moped, I was the passenger!
One of the many tropical paths at the burial site (I will get the name of it for you later!)Bali, pictures from part I
Some cool trees in Bali (Resort in Nusa Dua)
Down the hallway in Nusa Dua
One of the small lagoons at the resort in Nusa Dua
The sea in Nusa Dua
Performers at the beach banquetTuesday, October 9, 2007
Bali, part II
Sunday night/Monday morning:
So Monday rolls around but 8am is very early to get up, especially when you were up until 5am the previous night hanging out by the beach. In Ocean City it is very difficult to walk on the beach at night because it is patrolled by cops trying to stop teens from misbehaving. It was a real pleasure to just sit on the chairs and hang out. There were a few mishaps not worth getting into, but overall Sunday evening was a blast. We took cabs into Kuta and went to a few bars downtown. We were on the road with a memorial where the bombing was which was a bit humbling/disheartening. After two bars, three friends and I got a bit bored so we went to a convenience store, picked up a few beers, and just went to the beach to hang out.
We later returned to the hotel, went to the pool and later to the beach.
Monday I woke up, ate some food, and started to figure out what I wanted to do the rest of the week. We had the option of staying at the resort for a conference discount rate of $85/night, but I wanted to see more areas of Bali. Originally Lindi and I had plans to travel around together, but we never actually got around to planning things, and as I tried talking to her Saturday and Sunday she didn't seem very enthusiastic about traveling around. People seemed to be pairing off, and it honestly felt like high school again. So, despite my anxiety, I did something totally different. I decided to go traveling by myself with no plan. Normally when I travel somewhere I comb through the travel book to see what there is to do, then plan accordingly. While I read a little bit about Bali, I just packed up my bag, picked a random city on a map and told my cab driver to take me there.
I choose a city called Ubud, which is in the center part of Bali about 2 hours north of Nusa Dua. I had the cab driver stop in Celuk which is a gold and silver making jewelry village known for it's 20-24k gold. I of course love jewelry, so I had the cab driver stop in a few stores. Unfortunately what I thought would be good prices for jewelry turned out to be quite expensive. Plus the designs of the gold rings were not what I was expecting. I loved the feeling of the 22k gold on my finger, but I just didn't fall in love with the jewelry, nor did I think a 22k ring with an amethyst was worth $200+ dollars.
After Celuk the cab driver dropped me off at a random hotel in Ubud. I brought my bags in and asked how much for one night. The guy there, named Putu, responded 300,000 rupiah, which is about $33/night US. This was a lot less than the $85/night in the resort! It had a beautiful back yard with a pool in the back. I saw a couple sitting and eating so I just asked them if it was a nice place to stay. They said yes and that I should definitely stay there. So I checked in.
When I came back outside, the couple (from Germany) said they were going to a burial ground of Raj, one of Bali's more famous kings. They were going on a moped, but following Putu there. He had room on the back of his moped, so they invited me to join, so I did! Talk about an adventure. I had never been on a moped before, and I felt very safe. I don't think I'd ever try driving one, but Bali is much safer than Italy or China.
MORE LATER!
So Monday rolls around but 8am is very early to get up, especially when you were up until 5am the previous night hanging out by the beach. In Ocean City it is very difficult to walk on the beach at night because it is patrolled by cops trying to stop teens from misbehaving. It was a real pleasure to just sit on the chairs and hang out. There were a few mishaps not worth getting into, but overall Sunday evening was a blast. We took cabs into Kuta and went to a few bars downtown. We were on the road with a memorial where the bombing was which was a bit humbling/disheartening. After two bars, three friends and I got a bit bored so we went to a convenience store, picked up a few beers, and just went to the beach to hang out.
We later returned to the hotel, went to the pool and later to the beach.
Monday I woke up, ate some food, and started to figure out what I wanted to do the rest of the week. We had the option of staying at the resort for a conference discount rate of $85/night, but I wanted to see more areas of Bali. Originally Lindi and I had plans to travel around together, but we never actually got around to planning things, and as I tried talking to her Saturday and Sunday she didn't seem very enthusiastic about traveling around. People seemed to be pairing off, and it honestly felt like high school again. So, despite my anxiety, I did something totally different. I decided to go traveling by myself with no plan. Normally when I travel somewhere I comb through the travel book to see what there is to do, then plan accordingly. While I read a little bit about Bali, I just packed up my bag, picked a random city on a map and told my cab driver to take me there.
I choose a city called Ubud, which is in the center part of Bali about 2 hours north of Nusa Dua. I had the cab driver stop in Celuk which is a gold and silver making jewelry village known for it's 20-24k gold. I of course love jewelry, so I had the cab driver stop in a few stores. Unfortunately what I thought would be good prices for jewelry turned out to be quite expensive. Plus the designs of the gold rings were not what I was expecting. I loved the feeling of the 22k gold on my finger, but I just didn't fall in love with the jewelry, nor did I think a 22k ring with an amethyst was worth $200+ dollars.
After Celuk the cab driver dropped me off at a random hotel in Ubud. I brought my bags in and asked how much for one night. The guy there, named Putu, responded 300,000 rupiah, which is about $33/night US. This was a lot less than the $85/night in the resort! It had a beautiful back yard with a pool in the back. I saw a couple sitting and eating so I just asked them if it was a nice place to stay. They said yes and that I should definitely stay there. So I checked in.
When I came back outside, the couple (from Germany) said they were going to a burial ground of Raj, one of Bali's more famous kings. They were going on a moped, but following Putu there. He had room on the back of his moped, so they invited me to join, so I did! Talk about an adventure. I had never been on a moped before, and I felt very safe. I don't think I'd ever try driving one, but Bali is much safer than Italy or China.
MORE LATER!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Bali, part I
Now, I am sure all of you want pictures posted immediately, but unfortunately I am at school right now. I didn't bring my camera to school because ever since last night it has been pouring buckets. I mean seriously downpours which are not enjoyable to bike in whatsoever. So, in response to the weather I thought it in my camera's best interest for it not to brave the wet, for fear it may be damaged. But I will give you a rundown of how the week went:
Saturday:
Woke up at 4:30am to catch a ride to the airport that left at 5:30. Of course I left most of my packing to the last minute because this is my trademark. The plane left at 8am and checking in, etc was fine. We arrived in Singapore at around 1:30 in the afternoon. Pip, Lindi and I decided to get a taxi to go into town since we had about 5-6 hours in between flights. We just went through customs, rode into town and shopped along Orchard Road, one of the main shopping roads in Singapore. Following that we returned to the airport, hopped on the plane, and arrived in Bali at around 9/9:30pm.
We went through customs, I got a visa, then we traveled on a bus to Nusa Dua, which is a resort area on the most Southern part of the island. It was dark outside which made it difficult to see the scenery. When we arrived in the resort, I just want to say for the record: Oh. My. God. Simply breathtaking. The lobby area wasn't just a lobby, but a huge pavilion type room with a pyramid ceiling going up at least 100feet. Luxurious sofas were everywhere as well as several bar areas. The lobby overlooked the outside lagoon which spanned out at least 200feet in length, maybe 75ft wide, with long corridors of hotel rooms on either side of the lagoon. If you walked down the path on either side of the lagoon, you eventually ended up at the large pool, so long in fact they have a bridge that goes across the middle of it. There was no deep end unfortunately, or a diving board, but these things can be forgiven.
Walking past the pool was a theater that had traditional Balinese performances. I didn't see any shows here, but once you walked PAST the lagoon, pool, and theater, the path wound through even more "lagoon-like" ponds/pools of water with natural flowers, plants, and animal-life. Eventually you arrived at a vast span of fake grass which was accompanied by lounge chairs and umbrellas. FINALLY there was about 20-30feet of beach and then the sea. This piece of property was simply HUGE.
Saturday night after we arrived I of course, wanted to go swimming in the ocean, so after socializing with some of my collegeues, my friend Kirk and I put on our swimsuits and went swimming in the ocean. It was pretty cold but no worse than the Jersey shore. We then went to the pool because the tide was really strong and then got kicked out of the pool because it was closed. I then went to sleep.
We had Sunday morning to ourselves, so I woke up around 9am, went to the health center to work out, then went to our buffet breakfast (included) which was simply delicious. We ate at tables on the lower level (under the lobby) right next to the lagoon, which was a beautiful and peaceful way to begin the day. I then went to the beach, went swimming, and took a walk by myself to where the sand ended and the craggy rock face began. I returned for lunch, then we had our first workshop at 1 which ended up being a salesman from Apple trying to sell us Apple products. Stupid and useless, especially because bragging about Apple programs does not help me or the kids in my classroom. We use Eways, which run on Windows. We had a 45 min break in between sessions, so my friend Sam and I relaxed with a cocktail near the lobby overlooking the lagoon. The second session was an Indonesian language and culture class. There were too many teachers and the people running the workshop weren't very organized. On a good note I did end up with a nice pamphlet with key Indonesian words and phrases.
A few hours later we had a lovely banquet on the beach. There we saw a traditional Balinese dance. The dances wore beautiful costumes!
Okay, lunch duty. More later I promise.
Saturday:
Woke up at 4:30am to catch a ride to the airport that left at 5:30. Of course I left most of my packing to the last minute because this is my trademark. The plane left at 8am and checking in, etc was fine. We arrived in Singapore at around 1:30 in the afternoon. Pip, Lindi and I decided to get a taxi to go into town since we had about 5-6 hours in between flights. We just went through customs, rode into town and shopped along Orchard Road, one of the main shopping roads in Singapore. Following that we returned to the airport, hopped on the plane, and arrived in Bali at around 9/9:30pm.
We went through customs, I got a visa, then we traveled on a bus to Nusa Dua, which is a resort area on the most Southern part of the island. It was dark outside which made it difficult to see the scenery. When we arrived in the resort, I just want to say for the record: Oh. My. God. Simply breathtaking. The lobby area wasn't just a lobby, but a huge pavilion type room with a pyramid ceiling going up at least 100feet. Luxurious sofas were everywhere as well as several bar areas. The lobby overlooked the outside lagoon which spanned out at least 200feet in length, maybe 75ft wide, with long corridors of hotel rooms on either side of the lagoon. If you walked down the path on either side of the lagoon, you eventually ended up at the large pool, so long in fact they have a bridge that goes across the middle of it. There was no deep end unfortunately, or a diving board, but these things can be forgiven.
Walking past the pool was a theater that had traditional Balinese performances. I didn't see any shows here, but once you walked PAST the lagoon, pool, and theater, the path wound through even more "lagoon-like" ponds/pools of water with natural flowers, plants, and animal-life. Eventually you arrived at a vast span of fake grass which was accompanied by lounge chairs and umbrellas. FINALLY there was about 20-30feet of beach and then the sea. This piece of property was simply HUGE.
Saturday night after we arrived I of course, wanted to go swimming in the ocean, so after socializing with some of my collegeues, my friend Kirk and I put on our swimsuits and went swimming in the ocean. It was pretty cold but no worse than the Jersey shore. We then went to the pool because the tide was really strong and then got kicked out of the pool because it was closed. I then went to sleep.
We had Sunday morning to ourselves, so I woke up around 9am, went to the health center to work out, then went to our buffet breakfast (included) which was simply delicious. We ate at tables on the lower level (under the lobby) right next to the lagoon, which was a beautiful and peaceful way to begin the day. I then went to the beach, went swimming, and took a walk by myself to where the sand ended and the craggy rock face began. I returned for lunch, then we had our first workshop at 1 which ended up being a salesman from Apple trying to sell us Apple products. Stupid and useless, especially because bragging about Apple programs does not help me or the kids in my classroom. We use Eways, which run on Windows. We had a 45 min break in between sessions, so my friend Sam and I relaxed with a cocktail near the lobby overlooking the lagoon. The second session was an Indonesian language and culture class. There were too many teachers and the people running the workshop weren't very organized. On a good note I did end up with a nice pamphlet with key Indonesian words and phrases.
A few hours later we had a lovely banquet on the beach. There we saw a traditional Balinese dance. The dances wore beautiful costumes!
Okay, lunch duty. More later I promise.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Boo hiss
So although I can write up entries, I cannot view them on the webpage, nor can I look at comments. So any comments you have please feel free to e-mail them to me. I don't want to share my e-mail address on this blog, but I'm assuming if you know me well enough to be reading it regularly/have something to say about said entries, then you'll know how to contact me.
Also, an "ohmygod" note: The Phillies are currently TIED FOR FIRST PLACE with the Mets in NL East, and are TIED FOR SECOND PLACE (with the Mets) in the Wild card run. San Diego is in first place in the Wild Card race, but is only 1/2 a game ahead. AHH. I really really really really hope the Phillies don't break my heart, again.
BALI TOMORROW.
Also, an "ohmygod" note: The Phillies are currently TIED FOR FIRST PLACE with the Mets in NL East, and are TIED FOR SECOND PLACE (with the Mets) in the Wild card run. San Diego is in first place in the Wild Card race, but is only 1/2 a game ahead. AHH. I really really really really hope the Phillies don't break my heart, again.
BALI TOMORROW.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Here's my card
So here are some exciting firsts:
Yesterday I got my first real world paycheck. I've obviously gotten checks in the past, but this check represents work post-graduation. This is simply an amazing feeling, seeing money in a bank account.
Second, today I (finally) received business cards from the school. They are SO SWEET. The cards are a nice navy blue with a dull gold line going down the side. Even cooler is that the card says my name, my Chinese name, my position, and my position in Chinese. I love them, but watch me give my card to almost no one. Also the back side of the card has a map that shows how to get to the school. They are a really nice accessory to have.
That is all. I'm tired. Bali in 2 days, yes!
Yesterday I got my first real world paycheck. I've obviously gotten checks in the past, but this check represents work post-graduation. This is simply an amazing feeling, seeing money in a bank account.
Second, today I (finally) received business cards from the school. They are SO SWEET. The cards are a nice navy blue with a dull gold line going down the side. Even cooler is that the card says my name, my Chinese name, my position, and my position in Chinese. I love them, but watch me give my card to almost no one. Also the back side of the card has a map that shows how to get to the school. They are a really nice accessory to have.
That is all. I'm tired. Bali in 2 days, yes!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Work to live, don't live to work.
So, being a type A personality, I of course will dive head first into a job and work my tail off. That being said, I have a new perspective. I came to China to improve my Chinese, and thus far I've had the opportunity to practice speaking, but I haven't had time to find an appropriate class that suits my speaking, reading and writing needs. This is unacceptable. While I like working this will not be my life long term, and I'm losing the opportunity to really enhance my Chinese. This break, upon returning from Bali, I will find a good Chinese class, work out on a regular basis, cook, and just be more open to really experiencing China. I don't want my entire life to be school, with school friends, and school school school. The faculty members here are great people, but I need a social life outside of where I work.
Also, now for some reason I can update my blog but I cannot see the website address of my website. I'm assuming the government may have something to do with this, which is unfortunate because I really do enjoy China. I've had a variety of fascinating experiences and observations here thus far, and it's frustrating that my speech may be a bit thwarted.
Bali on Saturday. I'm psyched. Still need to play what I want to do/see there. I will take pictures and post them when I return!
Also, now for some reason I can update my blog but I cannot see the website address of my website. I'm assuming the government may have something to do with this, which is unfortunate because I really do enjoy China. I've had a variety of fascinating experiences and observations here thus far, and it's frustrating that my speech may be a bit thwarted.
Bali on Saturday. I'm psyched. Still need to play what I want to do/see there. I will take pictures and post them when I return!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Working Hard or Hardly Working?
So my neighborhood has a playground that is made for both adults and children. Included is a standard playset, but in addition to this there are also "exercise machines" in bright colors. These are also prevalent in Beijing parks, and you usually see playgrounds of this type in many other open areas. Chinese adults of a variety of ages use the blue, yellow and red machines to "exercise". I use the word exercise in quotations because I really do not see how a real workout can be achieved using the machines. There is one in our complex that is simply a circle thing that you lean against and move your back back and fourth. I don't get it. Then there is the elliptical machine whose spin is too small so every pedal is awkwardly tight and jolty. It's quite fun to play there though, but I also will never understand the elaborate pulley system with two cords, each with a handle. You hold both and pull back and fourth, but it does absolutely nothing for your arms.
One very admirable trait of Chinese people is that they love to be outside. In the mornings, afternoons, and evenings you can see a myriad of people walking by themselves, with friends, children, pets, etc, just enjoying the outdoors. Sometimes you see men jogging, but it's usually a very light jog. We have a walkway next to a fake lake pond thing, with 50 or so beautiful lily pads. I've gone walking with Jen R twice in the past few days, and I'm looking forward to making a real habit out of it. My neighbors at home, the Ips, have their grandmother living with them. I'm not sure if they are from Korea, Japan, or China, but every morning she goes for a few walks around the block, despite the weather. It will be interesting to see if this is strictly a Chinese trait or if it describes people who live in other parts of Asia.
Also, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival which is the 15th day of the 8th month in Chinese lunar calendar. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Because of this we get a week off in October. For more information about it visit: http://www.chinavoc.com/festivals/Midautumn.htm
Mooncakes, depending on the flavor, can be quite delicious or really gross.
One very admirable trait of Chinese people is that they love to be outside. In the mornings, afternoons, and evenings you can see a myriad of people walking by themselves, with friends, children, pets, etc, just enjoying the outdoors. Sometimes you see men jogging, but it's usually a very light jog. We have a walkway next to a fake lake pond thing, with 50 or so beautiful lily pads. I've gone walking with Jen R twice in the past few days, and I'm looking forward to making a real habit out of it. My neighbors at home, the Ips, have their grandmother living with them. I'm not sure if they are from Korea, Japan, or China, but every morning she goes for a few walks around the block, despite the weather. It will be interesting to see if this is strictly a Chinese trait or if it describes people who live in other parts of Asia.
Also, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival which is the 15th day of the 8th month in Chinese lunar calendar. Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Because of this we get a week off in October. For more information about it visit: http://www.chinavoc.com/festivals/Midautumn.htm
Mooncakes, depending on the flavor, can be quite delicious or really gross.
Monday, September 24, 2007
RELAXING
This weekend was pretty uneventful. I felt like I was coming down with a cold on Friday afternoon, so I opted out of playing ultimate frisbee. Instead I came home, and immediately fell asleep for about 2 hours. Although the work week was only four days long, going out on Tuesday and Thursday really exhausted me.
I woke up Saturday morning originally at 6:30am. You may ask, "Why God why?!" but that is the routine I've grown accustomed to. Obviously though I fell back asleep and stayed in bed until 8:30am. Late, yes I know. I then straightened up my house, tidied things up and did some laundry. I have yet to hire an aiyi, which in Chinese means aunt, but can also mean a cleaning woman. Most teachers have hired one just because it's easier to pay $2/hour for someone to clean, buy groceries, and pay the bills, but so far I'm doing just fine. Mom, you raised me well and luckily I am competent enough to clean up after myself!! Who knows though, at some point I may hire one, but I feel a bit strange giving someone I don't know the keys to my house with the freedom to rummage through my drawers and look through my things. Plus, it just makes me a tad bit uncomfortable. I really don't want to get used to that short of "hand and foot" lifestyle.
Afterwards I had a very nice lunch with Jen, who teaches 3rd grade. We went to a fancier restaurant where we ordered a pork dish, rice, some bean dish and a wonderfully light soup. Delicious. Afterwards we went downtown to qipu (che-pu, almost sounds like cheap), where we got bombarded by merchants. We took the subway and then proudly figured out the public bus. So instead of spending 11 kuai to go like 5 minutes away, we took a bus and only spend like 2 kuai/person to get there.
When we arrived at qipu, random Chinese merchants were literally following us, heckling us, nagging us. It was awful when we first entered the building. The market itself consisted of many buildings. But every time we'd enter a new one, people would follow us. "Lady you want bag? Manicure? Help? Watches?" And we'd just say "Go away help another foreigner we don't want your help." It was ridiculously annoying. I really need to learn how to stay the word, "Stalker". Many that would get them to go away. And especially on a rainy dreary day, where the crowds were numerous inside, and Chinese people not understanding the basic rules of walking, it got frustrating very quickly. I bought a t-shirt to work out in and a pair of leggings to go under my denim skirt, but that was it.
Afterwards we wandered a bit and had a small snack, followed by a more substantial meal. We then found a foot massage place and decided to try it. The massage cost us 38 kuai for an HOUR LONG FOOT MASSAGE. Reflexology studies areas in the foot, so usually people can determine what kinds of health problems you have based on the pain in your foot from the massage. I don't know if I believe in it, but it was still a lot of fun, and luckily it didn't hurt at all. It was very relaxing. I didn't realize how much rest my feet needed at the time, and the five dollar splurge was so worth it.
Saturday night I just watched a movie, read a bit and went to bed. Sunday was pretty lazy too. I woke up around 9:30, and went to the gym around 11. I worked out, returned home, showered, and put up my laundry to dry. Unfortunately the shower poll collapsed and my clothes became wet again, so I have to re-wash them. I had lunch at the Muslim restaurant right nearby that has DELICIOUS food. There they gave me their Chinese menu, and asked if I could translate it for them because the number of foreigner customers (because of the two schools nearby) is increasing. I've already started and it's a great project because it's forcing me to learn the vocabulary that I've been putting off for the past month. I also learned how to use the dictionary as well to look up characters I don't know how to say. I'm going to ask them, in exchange for helping with the translations, if I can learn how to cook some of their dishes. Then they won't be paying me anything, will actually get free help, and I'll learn how to cook some real (delicious) Chinese food.
After lunch I was at school, worked for 3.5 hours then went to the supermarket to buy some groceries. I bought some chicken, random spices, milk, and some fruit. I accidentally left the chicken at the grocery store, but I returned and got it back. I tried making curry chicken for the first time and, despite not having a measuring cup, coconut milk or potatoes, I added in extra yogurt and milk for the coconut milk, and also added raisins. Curry really is delicious, and not spicy at all. Following dinner I watched a movie and worked on translating the menu. Now I'm in school-- I have off from now, 10:30 until 11:55, then it's lunch duty until 12:40, then my Pre-K class at 1:05-1:45, then my K class from 2:10-2:50. BALI IS IN 5 DAYS I'M SO EXCITED!
I woke up Saturday morning originally at 6:30am. You may ask, "Why God why?!" but that is the routine I've grown accustomed to. Obviously though I fell back asleep and stayed in bed until 8:30am. Late, yes I know. I then straightened up my house, tidied things up and did some laundry. I have yet to hire an aiyi, which in Chinese means aunt, but can also mean a cleaning woman. Most teachers have hired one just because it's easier to pay $2/hour for someone to clean, buy groceries, and pay the bills, but so far I'm doing just fine. Mom, you raised me well and luckily I am competent enough to clean up after myself!! Who knows though, at some point I may hire one, but I feel a bit strange giving someone I don't know the keys to my house with the freedom to rummage through my drawers and look through my things. Plus, it just makes me a tad bit uncomfortable. I really don't want to get used to that short of "hand and foot" lifestyle.
Afterwards I had a very nice lunch with Jen, who teaches 3rd grade. We went to a fancier restaurant where we ordered a pork dish, rice, some bean dish and a wonderfully light soup. Delicious. Afterwards we went downtown to qipu (che-pu, almost sounds like cheap), where we got bombarded by merchants. We took the subway and then proudly figured out the public bus. So instead of spending 11 kuai to go like 5 minutes away, we took a bus and only spend like 2 kuai/person to get there.
When we arrived at qipu, random Chinese merchants were literally following us, heckling us, nagging us. It was awful when we first entered the building. The market itself consisted of many buildings. But every time we'd enter a new one, people would follow us. "Lady you want bag? Manicure? Help? Watches?" And we'd just say "Go away help another foreigner we don't want your help." It was ridiculously annoying. I really need to learn how to stay the word, "Stalker". Many that would get them to go away. And especially on a rainy dreary day, where the crowds were numerous inside, and Chinese people not understanding the basic rules of walking, it got frustrating very quickly. I bought a t-shirt to work out in and a pair of leggings to go under my denim skirt, but that was it.
Afterwards we wandered a bit and had a small snack, followed by a more substantial meal. We then found a foot massage place and decided to try it. The massage cost us 38 kuai for an HOUR LONG FOOT MASSAGE. Reflexology studies areas in the foot, so usually people can determine what kinds of health problems you have based on the pain in your foot from the massage. I don't know if I believe in it, but it was still a lot of fun, and luckily it didn't hurt at all. It was very relaxing. I didn't realize how much rest my feet needed at the time, and the five dollar splurge was so worth it.
Saturday night I just watched a movie, read a bit and went to bed. Sunday was pretty lazy too. I woke up around 9:30, and went to the gym around 11. I worked out, returned home, showered, and put up my laundry to dry. Unfortunately the shower poll collapsed and my clothes became wet again, so I have to re-wash them. I had lunch at the Muslim restaurant right nearby that has DELICIOUS food. There they gave me their Chinese menu, and asked if I could translate it for them because the number of foreigner customers (because of the two schools nearby) is increasing. I've already started and it's a great project because it's forcing me to learn the vocabulary that I've been putting off for the past month. I also learned how to use the dictionary as well to look up characters I don't know how to say. I'm going to ask them, in exchange for helping with the translations, if I can learn how to cook some of their dishes. Then they won't be paying me anything, will actually get free help, and I'll learn how to cook some real (delicious) Chinese food.
After lunch I was at school, worked for 3.5 hours then went to the supermarket to buy some groceries. I bought some chicken, random spices, milk, and some fruit. I accidentally left the chicken at the grocery store, but I returned and got it back. I tried making curry chicken for the first time and, despite not having a measuring cup, coconut milk or potatoes, I added in extra yogurt and milk for the coconut milk, and also added raisins. Curry really is delicious, and not spicy at all. Following dinner I watched a movie and worked on translating the menu. Now I'm in school-- I have off from now, 10:30 until 11:55, then it's lunch duty until 12:40, then my Pre-K class at 1:05-1:45, then my K class from 2:10-2:50. BALI IS IN 5 DAYS I'M SO EXCITED!
Friday, September 21, 2007
The Great American Pastime
LET'S GO PHILLIES!
The Phillies are so close to the playoffs I can almost taste it.
The Phillies are so close to the playoffs I can almost taste it.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Typhoon Wipha? Plz
So we essentially got a day off of school for rain. YES. The storm was supposed to hit Tuesday night around 8pm/12am, and originally the soccer game I was supposed to go to got postponed for Wednesday. So I just hung out with some of the other teachers at Bonnie's apartment, where we had a Typhoon party! So much fun!
Typhon Wipha lived up to it's name. While it was bad in some areas, Shanghai was basically unaffected. It just rained a little bit, and the wind picked up at times. AND WE HAD A DAY OFF FROM SCHOOL YAY! I mostly stayed inside because if anything dramatic were to happen with no notice, I didn't want to be stuck somewhere downtown with no way to get home. I did work out though- 5 min walking, 30 running, 5 walking, and then I lifted weights.
Tonight I may go in town to hear some Indie music. I still don't quite know what Indie music is (even though Wesleyan should have taught me) but I'm looking forward to it anyway. That's it for now. Also: I fixed the pictures that originally didn't show up on the previous post.
Typhon Wipha lived up to it's name. While it was bad in some areas, Shanghai was basically unaffected. It just rained a little bit, and the wind picked up at times. AND WE HAD A DAY OFF FROM SCHOOL YAY! I mostly stayed inside because if anything dramatic were to happen with no notice, I didn't want to be stuck somewhere downtown with no way to get home. I did work out though- 5 min walking, 30 running, 5 walking, and then I lifted weights.
Tonight I may go in town to hear some Indie music. I still don't quite know what Indie music is (even though Wesleyan should have taught me) but I'm looking forward to it anyway. That's it for now. Also: I fixed the pictures that originally didn't show up on the previous post.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Snow day, but a typhoon day...? It's the same difference I guess.
Well, this weekend was a lot of fun. The singing and dancing in 42nd street was amazing, but unfortunately I realize that the reason I didn't like the show the first time I saw it was because it lacked a coherent plot. Afterwards I hung out with Geoff and his friend Richard. It was awesome catching up with him. I haven't seen Geoff in about 5 years which is crazy.
I stayed the night at Lindi's so I wouldn't have to travel all the way back to Pudong. In the morning she had to head to Hangzhou so I just explored the city in the morning. I walked from NanJing Road to People's Square (where I was for a jazz concert last week), followed by finally finding the Bird and Flower market. The B&F market was full of crickets, fish birds and many other pets. Why crickets? I still have no idea, but there were millions of them on display, and many Chinese people paying close attention to the quality of the cricket. Maybe they are good luck. I myself don't want to buy any pets because if I leave in June, or am home for December and January, there will be no one around to take care of them/it. It took me almost 40+ minutes to find it, but fortunately it rocked. The B&F market was also surrounded by a separate electronics market and an "antique" market. I ended up buying a beautiful black and white skirt for 125 kuai (maybe 12 dollars), and ate xiaolongbao for lunch. Around 2pm I found the public bus that I took back to the school, but there were no seats so I stood for like another 50 minutes. Returning to school (where the bus let off and where I left my bike anyway), I stayed at school for several hours working. Afterwards I had dinner and met Barbara and Jen to watch a movie.
Sunday I was supposed to get up early at 8am and go biking with a group of regulars who like to explore the area, but for some reason I missed them. So instead of being defeated and just return home, instead I biked into areas I've never been before. I biked for about an hour and a half, found myself another weird narrow market, and looked around the myriads of farmlands. Here are some pictures:
I then returned to school, worked for about 5 hours on my emergency plans and added some furniture to my room, went to the market, cooked dinner, watched a movie and went to bed.
Yesterday, Monday, I had the leftover food for lunch but immediately after I got sooooooooooo sick that I had to go home early. I got home around 2pm and slept from 4pm until 11:30pm. I then woke up, cooked and ate pasta, then watched another movie and went to bed.
Now about today. Today is Tuesday, and tomorrow, Wednesday, school is canceled. "Why?" you may ask. A typhoon. Yes. a typhoon. There is a typhoon in the area that is supposed to be very severe, so they are canceling school. Now I was never expecting any snow days in Shanghai because I researched the weather. But a typhoon day? Ridiculous. In the areas that are more costal, where people live in huts, they are evacuating them for safe measures. I'm honestly worried, but no one who's lived here longer seems to be worried. I'm supposed to go to the US v. Nigeria women's soccer match tonight, but who even knows if the game is still on.
_____
Update: I doubt I'm going to the game. It's raining pretty heavily and won't be that enjoyable even if I manage taking a taxi or public transportation all the way out there. Oye. I guess tonight I'll try to maybe workout and/or have a nice dinner, typhon-proof my house, possibly buy some candles, study Chinese and read a bit. CRAZY.
I stayed the night at Lindi's so I wouldn't have to travel all the way back to Pudong. In the morning she had to head to Hangzhou so I just explored the city in the morning. I walked from NanJing Road to People's Square (where I was for a jazz concert last week), followed by finally finding the Bird and Flower market. The B&F market was full of crickets, fish birds and many other pets. Why crickets? I still have no idea, but there were millions of them on display, and many Chinese people paying close attention to the quality of the cricket. Maybe they are good luck. I myself don't want to buy any pets because if I leave in June, or am home for December and January, there will be no one around to take care of them/it. It took me almost 40+ minutes to find it, but fortunately it rocked. The B&F market was also surrounded by a separate electronics market and an "antique" market. I ended up buying a beautiful black and white skirt for 125 kuai (maybe 12 dollars), and ate xiaolongbao for lunch. Around 2pm I found the public bus that I took back to the school, but there were no seats so I stood for like another 50 minutes. Returning to school (where the bus let off and where I left my bike anyway), I stayed at school for several hours working. Afterwards I had dinner and met Barbara and Jen to watch a movie.
Sunday I was supposed to get up early at 8am and go biking with a group of regulars who like to explore the area, but for some reason I missed them. So instead of being defeated and just return home, instead I biked into areas I've never been before. I biked for about an hour and a half, found myself another weird narrow market, and looked around the myriads of farmlands. Here are some pictures:
I then returned to school, worked for about 5 hours on my emergency plans and added some furniture to my room, went to the market, cooked dinner, watched a movie and went to bed.
Yesterday, Monday, I had the leftover food for lunch but immediately after I got sooooooooooo sick that I had to go home early. I got home around 2pm and slept from 4pm until 11:30pm. I then woke up, cooked and ate pasta, then watched another movie and went to bed.
Now about today. Today is Tuesday, and tomorrow, Wednesday, school is canceled. "Why?" you may ask. A typhoon. Yes. a typhoon. There is a typhoon in the area that is supposed to be very severe, so they are canceling school. Now I was never expecting any snow days in Shanghai because I researched the weather. But a typhoon day? Ridiculous. In the areas that are more costal, where people live in huts, they are evacuating them for safe measures. I'm honestly worried, but no one who's lived here longer seems to be worried. I'm supposed to go to the US v. Nigeria women's soccer match tonight, but who even knows if the game is still on.
_____
Update: I doubt I'm going to the game. It's raining pretty heavily and won't be that enjoyable even if I manage taking a taxi or public transportation all the way out there. Oye. I guess tonight I'll try to maybe workout and/or have a nice dinner, typhon-proof my house, possibly buy some candles, study Chinese and read a bit. CRAZY.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Biking
So I've told you all I've purchased a bike within the first three days of being here, and it has by far been my best purchase ever. My bike is a metallic red (similar to my car), with a few blue Hawaiian flowers on it. The handlebars are gray, with hand breaks. The bike has no gears, but makes up for this with a sweet black basket and a little bell. The bell does not have as dramatic effects as a car horn, but it does the trick. The angry "ring ring!" can go a long way.
In the morning I bike to school and home. The bike ride takes about 5 minutes on a good day, but can take 10 if the weather is bad. Supposedly it won't snow here in China, but when it rains it is really a pain to get to school. I could take a cab for 11 kuai, or a motorized bike with walls and a ceiling thing for 3-4kuai, but since I'm trying to save money I hope to do so by minimizing extraneous purchases. So, if I want groceries, it makes sense to spend 20 kuai on a week's worth of veggies and fruits from the local market rather than go to the foreigner's store and spend 300 kuai on the same items because of shear convenience.
Back to the rain issue. So, I have this basket, and am armed with a raincoat and umbrella, but this does not protect the basket or the items in the basket. Here they sell this ridiculous looking poncho shown here:
I mean seriously. The picture on the right does not even begin to show how ridiculous people look in these things. Attached to the front of the poncho is a clip that links to the front part of the basket, in order to protect the contents. The design of the poncho is pretty genius, despite the lack of fashion sense.
I bought one last weekend and had the pleasure (note sarcasm) of having to use it today. Oye what a pain.
Chinese traffic is also pretty dangerous. There are lines designated for car roads and bike roads, but people rarely pay attention. Sometimes I've even found cars driving down a bike road on the wrong side of the street No one gets mad, they just get out of the way. The same works for traffic lights... The light turns from red to yellow to green, but during the yellow phase people from both directions tend to go at the same time. The light also goes from green to yellow to red. Bikers bike down the wrong side of the road all of the time, and drivers cut each other of left and right. It's really frustrating at times but I'm being careful. It's better to be careful then stupid and hurt.
There are also lots of mopeds here, but they don't have the same elegance as ones in Italy. Maybe that's because Shanghai is much dirtier, larger, and rushing to be more modern, while with Italy there's a sense that part of their leisure loving life culture is frozen in time. It could also be because going on a moped through Italy is 100x more enjoyable than the scenery around here, but I still prefer a bike or car to a moped.
I think the reason why the drivers here are ridiculous is because they drive the same way they bike. It is mostly defensive, but people also try to cut in and get ahead, but not in a malicious way. When people honk the horn (which is REALLY irritating), it's not like in the US where people curse and yell and scream, but more of an informative honk, or a "I'm restless get out of my way please" honk. Cars even honk at bikes sometimes which isn't that enjoyable.
Mind you, I still love biking to work. I see parts of the area I wouldn't be able to find by foot, and a bike helps me get to places faster too. I still believe that everyone in China still really needs driving lessons, or some kind of crash course on basic rules of traffic and which side of the road to drive on!
Tonight: 42nd street! Geoff's performing. I'm psyched.
In the morning I bike to school and home. The bike ride takes about 5 minutes on a good day, but can take 10 if the weather is bad. Supposedly it won't snow here in China, but when it rains it is really a pain to get to school. I could take a cab for 11 kuai, or a motorized bike with walls and a ceiling thing for 3-4kuai, but since I'm trying to save money I hope to do so by minimizing extraneous purchases. So, if I want groceries, it makes sense to spend 20 kuai on a week's worth of veggies and fruits from the local market rather than go to the foreigner's store and spend 300 kuai on the same items because of shear convenience.
Back to the rain issue. So, I have this basket, and am armed with a raincoat and umbrella, but this does not protect the basket or the items in the basket. Here they sell this ridiculous looking poncho shown here:
I mean seriously. The picture on the right does not even begin to show how ridiculous people look in these things. Attached to the front of the poncho is a clip that links to the front part of the basket, in order to protect the contents. The design of the poncho is pretty genius, despite the lack of fashion sense.
I bought one last weekend and had the pleasure (note sarcasm) of having to use it today. Oye what a pain.
Chinese traffic is also pretty dangerous. There are lines designated for car roads and bike roads, but people rarely pay attention. Sometimes I've even found cars driving down a bike road on the wrong side of the street No one gets mad, they just get out of the way. The same works for traffic lights... The light turns from red to yellow to green, but during the yellow phase people from both directions tend to go at the same time. The light also goes from green to yellow to red. Bikers bike down the wrong side of the road all of the time, and drivers cut each other of left and right. It's really frustrating at times but I'm being careful. It's better to be careful then stupid and hurt.
There are also lots of mopeds here, but they don't have the same elegance as ones in Italy. Maybe that's because Shanghai is much dirtier, larger, and rushing to be more modern, while with Italy there's a sense that part of their leisure loving life culture is frozen in time. It could also be because going on a moped through Italy is 100x more enjoyable than the scenery around here, but I still prefer a bike or car to a moped.
I think the reason why the drivers here are ridiculous is because they drive the same way they bike. It is mostly defensive, but people also try to cut in and get ahead, but not in a malicious way. When people honk the horn (which is REALLY irritating), it's not like in the US where people curse and yell and scream, but more of an informative honk, or a "I'm restless get out of my way please" honk. Cars even honk at bikes sometimes which isn't that enjoyable.
Mind you, I still love biking to work. I see parts of the area I wouldn't be able to find by foot, and a bike helps me get to places faster too. I still believe that everyone in China still really needs driving lessons, or some kind of crash course on basic rules of traffic and which side of the road to drive on!
Tonight: 42nd street! Geoff's performing. I'm psyched.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Shana Tova
So Jen N, Zack's Mom, was kind enough to both treat me to the services and dinner at the Pudong Communty Center. Not only did she do that, she also had her driver personally pick me up from school. The services were very nice, but I know no Hebrew nor do i know the songs people normally sing. The Rabbi's wife just had her third child about a week ago, but the baby was too young to come.
Chabad was certainly interesting to experience. The room was divided with plants so prayer and conversation with God would be free from distraction. There was, as always, a ridiculous amount of food. I had challah, which made me incredibly happy because I haven't really had any bread since coming to China. The dough staples that I live on really just consist of noodles, rice, and dumplings.
The Rabbi ended up sitting next to me at dinner, and he was speaking about his brother, who for the most part lead the kids activities during the Service and during part of the dinner. A bit later Jen just said to me, "Well he wants you to date his brother." I of course obviously did not pick up any of the cues, so during the conversation with the Rabbi I just responded with things like, "Oh how interesting! Yes, he seems like a great person", etc. Haha, oops. I still feel like I don't belong to either religion because I'm caught between the two belief systems, despite their many similarities. I'm always in awe of people who are so devout because having the strength in that kind of faith seems like one certainty in life that I don't quite have. Not that it worries me, I just look up to those who can be so happy and peaceful with a belief system.
Chabad was certainly interesting to experience. The room was divided with plants so prayer and conversation with God would be free from distraction. There was, as always, a ridiculous amount of food. I had challah, which made me incredibly happy because I haven't really had any bread since coming to China. The dough staples that I live on really just consist of noodles, rice, and dumplings.
The Rabbi ended up sitting next to me at dinner, and he was speaking about his brother, who for the most part lead the kids activities during the Service and during part of the dinner. A bit later Jen just said to me, "Well he wants you to date his brother." I of course obviously did not pick up any of the cues, so during the conversation with the Rabbi I just responded with things like, "Oh how interesting! Yes, he seems like a great person", etc. Haha, oops. I still feel like I don't belong to either religion because I'm caught between the two belief systems, despite their many similarities. I'm always in awe of people who are so devout because having the strength in that kind of faith seems like one certainty in life that I don't quite have. Not that it worries me, I just look up to those who can be so happy and peaceful with a belief system.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
No matzah yet, that's in the spring
So yesterday I had the following lovely schedule:
School: 7:15am-3:45pm
Gym: 4:00pm-4:45pm
Home: 4:45-5:15pm
Dinner with Lindi: 5:30-6:50pm
Back to School Night: 6:55pm-8:45pm
Bar with Coworkers: 9:00pm-10:15pm
I had a total of two, count 'em, TWO teachers stop by my room. What a waste of time. I even decorated the room for them. Very frustrating.
Today I'm exhausted because I didn't get enough sleep last night. I'm leaving here early so I can go home to get ready for Rosh Hashanah services and dinner. It will be interesting to go to Chabad Jewish Center...
School: 7:15am-3:45pm
Gym: 4:00pm-4:45pm
Home: 4:45-5:15pm
Dinner with Lindi: 5:30-6:50pm
Back to School Night: 6:55pm-8:45pm
Bar with Coworkers: 9:00pm-10:15pm
I had a total of two, count 'em, TWO teachers stop by my room. What a waste of time. I even decorated the room for them. Very frustrating.
Today I'm exhausted because I didn't get enough sleep last night. I'm leaving here early so I can go home to get ready for Rosh Hashanah services and dinner. It will be interesting to go to Chabad Jewish Center...
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Yep yep
Also, we had an in-service day yesterday, today happens to be Sept 11, but no one is saying anything about it, tonight is back to school night, and tomorrow is Rosh Hashanah. Oy-vey.
Apologies
I would just like to apologize for being a bit out of touch recently. The past 5 or so days have been extremely busy. I'm really starting to get the hang of teaching, but I need to work on a Long Term Plan for the year, which requires a lot of work on my part in addition to coordinating with individual teachers. So while I may want to teach second graders about Microsoft Word, the project that they do may be a bit different between the three sections because although the 2nd grade curriculum is the same, teachers choose to tackle the same areas of study differently. In addition to the long term plans, no one who has had my position previously has made lesson plans, let alone have provided a real legitimate long term plan.
I teach 4 classes on Mondays and Fridays, and then 5 classes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. As of now I also have two lunch duties on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and I have only one lunch duty on Wednesday. This is a decrease from the 2 duties everyday and 1 on Friday that I had previously.
The guy who has been teaching technology at SCIS for several years now is wonderful. He doesn't like to keep things written down (so no lesson plans), but he has an electronic record of various projects he has done with his students. The other teacher who taught the younger children is an absolute doll, but she basically only had the kids play games for the entire year, which isn't really what they solely should be doing.
I joined a gym last Wednesday. It has basic weights, a few ellipticals, treadmills, a stairmaster, a rowing machine, and a few bikes. They also provide classes such as aerobics, yoga (but Chinese yoga), tae kwondo, and maybe one or two other classes. I got a lower price of 1700yuan for 10 months, which is about $23/month. After school Andrea and I worked out at the gym, as well as her husband Adam. Thursday was uneventful. Just school, working long into the afternoon after school, the elliptical at the gym, and then home, dinner, home, bed. Friday I had my normal classes, and afterwards I tried running for about 45 minutes with the cross country team. My friend Simon coaches it, and Andrea had tried running with them the day before, so I thought I'd give it a try as well. Even though I wasn't as fast as these 16, 17 year old guys, I was definitely more flexible with the stretches, and I still helped lead them.
Speaking of after school activities, as an elementary school teacher we are required to help out 2/4 quarters. New teachers are exempt from the first quarter, but we have to do a 1 hour activity once a week for two 6 week blocks. The same activity can be repeated (I think) because you work with different kids. I had spoken to Andrew who does college counseling for the upper school, and he mentioned that kids lack the appropriate interview skills. I said I am happy to help out, because I absolutely love interviewing, so I spoke to both someone in the administration and Jane (the LS principal) about possibly substituting my LS activity requirement with an US interview workshop. This place is so bureaucratic that in order to do the Interview Workshop, it cannot be substituted (even if I find an Upper School teacher to do my LS activity), so if I wanted to do the Workshop I'd have to do my LS activities in addition. I feel that totally discourages mixing upper and lower school students and faculty. Similarly it impedes people's abilities to really choose activities that will be truly beneficial to the student body. If I have time, I may, but Jane simply said, "Amy I honestly wouldn't recommend you put more on your plate anyway, since you're a new teacher." I understand her point because too much work could impede my time in the classroom, but it's still frustrating that I don't have support to do something that will really help the student body.
Anyway, after running for about 45 minutes Simon and I biked around and outside of our neighborhood. What I didn't know (and pictures will be posted soon I promise!) is that we are like a 5 minute bike ride from the rural farmland areas. It's incredible to just bike through fields of water chestnuts, rice patties, corn and cucumbers. Totally awesome.
I teach 4 classes on Mondays and Fridays, and then 5 classes on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. As of now I also have two lunch duties on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and I have only one lunch duty on Wednesday. This is a decrease from the 2 duties everyday and 1 on Friday that I had previously.
The guy who has been teaching technology at SCIS for several years now is wonderful. He doesn't like to keep things written down (so no lesson plans), but he has an electronic record of various projects he has done with his students. The other teacher who taught the younger children is an absolute doll, but she basically only had the kids play games for the entire year, which isn't really what they solely should be doing.
I joined a gym last Wednesday. It has basic weights, a few ellipticals, treadmills, a stairmaster, a rowing machine, and a few bikes. They also provide classes such as aerobics, yoga (but Chinese yoga), tae kwondo, and maybe one or two other classes. I got a lower price of 1700yuan for 10 months, which is about $23/month. After school Andrea and I worked out at the gym, as well as her husband Adam. Thursday was uneventful. Just school, working long into the afternoon after school, the elliptical at the gym, and then home, dinner, home, bed. Friday I had my normal classes, and afterwards I tried running for about 45 minutes with the cross country team. My friend Simon coaches it, and Andrea had tried running with them the day before, so I thought I'd give it a try as well. Even though I wasn't as fast as these 16, 17 year old guys, I was definitely more flexible with the stretches, and I still helped lead them.
Speaking of after school activities, as an elementary school teacher we are required to help out 2/4 quarters. New teachers are exempt from the first quarter, but we have to do a 1 hour activity once a week for two 6 week blocks. The same activity can be repeated (I think) because you work with different kids. I had spoken to Andrew who does college counseling for the upper school, and he mentioned that kids lack the appropriate interview skills. I said I am happy to help out, because I absolutely love interviewing, so I spoke to both someone in the administration and Jane (the LS principal) about possibly substituting my LS activity requirement with an US interview workshop. This place is so bureaucratic that in order to do the Interview Workshop, it cannot be substituted (even if I find an Upper School teacher to do my LS activity), so if I wanted to do the Workshop I'd have to do my LS activities in addition. I feel that totally discourages mixing upper and lower school students and faculty. Similarly it impedes people's abilities to really choose activities that will be truly beneficial to the student body. If I have time, I may, but Jane simply said, "Amy I honestly wouldn't recommend you put more on your plate anyway, since you're a new teacher." I understand her point because too much work could impede my time in the classroom, but it's still frustrating that I don't have support to do something that will really help the student body.
Anyway, after running for about 45 minutes Simon and I biked around and outside of our neighborhood. What I didn't know (and pictures will be posted soon I promise!) is that we are like a 5 minute bike ride from the rural farmland areas. It's incredible to just bike through fields of water chestnuts, rice patties, corn and cucumbers. Totally awesome.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Forgetfulness
Wow, guess who totally forgot about Labor Day. And yesterday I ended up working from like 7am-3:30pm, and then again from 4:30pm-6pm. Excellent. But then again, I am going to Bali (part of the expenses are paid), during my week off in October. So.. Week off in October > 1 day off in September
Monday, September 3, 2007
Fitness
So this weekend was interesting because many emotions were felt. Friday after school I joined some of the other teachers in a game of ultimate frisbee. My ankles hurt afterwards but all-in-all I had a wonderful time. Afterwards I went to a coworker's apartment where they were throwing a party. Who would have thought that even 2-7 years after college adults still play drinking games? I mean, flip cup is fun and I certainly don't mind playing it, but I was surprised nonetheless.
Saturday was a dreary day both emotionally and the weather reflected my bad mood... or maybe it was vise-versa? It was cloudy, overcast, drizzling/pouring, and flat out gross. All the people I knew were busy doing something somewhere else, so I felt a bit isolated. This really was one of the first times that I had been really alone since arriving in China. When I first got here, I just slept, adjusted to jetlag, then rushed around with starting my job. The first weekend here I was busy doing lots of things and meeting new people. The second week of work was still orientating myself to Shanghai, and beginning classes. The following weekend was spent with Laura exploring all of the new things around me. The third week involved getting through my first real week of school. Then Saturday comes, and I have nothing to do and no one to do anything with, so I was a bit down. I did laundry, and bought a few necessities at the local grocery store. Exciting I know.
This mood significantly changed the next day. When I first woke up, I re-read the material given to me about culture shock, also known as "culture fatigue". I gained a fresh perspective, and shortly following that I got to speak to my parents on skype. Despite some scary news, I was thrilled to see and hear them again. After that my lunch plans fell through, so instead I met Lindi in the city where we ate a nice lunch, and explored a local market/shopping center near her. I bought some placemats (the same burgundy/maroon ones I bought last summer), as well as matching pillowcases, coasters, a tissue box thing, and a decoration that goes on a bottle of wine. Of course the price was good. Following that I had a light snack around 6pm, returned home and met my friend Andrea at the local gym to try out a yoga class! It was all in Chinese, and my first one, but I enjoyed it. I didn't know human bodies could be so flexible! Afterwards we lifted biceps and back afterwards which felt so good. This gym costs 1800kuai for 10 months, and includes a sauna, your own locker, and access to the variety of classes that they have during the week. I'm also looking into other gyms too to see what they have to offer.
This afternoon (Monday afternoon) I went to a Taiqi class which is taught by Holly Xi, one of the Chinese lower school teachers here. Only three people are in the class, but I'm hoping it will gain popularity in the future. We're planning on having class in the morning, maybe around 7/7:10am, because Taiqi should be done in the mornings, especially in big groups.
That's it for now!
Saturday was a dreary day both emotionally and the weather reflected my bad mood... or maybe it was vise-versa? It was cloudy, overcast, drizzling/pouring, and flat out gross. All the people I knew were busy doing something somewhere else, so I felt a bit isolated. This really was one of the first times that I had been really alone since arriving in China. When I first got here, I just slept, adjusted to jetlag, then rushed around with starting my job. The first weekend here I was busy doing lots of things and meeting new people. The second week of work was still orientating myself to Shanghai, and beginning classes. The following weekend was spent with Laura exploring all of the new things around me. The third week involved getting through my first real week of school. Then Saturday comes, and I have nothing to do and no one to do anything with, so I was a bit down. I did laundry, and bought a few necessities at the local grocery store. Exciting I know.
This mood significantly changed the next day. When I first woke up, I re-read the material given to me about culture shock, also known as "culture fatigue". I gained a fresh perspective, and shortly following that I got to speak to my parents on skype. Despite some scary news, I was thrilled to see and hear them again. After that my lunch plans fell through, so instead I met Lindi in the city where we ate a nice lunch, and explored a local market/shopping center near her. I bought some placemats (the same burgundy/maroon ones I bought last summer), as well as matching pillowcases, coasters, a tissue box thing, and a decoration that goes on a bottle of wine. Of course the price was good. Following that I had a light snack around 6pm, returned home and met my friend Andrea at the local gym to try out a yoga class! It was all in Chinese, and my first one, but I enjoyed it. I didn't know human bodies could be so flexible! Afterwards we lifted biceps and back afterwards which felt so good. This gym costs 1800kuai for 10 months, and includes a sauna, your own locker, and access to the variety of classes that they have during the week. I'm also looking into other gyms too to see what they have to offer.
This afternoon (Monday afternoon) I went to a Taiqi class which is taught by Holly Xi, one of the Chinese lower school teachers here. Only three people are in the class, but I'm hoping it will gain popularity in the future. We're planning on having class in the morning, maybe around 7/7:10am, because Taiqi should be done in the mornings, especially in big groups.
That's it for now!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Apartment!
The following is a layout of what my apartment looks like. When you first enter there is a Chinese style dining room set that sits six on the left side, and a sofa, two chairs, a bookshelf, tv and coffee table on
the right side. From the dining room area you can exit to the back porch, which is huge. The outskirts of the porch are surrounded by flower beds with roses and weeds. Eventually I will either weed it myself (yuck), or hire an aiyi (which means 'aunt', but really is a cleaning lady) to help me. Past the chairs in the living room is a small back balcony, about the size of Melita and Giangi's balcony. I will buy lawn furniture soon. If you walk towards the dining room area there is a small galley-style kitchen, but there are sliding doors that are similar to the dining room and living room furniture. So two of the three can be opened for a more casual atmosphere, or three can be closed for a more formal atmosphere. If yo bedroom, a bathroom with a shower, toilet, sink, and washing machine will be on your right. It is decorated in a reddish color. If you continue straight instead of turning left, you will enter the guest bedroom which has a full size bed. If you turn to the right, you will see wall-to-wall closet space on both sides down a small corridor (maybe 6 ft in length) that leads into the second bathroom, that has a sink, bathroom, and bathtub. Instead of going down the corridor to the second bathroom, by continuing forward you'll reach the sliding door to my bedroom, which has a king sized bed, closets on the far side, a beautiful bay-type window on the opposite side (same side as the small front porch), with an old style desk and small trunk type thing to store stuff in. The bedding was given to me when I first arrived, but I still need to buy new bedding that is actually aesthetically pleasing. I amu walk towards the guest on the first floor which is good because even though I don't have the skyline view, I don't have to haul up 100+ steps everyday just to get out of the house. (I will take ones of the porch and balcony in due time.)
Pictures are as follows:
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