Wild Wild East

Swelter

2010-07-07T10:42:00.003+08:00

I just got back from a night at Sunny and Jake's. It was good to catch up with them and talk about my first day at DPT. We also watched the Phils total three hits in 11 innings in a 6-3 loss to the Braves and talked about the heat. It went over 100 today and it will again tomorrow. The only heat I can compare this to was from my time in Shanghai. This time two years ago, the temps were consistently near 100 degrees - at midnight. During the day, it was near 110 and the only place you would think about going was indoors. I'm pretty sure I posted something about at the time...gonna go check now....

My Website

2010-07-05T21:31:00.002+08:00

I finished taking an amazing class at Temple University last week. The name of the class was "Building Technology into the Classroom" and we learned a little bit about a lot - webquests, scavenger hunts, presentation software, whiteboards, google earth, assistive technology, and creating websites. Regarding the last aspect, here is the link for it:

http://sites.google.com/site/armstrongnihao/

Owls vs. Wildcats

2009-12-15T09:55:00.002+08:00

Yesterday held a rare treat for me as I got to attend a Big 5 basketball game for the first time in several years. The results were outstanding. North Philly's Finest knocked off the Main Line's Finest in a Philly Hoops Classic.

After the Owls fell behind by 12 in the first half, I was beginning to think they were outmanned by the Wildcats. But Temple hung in there and hit some big shots at the end of the second half to keep the game within reach.

It was a big win for the Temple program as the Wildcats rarely lose a Big 5 game. Juan Fernandez and Lavoy Allen were the stars of the night. It seemed that Fernandez could not miss and Allen pulled down a key rebound every time they needed one.

Here is a write-up from Yahoo:

Juan Fernandez led a sizzling 3-point attack that stunned the Wildcats (9-1) in the second half and helped them pull away for their first win over a top-five team since beating No. 1 Cincinnati on Feb. 20, 2000. The Owls (8-2) opened the half on an 11-0 burst and grabbed a lead in front of their raucous fans they would never surrender.

The fans demanded an encore after their biggest win in coach Fran Dunphy’s four seasons, stomping the court and chanting “We Want Kansas!” in preparation for the top-ranked Jayhawks’ visit on Jan. 2.

“What’s it going to do for us down the line, I’ve got no idea,” Dunphy said. “We’ll figure it out later on.”

The Wildcats hadn’t lost a city series game since Feb. 4, 2008, against Saint Joseph’s. Villanova has won 21 of its last 23 Big 5 games.

“We were going to get our first loss at some time,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “This team wasn’t going to go undefeated, I promise you that.”

Lavoy Allen had 10 points and 17 rebounds for the Owls in their fourth straight win. The Owls beat Villanova for the first time since Dec. 4, 2004.

“We haven’t beaten them in quite some time and to get it now, where they are ranked in the country and this time of year, I think is a great confidence booster and show what we’re capable of in the future,” Brooks said.

The Owls made the NCAA tournament the last two seasons under Dunphy and were certainly not a pushover for Villanova.

But the Wildcats have dominated the city series like few teams in the 55-year history of the Big 5. The Wildcats had cruised through the city games like a No. 1 seed handles a 16 in the tournament.

After Scottie Reynolds made a layup off his steal, then hit a pull-up 3 on the next possession for a 31-19 lead, Villanova appeared on its way to another rout in its perfect start.

Not so fast.

The Owls entered shooting only 29 percent from 3-point range, but, as so often happens in a Big 5 game in front of a packed crowd, the numbers are meaningless.

Fernandez hit big 3 after big 3, each one more meaningful than the last. His first one of the second half put the Owls ahead 39-37 and Craig Williams followed with a 3-pointer to cap an 11-0 run that put the roaring crowd on its feet.

Reynolds coolly keep Villanova in the game with a 3 that brought them to 49-47 and made it seem like Temple’s lead would be short-lived.

Not Sunday. In front of nearly 8,500 fans at the Liacouras Center, Brooks nailed a 3 and so did Fernandez for a 59-53 lead.

The Owls made 11 of 22 3-pointers after entering a woeful 49 of 168. Fernandez, who was averaging only 10.6 points, missed only two of his 3-point attempts. He was 4 of 4 on 3s in the second half.

“When you’re feeling good, I can’t explain the feeling, you just throw it up there and it goes in,” Fernandez said.

Brooks said he started running down the court to play defense each time Fernandez shot because he knew it was good. Reynolds was equally impressed with Temple’s sophomore guard.

“Once a guy like that gets it going, it’s hard to stop it,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds led Villanova with 23 points, Antonio Pena had 16 and Corey Fisher 14.

Wright likes to say how Big 5 games—city games against Temple, Saint Joseph’s, Penn and La Salle—ready his team for a rugged Big East season even though the nonconference games rarely help their RPI.

“There’s benefits to it,” Wright said. “We’d either play these games or a national game like Kansas. We think these are just as good.”

The Owls gave them everything they could handle and looked like they were the team that ruled the city. Temple lost by one point earlier this season to No. 15 Georgetown, and have proved they are poised again to make a deep run in the Atlantic 10.

When Villanova looked like it was turning this one into a rout midway through the first half, Fernandez and Brooks sank 3s to slice the deficit to 37-31 at halftime.

“The end of the first half was critical to us,” Dunphy said.

The Wildcats get a dose of good news when guard Reggie Redding returns to the team for Saturday’s game against Fordham. Redding, arrested and charged over the summer with possession of a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, sat out the first 10 games because he violated the school’s student of code of conduct.

Three weeks since Chicago

2009-12-13T12:17:00.002+08:00

Today marks the three week anniversary since I visited Chicago for:

1. My friend Jill's football game
2. The Bears-Eagles wedding
3. Maybe I should switch those two around
4. Getting my old things out of storage

Regarding the latter, my cousin warned me that I would end up throwing out at least half the stuff I had in storage and he was right. In fact, it cost me about $100 because I threw away so much stuff that it overflowed from the dumpsters. But I knew deep down that there were at least a few items of sentimental value that I must keep, a few of which were my old journals.

And in one of those journals, I came across a lot of old memories that I had since forgotten about. For example, about ten years ago I was going through (what I considered to be) a dreadful break-up. At that age, it probably meant that I was paying way too much attention to the girl, she was ignoring me, and I couldn't handle it. So, I wrote. A lot. I even took a crack at writing songs and poems, which is something I rarely tried before or since. The next post will be one of them.

Ideally, I will also write more about my experiences with Expedia and Enterprise that weekend, having a GPS stolen, the torture of driving 12 hours non-stop by yourself, how good it is to see old friends, the feeling you get when you go back to a place you used to be intimately familiar with and it seems like you never left, and the best song to sing in a karaoke bar.

Missing Shanghai, Missing China

2009-12-11T14:01:00.002+08:00

It's 1 a.m. here and I'm wide awake thanks to the four nap I took earlier.

It's 2 p.m. in Shanghai and I'm thinking about everything going on there at the moment -

the bustle on the streets,
subways packed,
noodle shops empty after lunch,
bikes everywhere,
clothes hanging out to dry despite the cool, damp air
ah, the air, the dirty dirty air,
the afternoon english classes,
tourists along the river,
and sounds of construction blending with the sounds of commerce along Nanjing Road

Oh, how I miss Shanghai...

2009-10-30T05:40:00.001+08:00

Absent

2009-09-06T00:14:00.002+08:00

Going almost two months without a blog post was not one of my goals for the year. But due to a facebook/blogspot/any other cool website block in Yantai, I was unable to update the Wild East over the last few weeks I lived there. Then, I hit the road and it went something like this:

July 26 - Overnight train from Yantai to Beijing

July 27 to 29 - Stayed at a hostel in Beijing and checked out the Ming Tombs with my German roommate

July 29 to August 3 - TRAIN from Beijing to Moscow on the Trans-Siberian Railway; laughed in the dining car and drank a lot of vodka with people from Australia, Sweden, Taiwan, Russia, New Zealand and Norway; my cabinmate Gerry left his shoes on the Mongolian dining car and ended up wearing my slippers the rest of the trip

August 3 to 7 - Couchsurfed at two different places in Moscow and got two unique, distinct slices of life from each; the first place I surfed was with a Philipino expat who hosts about 400 strangers a year and basically treats his apartment like a well-run and trusting hostel; the second place was with a Russian couple who treated me very well - we cooked a meal together, they gave me a tour of the neighborhood, and I basked in some of the most thought-provoking conversations of my trip (they pointed out that a government's love for its people is more vital to happiness than we realize)

August 7 to 10 - Chilled out and surfed again in Vienna at an East German girl's apartment; her terrific cooking skills were matched only by her love of the TV show Scrubs and it is because of the latter that I watched the show for the first time and now have appreciation for it; in terms of cities, Vienna is almost too quaint and serene

August 10 - Woke up early and took a train Venice; I shared the train compartment with four generations of an Austrian family - two young children, their mother, grandmother and great-grandfather (who had been to Louisiana, Texas, and New York City as a prisoner of war from 1943 to 1946); spent most of the afternoon and evening by myself in Venice surrounded by canals, couples, and crafty back alleys

August 11 to 15 - After an overnight train to Rome, I met my friend Carla at a subway station near her home; over the course of the next five days, we proceed to visit anything in Rome worth visiting, including: Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps, Piazza Novono, the Vatican (her apartment was a block away), Arch of Constantine, Colosseum, St. Peter's Square, the Mouth of Truth, Pantheon, Santa Maria in Trastavere, Saint Teresa in Ecstasy, San Giovani and a few others; by the end of the five days, I was dizzy from the churches, piazzas, and gelato - and all too appreciative of Carla visiting all these places for the 8th time since moving there

August 16, 17 - On the morning train to Naples, I met a girl who used to live in Chicago and was now spending time in Europe after volunteering in Africa over the past year; in the afternoon, I jumped on a boat to Capri to meet up with cousin Bob and get a brief taste of what it would be live in a Mediterranean postcard; we walk the island and intrigue each other by having conversations about two completely different generations of our family; the patience and wit he uses to tell stories of the past leaves me envious; after breakfast on the terrace, I boat to Sorrento and take a train to Pompeii; I go to the amphitheatre where Pink Floyd played in 1971 and am impacted more than expected by walking around the preserved city and seeing the ruins and body casts

August 17 to 19 - On Monday night, I train from Sorrento to Rome and spend one more night at Carla's place before training to Perugia to visit my friend Sally who is studying music at the university there; she takes my camera and I'm suddenly the star of my own photoshoot as we walk the narrow, winding streets of the city; Tuesday night saw my fourth and final couch surfing experience of the trip when I surfed with Paolo and Luigi, friends who live together in Perugia; they are boisterous, welcoming conversation lovers who point out that every Italian citizen is a soccer coach in their own right; Paola cooks dinner before giving me a tour of neighboring Assisi, where St. Francis is from; then I board the overnight train to Zurich

August 20 to 24 - It had now been over three weeks since I slept in a hostel or hotel; there are many aspects that make cousin Jim unique and his love of comfort is one of them; I knew there would be no hostel or couch surfing with him, just a good ole fashioned Swissotel; these four days turn into a blur of drinking and sleeping in until 4 pm; the closest we come to having any kind of culture exchange occurs at 10:30 pm on Saturday night when I purchase condoms and a neck massage from a bachelorette party; the following day, we somehow manage to arise before noon and check out Lake Zurich basking in all of its wealth and glory; there are people jumping off bridges and rafting on the Limmat River; at night, I board an overnight train to Amsterdam

August 25 to 31 - Ted and I met at the train station clock tower at 9:30am; if the previous few days in Zurich had been a blur of drinking, then this time in Amsterdam can only be categorized as a blur of coffeeshops, trashy hostels and walking; each day we headed in a different direction, got lost and backtracked, and found more unique ways to cross over the canals that paint the city; overdosing on Amsterdam is easy and we found ourselves in the seaside town of Haarlem for two nights where we rode bikes along the Atlantic coastline, browsed outdoor markets for Christmas gifts, and walked the beach

August 31 to Sept. 3 - My return flight to NYC connected through Dublin and the airport authorities there threaten to arrest me for the pocket knife I forgot I was carrying; I miss the last bus to North Wildwood and walk to a hotel in Times Square where my old roommate Terry works; he pulls a favor with room service and I eat real food for the first time in over a day - a bacon cheeseburger with fries and it is delicious; at his house, his wife returns from the US Open and the three of us share beers and talk about the good ole days in Chicago; the following morning is like Christmas morning as I catch the bus to North Wildwood; there are tears everywhere as I greet my parents at their hotel and even my nephew gets in on the group hugs; we spend the next two days going for walks, eating home cooked breakfasts, lounging by the pool and simply being giddy that we're around each other again

Ways in which English is actually more difficult than Chinese

2009-07-09T11:00:00.006+08:00

For me, studying Chinese makes me feel like a kid again – like I’m back in grade school thinking that eight years is such a long time. Learning language is learning new terminology, just like when you learn a new English word. For example, the first time you heard the word "toughnerd," you probably didn't know what it meant. But, you could either ask the person who said it or figure it out from the context of what was said: "Sam is a toughnerd. He always acts tough, but he spends more time behind a computer than anyone I know."

I realize now that picking up vocabulary works the same way with foreign languages. You're constantly acquiring and learning new words, but once you use them and practice, you can remember them and get your point across.

Did you ever think about how long it takes to learn a language? Neither did I. But according to what I've read and heard, it takes about 2,700 study hours in order to speak Chinese well. This does not include professional terms, just basic language. By comparison, it takes about 800 hours to become proficient in Spanish or Italian. Natives are fluent because they’ve been “studying” the language since they were born. Therefore, whether you realize it or not, you are studying English everyday in America, just by using it.

On the other hand, English is equally difficult for native Chinese speakers. Many of my students are good at using Chinglish, which is speaking English with Chinese grammar. For example, "I everyday study English" is perfect grammar in Chinese.

Did you ever need to think of a word, but couldn’t? Well, that's another way in which English can be more difficult than Chinese. If you recognize part of a Mandarin character and how to pronounce it, you can guess at its meaning. For example, woman + home = peace.

English is such that any letters can form to make any word. This is difficult for native East Asian language speakers because they use characters or symbols. In this way, (usually two) characters combine to form a word. If you know the meanings of the characters, you can guess at the meaning of the word. For example, fire + mountain = volcano. But with English, all we know is that a volcano is a volcano - it's probably derived from Latin or German, but there's no easy way to guess at it's meaning.

If you're more confused now than when you started reading this, leave a comment and I'll clear things up.

Yellow Dust

2009-07-03T16:07:00.009+08:00

****************************************

“Do you live here?” This is how my conversation with Kira started on the posh Korean subway. She’s from Maine and has been living in Korea for two years. She was on her way to the gym when we met, but took enough pity on this startled foreigner to give me a quick tour of Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood. Itaewon is the most diverse neighborhood in Seoul and for the first time since leaving the U.S., I felt like I was part of the majority while walking around. This pic really doesn’t do it justice.

“I’m fighting a cold, lots of people around Seoul are right now, it’s from the Yellow Dust, from China.” She didn’t look ill, but Kira said a few days prior she couldn’t get out of bed. This was how I discovered that I wasn’t the only one fighting a cold recently. Apparently, there was a cold going around Seoul as well. On and off throughout the weekend, people mentioned it to me. Whether it’s true or not, many blamed it on the “Yellow Dust”, the construction dust that makes its way across the Yellow Sea and onto the Korean Peninsula. This is one indication of pollution I experienced while visiting Seoul. The Han River (or Han Jiang) while wide and beautiful, appears to be as polluted as any urban area river.

2009-07-02T09:45:00.001+08:00

Drago and the Donkey Noodles

2009-07-01T08:25:00.001+08:00

The first night in the hostel I slept poorly and woke up early. I wanted to get to the Russian consulate as early as possible. That was the reason for my trip, after all. Everything else was second. I was unsettled by the help I received in finding the consulate. A woman at the front desk and two taxi drivers did not know where the street was. My friend Chen called me at just the right time and helped me find it.

The consulate is a nondescript place with a long, high concrete wall. It’s the kind of wall that’s just tall enough not to climb and it’s guarded by a Chinese soldier that makes you want to climb it. You wonder what’s on the other side of places like this. I idle a few minutes along with a French woman who’s done the opposite of what I’ve done. Like me, she wants a visa. Unlike me, she hasn’t prepared anything. She’s just showing up cold looking for information. We chat a few minutes and talk about the train ride from Beijing to Moscow, that we’ve both heard it’s a unique journey. The guard, who can’t be older than 22, eyes me up and reaches out a hand for my passport. He speaks no English. In fact, he doesn’t speak at all. I show him my credentials and he opens the gate for me, behind which lies a fenced-off walkway concluded by a short set of steps and a black door.

A buzz emits from the door just before I reach for it and enter. The air-conditioned room inside has six window-plated stalls - five facing me and one to the left. And it’s this window that intimidates. The five in front are clearly intended for visa purposes – applying, paying, and collecting. But the window to the side doesn’t have any sign stating its purpose. It just has a big, clean-shaven Russian guy behind its bullet-proof glass, sitting and staring at me. He looks like he’s pure KGB and appears to be related to Drago. It dawns on me at this moment that I’m from the same town as Rocky. I hope he doesn’t find out.

I go through the formalities of handing in my documentation. The woman behind the glass is curt, but nice enough. She wastes about an hour of my time before telling me to come back the next day to pick-up my visa and passport. Drago is staring me down so I split and head to the restaurant at the corner. I ask the waitress whether they have beef noodles and she says they have noodles but not with beef. I can’t quite figure out what kind of meat it is until she points to a picture of a donkey on the wall. Well, you are what you eat, right? So I order a large bowl of donkey noodles – tasted like chicken.

2009-06-14T09:11:00.001+08:00

Taxi!

2009-06-09T18:25:00.003+08:00

There are rough edges that come from the border of your culture rubbing up against the culture you’re immersed in. I was recently reminded of this during a couple taxi rides from the airport recently.

When was the last time your taxi driver picked up his wife and kid then dropped them off somewhere, all while you were in the car? I know the answer for me: a few weeks ago. This taxi driver picked me up at the airport and then his family. He dropped them off downtown, then dropped me off. In the midst of this, he explained to his wife that I couldn’t understand what they were saying. While he was right, I understood the part where he said I couldn’t understand them. The whole situation angered me. I had returned from Korea, to be greeted by this. I acted like I was writing down his medallion number and he suddenly started playing house with me, asking me where I was from and what foods I like to eat. I told him my favorite sandwich is the one that takes you directly from the airport to home. He laughed.

Last week, after returning from Shanghai, there was a line of taxis waiting at the airport and I got in one. He weaved through the streets and ignored a couple red lights – nothing unusual. Then we came to a toll booth. He slowed down, pushed the bar up and out of the way and sped on, checking his rear view mirror for any repercussions....hmmmmmm. It usually costs around 60 kuai to get from the airport to my neighborhood. This time, it took 73. It could have been because of the route he took, but I didn’t mind. What I did mind was handing him a 100 bill and getting 17 back. He explained that there’s a 10 kuai surcharge on trips from the airport. I laughed while writing down his medallion number. He gave me back the 10 kuai.

On the whole, I’m going to miss China after I leave. Once you get passed the language barrier, you find more similarities between Eastern and Western Cultures. But moments like the ones above remind you of the differences.

Sing

2009-06-05T12:50:00.004+08:00

One of the challenges I regularly face is what to eat. Such a simple task taken for granted in America requires some form of thought these days. I have to strike a balance between varying my diet and risking diarrhea. The latter was fairly regular in Shanghai, occurring about a once every two months. When I moved to Yantai, people told me the quality of the cooking would get better. This didn’t make sense to me, moving from a cosmopolitan place such as a Shanghai to small-town Yantai, but it’s actually true. I’ve lived in Yantai for four months and have only faced one serious bout so far (knock on wood).

So, Tuesday night, I strolled the streets looking for a good but different place to eat when I came across a restaurant that I had eaten at once before. My second week in Yantai, during Chinese New Year, all the shops and restaurants were closed, but this place was open. The food wasn’t bad and the staff was friendly. But for some reason, I hadn’t been back.

Within minutes of sitting down to eat on Tuesday, a local guy from another table got up and poured me a beer. He was a bit chubby and seemed to have a gregarious personality. Picture John Belushi, but Chinese and not wearing a shirt. He sits across from me and says, “I’m Sorry.” I ask him what he’s sorry for and he repeats the phrase. I would quickly discover this was among the few English phrases he knew. His other shirtless friend joins us and repeatedly explains to me how important it is that we met and that destiny brought us together. At the same time my head is repeating, “Wow, these dudes have a pretty good load on right here.”

They explained that they were army buddies and conveyed common sentiments – not fans of the Koreans, big dislike for the Japanese, North Koreans are cool though and they like Americans. We shared beers and a few laughs and they told me they were picking up the bill. I approached the cashier counter but one of them got up and escorted me back to the table. These dudes were big – not Shaq-big, but bigger than my brother. So, if they had something to say or insist on, I was listening.

At one point, one of them put his arm around me and led me up a dark alley next to the restaurant. "This is it. I’m going to get beat up for the first time in China." But instead he whips it out and starts peeing. At the same time, he tells me I must do the same because we’re such good friends. I tell him I’ll wait at the end of the alley. He sings.

Moments later, I tell them I’m tired and it’s past my bed time. They’re not having it. They want to dance and sing; they want to go to a karaoke joint. Now, karaoke works a little differently in China. Unlike America, where you sing at the bar in front of everyone, here you get a private room and sing with your friends. I’ve gone a bunch of times and it’s a lot of fun. However, this was the first time I’ve gone to a karaoke bar where the women were included as part of the tab. Here’s how it worked.

We head to our room and it’s fairly big, easily big enough to fit thirty people. So, for the five us (my two drunk friends and their friends) it’s amply spaced. Within minutes, a waiter brings in a case of beer and places it on the table. (Remind me later to write about the warm beer here.) He’s followed by a few girls who sit down and make friends with us. They must have been quickly informed that I was the guest of honor because one girl wouldn’t leave me alone for a minute. For about an hour straight, I had beers poured for me and fruit shoved in my mouth. It’s probably the closest I’ll come to being Henry the Eighth.

Around 2 a.m., we wrap up our party and I head home. It was an interesting night to say the least and far from what I expected when I stepped outside to find a different restaurant. I’m thankful for my new friends and hope to see them again next week for dinner and who know’s what.

Does everything happen for a reason?

2009-06-02T08:37:00.004+08:00

Everything happens for a reason. The more I think about it, the less I'm convinced.

There was nothing special or extraordinary about her, at least from what I could tell. She worked too much, didn't like her job, and sometimes felt depressed as a result. We met for a language exchange twice. The first time was at a cafe and the second was at my apartment. She said she strictly wanted to exchange language, but it was just talk. I could tell from the way she tossed her hair that there were more to her feelings.

A few months later, I would leave Shanghai and we’d mutually forget about each other. Last weekend, I returned to Shanghai for the first time in months and we crossed paths. I was with Xiao Yi, the friend I met in Korea, and she was also with someone. She seemed happy and, at first, I couldn’t place her face. Now, I’m thinking about why it happened.

(The above is an excerpt from my journal. Of course, the debate about reasons can extend to far more important aspects of life - disease, war, or the whereabouts of that Air France jet.)

Dragon Boat Festival

2009-06-01T00:31:00.003+08:00

Thursday was the Dragon Boat Festival, a major holiday in China. I posted a short description of the reasons and history behind the festival below. The two major aspects I want to comment on are:

1) Everybody was off from school and work on Thursday and Friday. However, in exchange, everyone had to work today (Sunday). Would you make this trade-off? I've thought it over and I like the concept. If the government or my boss wants to give me two weekdays off in exchange for a weekend day, then let's do it. Today was a bit odd though. I woke up and it felt like Sunday, but as the morning progressed and I noticed the usual bustling of the weekend was missing, it felt more like a weekday. By the time I ate lunch, I pretty much forgot today was a Sunday. It flat-out didn't feel like it and I think that's the first time I've had that experience. It was a bit surreal, but then again, what isn't these days?

2) The traditional food to eat during the festival is zongzi, which is essentially a rice glue ball. Like the two-for-one deal above, I am a fan of zongzi. Because the rice and stuffing is wrapped in bamboo leaves, they are a bit of a pain to eat and (from what I hear) even more troublesome to make. However, they have a hearty taste, chewy texture and they mark a unique way to celebrate the day.

Here is a bit more about the holiday, which has resulted in me having a five-day weekend. Had I realized I was going to be off for five consecutive days, I would have gone to Shanghai this weekend instead of last. In any case though, I've been making the most of it by studying and watching a couple movies.

---

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called the Duanwu Festival, is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the Chinese calendar. For thousands of years, the festival has been marked by eating zong zi (glutinous rice（糯米）wrapped to form a pyramid using bamboo or reed leaves) and racing dragon boats.
The festival is best known for its dragon-boat races, especially in the southern provinces where there are many rivers and lakes. This regatta（赛舟会）commemorates the death of Qu Yuan , an honest minister who is said to have committed suicide by drowning himself in a river.

Qu was a minister of the State of Chu situated in present-day Hunan and Hubei provinces, during the Warring States Period (475-221BC)（战国时期）. He was upright, loyal and highly esteemed for his wise counsel that brought peace and prosperity to the state. However, when a dishonest and corrupt prince vilified Qu, he was disgraced and dismissed from office. Realizing that the country was now in the hands of evil and corrupt officials, Qu grabbed a large stone and leapt into the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth month. Nearby fishermen rushed over to try and save him but were unable to even recover his body. Thereafter, the state declined and was eventually conquered by the State of Qin.

The people of Chu who mourned the death of Qu threw rice into the river to feed his ghost every year on the fifth day of the fifth month. But one year, the spirit of Qu appeared and told the mourners that a huge reptile（爬行动物）in the river had stolen the rice. The spirit then advised them to wrap the rice in silk and bind it with five different-colored threads before tossing it into the river.

During the Duanwu Festival, a glutinous rice pudding called zong zi is eaten to symbolize the rice offerings to Qu. Ingredients such as beans, lotus seeds（莲子）, chestnuts（栗子）, pork fat and the golden yolk of a salted duck egg are often added to the glutinous rice. The pudding is then wrapped with bamboo leaves and boiled in salt water for hours.

Appreciating Daylight....at 4:30 a.m.

2009-05-28T23:00:00.002+08:00

I have a better appreciation for daylights savings time now. The sun rises at about 4:30 a.m. here and we still have three weeks until the longest day of the year so it’s rising earlier everyday.

I think about this sometimes and the energy that’s wasted by having people use an extra hour of electricity at night while they’re sleeping through daylight in the morning. I am not real sure why China hasn’t adopted time zones yet. The country is roughly the size of America, yet Tibet and Beijing are on the same time. That’s like having the same time in Arizona and New York – pretty wild. I’ve heard that the government doesn’t want to adopt time zones because Beijing time is Beijing time and that is final. If that's true, it seems stubborn. I like to think that it’s on the government's list of things to do, but we’re in a developing country and there are more pressing matters at hand. Between the two, the latter thought is far more comforting and allows me to fall back to sleep as I pull the covers back over my eyes.

2009-05-27T09:34:00.001+08:00

1,200 Words

2009-05-15T13:14:00.003+08:00

That was the length of my University of Penn application. I will study Chinese part-time there in the Fall.

Describe your educational history and background, making sure to address whether your records and transcripts accurately reflect your academic ability. Explain fully if you have ever withdrawn, taken a leave of absence, or been dropped by any school, college, or university.

I attended St. John Neumann High School in South Philadelphia from 1992 to 1996. At the time, I did not take my studies very seriously. My average throughout high school consistently stayed around 3.0 and I scored a 1090 on the SAT. As a result, finding college grants and scholarships proved difficult, as did getting accepted to some universities. I applied to several colleges and chose Temple University, mainly for the value and convenience it offered. In other words, my family couldn’t afford much more and I lived several blocks from the subway so getting to North Philly would be easy.

My first two years at Temple saw a continuation of my lackadaisical attitude from high school. Mediocre grades were quite normal for me as I pursued a degree in Accounting and spent a lot of time hanging out with friends. In the first semester of my junior year, however, I began to come to the realization that graduation would soon be upon me and I only had two years left to prove myself. For this reason, I began taking my courses more seriously.

This realization and attitude shift coincided with my interest in another business subject, Risk Management & Insurance (RMI). After taking a requisite course in RMI, I found myself interested in the field and the way insurance impacted the economy. In addition, I noticed that Temple boasted (and still does) one of the finest collegiate risk management programs in the country through the Sigma Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma (GIS). For these reasons, I decided to add RMI as a major while continuing my pursuit of an Accounting degree, despite the fact that it would add a fifth year to my college studies.

Actually, I shouldn’t use the word “despite” here. The latter part didn’t really bother me. In fact, I saw another year in school as a good thing. It was like Max Fischer said in the movie Rushmore, “If I have to stay on for a post-graduate year then so be it.”

Over the next two and a half years, I became heavily involved with GIS, becoming an officer in the program after one semester. My involvement exposed me to responsibilities and opportunities I otherwise would not have had, including organizing a career fair, obtaining an internship at a well-regarded consulting firm (Mercer) and being elected National Student Representative at the GIS National Conference in April 2000. The faculty leader for GIS had more influence on me than any teacher I knew. As a result of his influence, I found myself dedicated to my studies in a way I had never been before. In addition to the experiences and hard work that came with GIS, I maintained a 4.0 grade point average in my RMI major. I look back on those last two years fondly now, as they taught me the importance of having an excellent work ethic.

Write a brief essay describing your academic and personal goals and explain how these will be furthered by study at Penn in general and at LPS in particular. Feel free to discuss a specific academic topic you have enjoyed studying and explain why it is of interest to you.

One of my life goals has always been to speak another language fluently. When I was a child, I was always jealous of people who could speak another language, regardless of what it was. I studied Spanish for a total of five and a half years - four in high school, followed by three semesters in college. Throughout this time, I struggled mightily with all phases of the language. In fact, Spanish was always one of my weakest classes. I was interested, but had little to show in terms of results.

Year after year I continued studying Spanish - not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I didn’t understand language acquisition. I thought that eventually my brain would catch on and I’d wake up speaking Spanish one day. People mentioned that it is difficult to pick up another language unless you live in the country where it is spoken. Looking back on it now, this is correct. Immersing yourself in the language and its culture is critical, but I did not have the emotional means for it at the time. Like a lot of people, I feared leaving the familiarity of my country to explore the unknown.

I moved to Chicago after graduating college and during my time there, I began to open up to the idea of visiting foreign countries. I obtained my first passport in 2004 and made three trips to Europe over the next three years. I visited Germany, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic and each time I found myself obsessed with picking up whatever small pieces of the language I could. I would peruse language dictionaries leading up to the trip and ask locals for tips on pronunciation. It was during these trips that I realized I still had a potent interest in foreign languages. As a result, I began researching what it took to successfully move overseas and learn a language. I moved to China in November 2007 and have spent the better part of the last 16 months here, studying or practicing Mandarin Chinese everyday.

Had it not been for a family issue last year, I would probably stay here for another year. But, I miss Philadelphia and want to return home. At the same time, I have no desire to regress in Chinese. My English language students here have inspired me to believe that it is possible to progress in a language even when it is not the native tongue. You must work hard, but it can be done. And, so, that is my plan for later this year. To that end, I can’t imagine a better way to sustain and improve my Chinese language capabilities than at the University of Pennsylvania’s LPS Language Center.

Describe any non-academic experiences that you feel strengthen your application such as employment, travel, community affairs, volunteer work, publications, etc.

Upon graduating from Temple University, I left Philadelphia for Chicago where I worked in the health insurance industry for six years. Professionally speaking, this time was divided into three two-year segments. I worked for two years at Mercer Consulting, a health insurance advisory firm, before leaving for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. While there, I worked two years in the underwriting department before transferring to the marketing department. During my two years in the marketing department, I was promoted from a senior account executive to a principal account executive. My responsibilities included maintaining a book of business in the municipal accounts department while expanding our clients’ product offerings. Chicago was a good challenge for me. I moved there by myself and it proved to be one of the most difficult and rewarding things I have done. I learned how to be at peace and comfortable with myself. In fact, my life was so comfortable; I became a bit bored with it. After several months of careful thought and research, I moved to China and have been studying Chinese here since then.

Until we encounter aliens...

2009-05-13T08:14:00.005+08:00

...we won't have world peace.

Let me explain.

Growing up in South Philly, it was common to hear about different neighborhoods not liking each other – 30th and Tasker didn’t get along with the Two Streeters, 9th and Wharton wanted to fight 13th and Porter. There was always some sort of fierce drama being played out between these places. During my junior year at Neumann, I went on a school trip to Archbishop Carroll to watch the Pirates play basketball. I remember two things about the game: 1- we got whipped, and 2- all the kids from all the different corners united to taunt the Carroll kids. I was reminded of this as I was walking around Seoul…..

In Seoul, one of the adjustments I had to make was communicating with an Asian population that knows no Chinese. This was a challenge because I can’t tell the difference between Korean and Chinese people until they speak. In communicating with the Seoul locals, first I would try Chinese, then English. Neither worked well, but I definitely had more success with English.

Trying to bridge language gaps is what lead me to notice that the Koreans attitude towards westerners is different than that of the Chinese. I'm not an expert. I was only in Seoul for four days, but this is my gut feeling.

I was at a western restaurant and the waitress continually tried to help us lower the price of our meal by pointing out the specials. She was kind and didn’t get flustered with the communication barrier. She simply smiled and persisted until we understood each other. Generally speaking, I've had different experiences in China. If you can't speak Chinese, the waitress might give up or run off to find a co-worker. It was their unlucky day that they had to wait on a foreigner. But in Seoul, it was almost as though they felt apologetic that their English wasn’t better.

My guess is that the attitude stems from the culture and the culture was partially influenced by the Korean War. The Allied Forces defeated the Japanese in World War II and the Japanese were the enemy of China at the time. But as soon as that war was over, China and the U.S. were oppposing forces. During the war, the North Koreans pushed the South Koreans south, well past Seoul and almost into the Pacific Ocean, before U.N. forces arrived. Then, it seems like our side went too far and pushed the North Koreans all the way north, practically into China. It was around this time that the Chinese aided the North Korean Army and restored balance to the War, balance which resulted in the 38th Parallel Armistice which is still in effect today.

Many years later, China opened its doors to an open market but cultures don't change overnight. Every now and again you can feel some skepticism hanging in the air here. It’s not overwhelming, but it’s there sometimes. And my guess is it comes from the war and the government policies that followed. Obviously, anytime you’re immersed in a completely foreign culture, the locals are going to wonder what you’re doing there. I accept that just as I accepted the street corner rivalries in high school. Neighborhoods don't get along and states resent each other. It's human nature. In Asia, the Chinese don’t like the Koreans. The Koreans dislike the Chinese, but both are united in their distaste for the Japanese.

Before I came here, I thought all the Asian countries were friends. After all, everyone gets along with their next door neighbor, right? I'm sure if these ethnicities meet abroad, they shake hands and trade stories. And it's this last thought that leads me back to where I started. Until an outside force reaches us, we won't have a common need for world peace.

Ann & The Guesthouse

2009-05-12T00:04:00.004+08:00

From the Seoul Trip...

Before arriving, I didn't know where I would stay in Seoul. I mean, I didn’t book anything in advance. I figured it would be easy to find a place and it was. It seems that one of the main attractions in Seoul is to tour the street markets. There are plenty of them and they each carry their own personality. After checking out the Hyeoung-Dae Moom market, which is more upscale than the others, my friends and I went on a short hostel hunt.

Someone recommended to our translator that I stay at a place called Ann’s Guesthouse. We made our way into a high-rise with a Dunkin' Donuts on the first floor and found Ann and her husband, up on the fifth floor. She looked a bit startled when she answered the door and I could see why. There found five different faces, all of different colors, shapes and sizes staring back at her. Once she found out it wasn't all of us seeking shelter - just the balding, innocent looking American who needed a bed - she chilled out, and said she thought she could make room for me.

I enter and find a small, but well-kept apartment. There isn’t a lot of space, maybe 25 square meters, but it’s used well and smells cozy. There are two sets of bunk beds along the white-wallpapered walls and I crash on the bottom of one.

When I went to sleep, one of my other “roommates” was still awake with the light on. I asked her when she’d be going to sleep. “Sorry, I no English,” she replied. “Well, how about Chinese?” As it turns out, she was from China, living in Shanghai at the moment. Her grandfather was from North Korea so she also spoke fluent Korean. We toured the Han Jiang that night and took the subway around town.

Overall, it was a steal for 20,000 won ($15) a night, especially when you consider that breakfast was included. Another thing that was included and unbargained for was unlimited snoring throughout the night. I think the first person to wake me up was her husband, but the Taiwanese woman across from me soon chimed in, completing the chorus. I tried a few things to break up the cacophony, including sneezing and going to the bathroom, but coughing seemed to work best. Somehow I got them to stop long enough to slip back into a cradle of slumber.

2009-05-09T13:43:00.001+08:00

Seoul Trippin'

2009-04-30T12:56:00.007+08:00

I'm going to post some pictures and a few short stories about my trip to Seoul and this is the first of them...

On the plane ride to Seoul, I met a Korean woman who lives and works in Yantai. She was flying home to see her family and it was interesting talking with her because her Chinese was not that of a native speaker. I imagine it’s better than mine, but not by much. Part of this opinion is based on the fact that I taught her a word I thought everyone knew around here - “laowai” (which means foreigner). After we landed, she helped me find the bus to the area where Sunny and Jake were staying. This was the first of many times that women would be guiding me over the weekend.

After navigating China for over a year, I figured that getting around Seoul would be fairly easy and it was. A clear-cut sign that I wasn't in China anymore occurred when the airport bus left for downtown. It was about a quarter-full and we did not drive around looking for more passengers. Based on my experiences, this is unheard of in the People's Republic.

All of the bus stops were announced in Korean and English and it took about 40 minutes to get where I had to go. After getting off the bus, I felt a bit unsettled. I knew I was in the right place, but I didn't know where I was in relation to anything except the Sun and I knew that was far away. I showed some people in a coffee shop the address I was looking for and they couldn’t help me. Suddenly, I realize this will be a lot easier if I actually have the address printed in Korean.

So, I hit-up an internet café and, upon exiting, find a couple girls who speak a bit of English and ask them about the address. They're quite kind and walk with me for a few minutes before pointing me in the right direction and wishing me good luck. I would meet up with one of them two days later for dinner.

I walked a few minutes and, for the third time that day, saw someone that looked like Sunny but didn’t really think anything of it. Only, this time, it was Sunny. She was sitting on the steps of her guesthouse and I walked right by her. After I entered the building, I noticed her husband Jake. He’s tall, well-built and white so it’s a bit easier to notice him. That afternoon, we ate at an Outback Steakhouse and it was a glorious experience. If this last sentence seems a bit odd or overstated, spend a few months in Yantai and you'll know what I mean...

Videos from Seoul

2009-04-22T11:05:00.007+08:00

While staying at the guesthouse, I met a Chinese girl who was touring Seoul at the same time as me. That night, we checked out the area around the Han River and a tree blossom festival nearby.

I'm not real sure what these people were fired up about.

But, I know these people were fired up about dancing.

This was a rap group in the Hongdae University Area. I should have gotten closer.

This is the area where I stayed. The girl I'm walking with helped me find Sunny's guesthouse when I arrived in Seoul.

Die Hard

2009-04-21T23:33:00.003+08:00

"Where are my detonators?"

I must have been 12 years old the first time I saw this movie and I remember thinking, "I don't know what detonators are, but they must be pretty important. This guy is really upset."

Yantai, as seen from Space

2009-04-17T11:13:00.003+08:00

I'm not sure how well these pictures will turn out on the blog, but I wanted to give you an idea of what Yantai looks like form above. These images capture my neighborhood, with pictures from the ground and above. The bottom picture gives you an idea of how close we are to the ocean (the top-right portion of the picture is the Yellow Sea).

2009-04-17T11:01:00.001+08:00

Penglai & Yantai

2009-04-17T10:46:00.003+08:00

I'm about to post some pictures from the weekend of March 28 when my friend Winnie and I strolled the beaches of Yantai before heading to Penglai.

Penglai is a small town next to Yantai and it takes about an hour to get there by bus. It's known for its 1,000-year-old pavilion and beaches, but the weather didn't cooperate the day we went so we didn't get to enjoy the latter. Instead, we visited the Pavilion along the Yellow Sea Coast and ate fish from a local market.

"The Pavilion is closely entwined in Chinese mythology with the legend of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea. Perched on a cliff top overlooking the waves, the pavilion harbours a fascinating array of temples and looks out onto wonderful views of fishing boat flotillas."

Coughing up 'The Wire'

2009-04-07T13:42:00.002+08:00

I’m fighting a cold. It’s not the most glamorous thing to talk about, but if someone were to ask me, “What’s the latest?,” the cough and Korea would be my answers. I started to feel it coming on Wednesday, when I had a sore throat. By Thursday, whatever was in my throat made its way to my lungs and I started coughing a bit. Saturday was the worst day so far and I pretty much coughed constantly throughout the day. It’s a dry cough and its persistence is annoying. My colleague told me I could get a needle that would make everything better, but I’m not really up for that. In fact, I really don’t want to take any medicine at all but I caved over the weekend and bought some cough syrup.

In thinking about how it started and I’ve come to the conclusion that it has something to do with the weather. When the weather changes, I get sick. Not deathly ill, just some sort of cold. Two months ago, when I moved from Shanghai to Yantai, I had a cough for about two weeks while my body adapted to the weather here. For most of February and March, I was good though – no cough or anything. But now, the weather is changing again, in the 40s and 50s for the most part, and the heat is turned off in my building so I have this cough.

This has resulted in me changing my schedule to make it even more vanilla than it usually is. Normally, I’d be out right now, either doing a language exchange at a coffee shop, or eating with friends. But, I’ve decided to sit in bed and study instead. Luckily, this is the time of month where I can watch “The Wire.” That might seem odd so let me explain.

My arrival in Yantai in January coincided with the Chinese New Year and I had a cold. I had a lot of down time and, as a result, started watching this TV show. I found it addictive and tore through 24 episodes in 9 days. It’s embarrassing to say, but it’s the truth. Over the course of nine days, I spent one whole day watching a television show. So, I took myself off it for a month. At the beginning of March, the same thing happened, I started watching it and couldn’t stop. Hence, I took myself off it for another month. It’s the beginning of April so I can watch it again. So, as you read this, there’s a good chance that’s what I’m doing – laying in bed, coughing, and alternating between studying and watching the Wire. Again, not the most glamorous thing, but it’s life. With the Korea trip coming up, I figure the best thing I can do for my body is take it easy.

South Korea Awaits...

2009-04-06T00:21:00.006+08:00

I booked my flight for South Korea yesterday. It was the first time I booked something over the phone using Chinese and it went fairly well. And while I realize the timing is bizarre (anyone hear about that rocket North Korea just fired?), this adventure actually started last week when I got in touch with my friend Sunny. She said she would be in Seoul next week with her husband. I told her I was close enough to Korea that I could take a boat there (17 hours) so we agreed to meet up.

And, while I am very interested in taking the boat, flying was too advantageous to pass-up. I found a good price and the flight time is about an hour from Yantai to Seoul. I will fly there on Thursday and Sunny leaves on Friday so I’ll have two days in the South Korean capital to myself. I recently got in touch with my buddy in Shanghai who used to live in Seoul and he’s going to set me up with some of his friends. If that falls through, I’ll be crashing in a hostel for three nights before returning to the other side of the Yellow Sea (Yantai) on Sunday. Until then, I’m practicing the only Korean I know – an yo ha say o (hello) – and looking forward to seeing another foreign country.

An Average Sunday Night

2009-04-05T13:31:00.005+08:00

Future President of China?

Max and his friends are entered into an English-speaking competition. Part of the competition requires that they recite a short story or speech. Max chose one of Obama's campaign speeches. Here it is:

At the Dinner Table

I never thought about using chopsticks to eat French Fries....

The Watermelon Talent Show

Beards and Beaches

2009-04-02T22:42:00.005+08:00

I shaved my beard yesterday. I must say I've become a big fan of beards since growing a few. It's nice going five or six weeks without shaving. All you have to do is clean it up once a week. If you're the low-maintenance type, I highly recommend it.

In other news, one of my goals for March was to start running again. When I lived in Chicago, I ran or swam every few days. However, before this month, it had been over a year since I ran. One of the reasons was the air. While Shanghai is a terrific city, I didn't like breathing the air at a normal pace, let alone having to take deep breaths while running. But, now that I'm living in a city with better air, I figure it's time to start running again. So, I jogged a few times last month and can now appreciate how nice it is to live near the ocean.

Yantai sits at the top of the Shandong province, along the Yellow Sea (Pacific Ocean) coast. It's a great city for jumping a boat to Dalian or Korea. When I was running last week, it took me about five minutes to reach the beach. As I was approaching, you could hear the sound of the ocean. I never realized how much I like that sound. The beach was mostly desolate as were the streets around it, with a few desolate vendor and lifeguard stands signaling that summer is not here yet.

But, it's still great that summer and the beach are so close. I have a feeling I'm going to like living here as the weather breaks. After all, I always wanted to live down the shore for the summer. I just thought it would be in Sea Isle or Wildwood.

(side note: I just heard the Rocky theme on Yantai radio....haha.....how great is that?)

April Fool's Day

2009-04-01T16:13:00.002+08:00

This is one of my favorite days here. One of the things that always bugged me about April Fool's Day in the U.S. was that everyone knew it was April Fool's Day so it was tough to trick people. Your ruse (a cunning attempt to trick people) really has to be believable or you have to catch people off-guard. But, here, it's a different ballgame and I dig it.

The Chinese know today is April Fool's Day but I don't think they celebrate the same way we do, by playing jokes on people. Either that, or they're just not expecting it out of me because I've managed to fool just about everyone I've seen today. It started when I stopped in a shop on the way to school to see my friend, Xiao Shi. I told her today was my last day in China and I wouldn't see her again. She got a sullen look on her face and started crying and hitting me before I told her it was just a joke.

Then, I got to school and told my students that I was getting married this weekend and they were invited to the wedding. They were all excited and stuff. Suckers! At lunch time, I was on Skype and I told my Shanghai friend I was moving back there and opening an English school. She ate it up. Sucker!

I'm looking forward to tonight's class with the adults. Maybe I'll tell them I'm a movie star or something.

Oh, and by the way, that part about the girl hitting me and crying, that was just a joke. Happy April Fool's Day, Sucker.

In Heat

2009-04-01T12:48:00.006+08:00

I have to turn my hot water heater on a half-hour before I take a shower. Otherwise, I'm looking at a three-minute shower followed by bone-chilling cold water. Discovering this the hard way was no fun! But turning on the water heater beforehand adds eight or nine minutes of hot water. And, let me tell you, they are a critical eight or nine minutes. This process is nothing newsworthy, but it's another one of those minor reminders that I'm not home anymore.

Another reminder is that the heat should be shut-off in my building today. One of my colleagues seems to recall that last year on April 1, his apartment got very cold. This makes sense. The buildings in our neighborhood appear to be at least 30 or 40 years old so they were designed before China made its change to a capitalist market. Everyone in the building pays the same fee and gets the same heat. It's pretty simple.

While this is a fair approach, it's also a sign that China has some work to do in terms of energy conservation. Sometimes the apartment gets too warm and you have to crack open a window. After all, wasting energy is no fun, but neither is sweating at home.

On the upside, I must admit that although the weather is colder here than in Shanghai, it is much easier to deal with because the inside is so much warmer. The two main reasons for this are that the homes in the south of China do not have central heat while the northern buildings are designed to insultate heat.

I'm posting this on the first day of April, the month where the weather convinces you it will stay cool forever before suddenly changing. While I like winter, I'm looking forward to the warmer weather and experiencing how life changes around here.

Mr. Armstrong, Max, and the Kai Fa Qu

2009-03-26T12:44:00.005+08:00

Mr. Armstrong
Most of the students call me Mr. Armstrong. Every now and again, they call me Armstrong, forgetting the Mister, but as opposed to my days at Neumann, no one has called me Armstead yet. I have to admit it took some getting used, being called "Mister" on a consistent basis. But I am 30 now and teaching kids who were born in 1996 so I suppose it makes sense.

Teaching at the middle school has been a lot of fun. One of my concerns was that the kids' behavior would be terrible, but it's actually turned out to be opposite. Most of them are pretty good and I think they look forward to my class, not because it's English, but because I usually try to make it fun by throwing in some games. If they speak too much Chinese, I make them stand in front of the class and sing "Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." I didn't know this song before last month, but apparently it's pretty big in England and the kids get a kick out of it so I use it.

Max
As for my Chinese, it is coming along. Making friends who don't speak English has proved to be as easy as I thought it would be. As opposed to Shanghai, you get a fair amout of stares from the locals on a daily basis. Most of the time, if I say anything, they're either too stunned to reply or they say "hello" and voila I've made a new friend. One of these new friends is a kid named Max.

During my second week here, I took the bus downtown to check out the city. On my way back to the Kai Fa Qu (the district where I live - more on that later), a young kid switched seats, sat next to me, and started talking. His English was pretty solid for his age and much better than my students at the middle school. He was also very curious about life in America and asked me questions like "Is it more interesting to live in America or China?" and "Which country has better food?"

I instantly wanted to help him as I realize it's probably a rare opportunity for kids around here to get the chance to talk with a native English speaker. So, I agreed to meet up with him and his mother the following Sunday night for dinner. They are from Inner Mongolia, where she studied English. As Max was growing up, she spoke English with him and he took a liking to it. Hence, his level is pretty good for a kid his age.

For the past six or seven Sundays now, I've met up with them and their friends. Max's friends are all girls and they get fired up when I tell Max I can't believe he has five girlfriends. Their English is also pretty good and every week, we go to a different one's home. In the pictures, you'll see some shots of us making dumplings for dinner one week.

Kai Fa Qu
Now, getting back to the Kai Fa Qu, which is where I live. Yantai's population is about 2 million (roughly 15% the size of Shanghai) and is divided up into five major districts, one of which is the Kai Fa Qu. Translated directly, it means "Development Zone" and I get the impression that (like areas of Shanghai) there wasn't much here 20 years ago. But now, within a five-minute walk, there are restaurants, malls and supermarkets. Like many parts of China, it's an area in transition and I'm glad to be a part of it.

January through March

2009-03-19T23:52:00.001+08:00

Videos

2009-02-04T23:49:00.007+08:00

A Tour of the New Place

This was my contribution to the madness every night. My colleague filmed this, but you can not see me lighting the firework that well.

And here are a few others, from the Chinese New Year....

Happy New Year

2009-01-27T20:57:00.002+08:00

For those that remember the videos I posted last year around Chinese New Year, rest assured that the scene was similar this year in Yantai over the last few days. I do not have the cable to upload pictures and videos. It is in transit on the way to Yantai. So, if you want an idea of what the fireworks were like, check-out the blog post from last year.

To sum it up verbally, the fireworks have been pretty much non-stop for the past three days. On New Year's Eve, which was two days ago, my neighbor invited me to a local restaurant to eat dinner with his family - his wife, two daughters and their friends, and his parents-in-law. The only people drinking "yellow wine" at the table were me, him, and his father-in-law. I have no idea why the Chinese drink this stuff. It's basically the equivalent of sitting down to a steak dinner and drinking whiskey at the same time. I like steak and whiskey, but you have to separate the two, right?.

The food was terrific. There were about ten different dishes and among them were bluefish, broccoli, diced pork, and fried squid. I like the Chinese style of eating - a giant spinning glass on top of the table so you can grab a little bit of everything.

After dinner, we did what I had been waiting to do all night: Light some fireworks. Last year, I was only a witness to the mayhem. This year, thanks to the previous dwellers at my apartment, I would be a participant. When I moved in last week, I noticed a dozen red balls with funny Chinese writing in one of the closets. Each had a long thin fuse attached to the top and I couldn't wait to light them up to see what they did.

So, I walked across the street to the middle of a parking lot, lit the fuse and took off running. About ten seconds later, this thing exploded with a loud boom, sending green sparks across the street, while setting off about ten car alarms. Then I knew what I was dealing with. Essentially, these are the same fireworks you see around July 4th, but I don't have the piece that shoots them into the sky. Instead, I just light them on the ground.

I lit off four more that night and two started small brush fires that I had to stomp out. Of course, everytime one went off, it just blended in with the scenery. For miles around, thousands of Yantainese were doing the same, with the crescendo arriving around midnight. Around 1am, the noise finally subsided enough to fall asleep. But that only lasted until 5:30. Yeah, that's right- 5:30 a.m.

Last night, on our way home from dinner, my colleague and I noticed a lull in the action. It was only 10 o'clock, but the madness had calmed. So, we fired off one of the red bad boys, jostling the neighborhood. Two blocks away, we heard a car alarm go off and laughed. After all, when in Rome, er, Yantai.....

Actually, not Catholic

2009-01-25T11:38:00.002+08:00

I just edited the previous post to say "Christians" instead of Catholics. I confused the translation for the two words, which lead to my rare attendance at a non-Cathlolic mass this morning. In becoming friends with the family next door this week, they invited me to join them at mass.

At 8am, we met outside our building and caught a bus to the church. Within a minute of arriving, I knew it wasn't a Catholic mass. First off, the church was not named after a saint. Instead, it was named the Fulai Church. Second, there was a lot more singing than I'm used to and no priest. To kick things off, they opened their celebration with four consecutive songs. This was followed by a man in a suit giving a lecture and more singing. Fireworks and firecrackers rang outside, a sign of the ongoing New Year Celebration.

In between translating what I could in my mind, I began guessing which religion this was - Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Protestant? I am extremely unfamiliar with the other branches of Christianity. This seemed Baptist to me, solely for the reason of a guy in a suit lecturing.

I also learned the word for "pray," which we did a fair amount of over the two hour service. At one point, the congregation shook hands and briefly chatted with each other. It was a bit like the sign of peace, but lasted longer and occurred twice in five minutes. The woman beside me told me the things she appreciated in life, but the best I could do was smile and say "Thank you."

Towards the end, I correctly translated the phrase "If this is your first time attending our church, please come to the front." I joined a group of other first-timers and we were awarded with a CD and two small booklets, which I will spend the next six months translating. After the service, we were asked to complete an information card.

I gave them my name and number and explained to the pastor that I had never attended a service like this. It was then that I discovered they were Lutheran. When you know the language well, the distinction is clear. When you don't, well, that's just further confirmation that you're not in Kansas anymore.

Christians, Apartment Filth, and Other Observations from Yantai

2009-01-25T00:53:00.004+08:00

Chinese New Year is tomorrow and my first week in Yantai is just about up. In disclaiming that surreal has become normal, the week was average by most accounts. I did not work and, therefore, did not have to wake up for anything in particular. I arrived on Monday night to a spacious but filthy apartment. The feeling of relief from arriving at the new apartment was replaced by disgust. I laid my head on the pillow and pulled a blanket over my legs, a sense of exhaustion waving over me. After a few minutes, another sense took over. Dust and must were surrounding me. I was sleeping on them, disrupting their months of stable serenity in the vacant apartment.

Over the course of the next two days, I washed everything – pillowcases, sofa cushions, towels, sheets…you name it. After the first load of laundry, which included the sofa cushions, I noticed the sofa was not actually the light grey I thought it was but a soft tan. I don’t remember the last time I mopped, dusted, and swept like this, probably because I never have. Each day I’d conquer a new room, replacing buckets of soap water after they turned black. In Shanghai, your “problem” of cleaning can be avoided by hiring a cleaning lady for $2 an hour. But, in Yantai, such practice is not customary. It’s one of the few subtle differences I noticed between the two towns.

It seems like there is a slower pace of life here. Maybe it is the fact that I didn’t have to work this week, but I doubt it. The people seem friendlier, more welcoming. The air - cleaner, colder and dryer than Shanghai - smells a bit more relaxed. And sometimes it smells like snow. Last winter, it snowed twice in Shanghai and they considered it a legendary season. This week, it’s snowed twice in Yantai. Granted, both brought less than an inch. But snow is snow and I am glad it’s regular again, expected.

A Sunday night sore throat morphed into a cold by Tuesday morning. Since I had the luxury of being able to relax, I let my body recover. Aside from cleaning, each day brought studying Chinese and watching the Wire, one of the most well-written shows I’ve ever seen. At some point, I also managed to sneak in a trip to the government building to handle visa formalities, my first chess game in eight years, three games of bowling, four games of pool, and a partridge in a pear tree.

I also made friends with the woman who runs the convenience store downstairs. She, in turn, introduced me to a family that lives in the next-door building. The father is from a different part of China, but the mother is from Yantai. She tells me her parents live across the street and I feel like I’m in South Philly for an instant. My new neighbors may not be Italian or Irish, but they are Christian.

New Beginnings

2009-01-20T05:04:00.005+08:00

I made it to Yantai in one piece yesterday. After watching the Eagles' game, I went home and tried to get some sleep but I was too restless, thinking about the game and the upcoming move. I ended up cleaning my apartment and running a few last-minute errands in the afternoon.

One of these errands was meeting up with my landlord to get my security deposit back. He kept asking if I needed help getting my stuff to the subway (to the airport). I consistently refused, but he would not give up. And, so, the last person I saw in Shanghai, was one of the people I knew the least. On our way to the subway, I said to him, "Other people probably think you're my father because you're helping me and we look the same, both real handsome."
"No, no, no. I don't have much hair," he replied.
"Ha ha, neither do I!"
Our conversation was a good one and I found myself wishing I'd spent more time with him. I can't really blame myself there though. I mean, how often do you hang out with your landlord?

My colleagues, Nora and James, greeted me at the airport on a frosty Yantai night. The weather here will be consistently colder, similar to Philadelphia and Chicago. Nora is Chinese, from the Sichuan province while James is from England. Nora is one of the owners and James is the manager, but he'll be leaving next month. After dropping some stuff off at the apartment, I grabbed a fried-rice dinner with James and another colleague, Jason (Delaware's finest, but he's a Baltimore fan).

And now it's 5:30 a.m. and I'm wide awake. I can't sleep, mainly because of a cold coming on and a musty smell in the apartment. But, I cannot complain. The place is much bigger than the one in Shanghai, with two bedrooms and a living room. In addition, the buildings are constructed differently so the insides are much warmer during the winter (than those in the south). So, even though I moved to a colder climate, the days of sleeping in sweatpants and a sweater while a space heater hums in the background seem to be over. All in all, the Yantai Experience is off to a solid start.

Trip to Lin An in the Zhejiang Province

2009-01-15T19:33:00.001+08:00

For the Birds

2009-01-12T15:25:00.002+08:00

It’s 10 p.m. and I should be able to sleep. Waking up early in the morning usually means I can crash easy that night. But I toss and turn for several hours. There’s too much excitement stirring and circulating for the upcoming Eagles’ game.

Just before 2 a.m. kickoff time, I walk into the Big Bamboo and catch glazes from a table to the right. One of the patrons is wearing a Yankees cap. I throw out an “E”. Nothing. Then I throw out a louder “E.” Still nothing. After finding my buddy Scott (Bucks County’s finest) and gazing around for several minutes, it’s clear that I’m in Giants’ country. The bar is pretty boisterous after the opening kickoff. We hold the Giants to a field goal and I tell Scott we just need to get to the 4th quarter in one piece in order to win.

Samuel picks it off. The Giants get a safety. In the second quarter, we are winning 7-5 despite having 10 yards of offense. I notice that Mike Patterson is having a great game and point out that we have not made our run yet. Things look relatively good aside from the woman sitting a few seats down from us at the bar.

The Giants pick McNabb off at the 20 and she cheers wildly. Her voice sounds like a frustrated cat stuck in the muffler of a car. I mock-cheer for the Giants in retaliation and the fans do not like it.

At halftime, I can not call Philly friends or family because I’m too jealous of them, surrounded by each other soaking up the playoff brew. I need to talk to someone who’s equally pumped, but away from the action, someone who I’ve cheered the Birds with many times. Half-time calls for a call to cousin Jim. We relay equal sentiments. It would have been nice to score a touchdown at the end of the first half, but a lead is a lead is a lead.

Kevin Curtis and Sheldon Brown make the tackles of the game. Concurrently, the second half sees Scott pull ahead in our small drinking contest while the Birds keep it close and do as I hoped. Hang in there until the 4th quarter and pull away --- Lovely.

And now we face our old pre-realignment division rival, the Cardinals. They have a quarterback who’s beaten us in the conference championship before. But I’m confident in the Birds and their ability to win. At this point, after storming the Meadowlands and Big Bamboo, there’s no reason to feel otherwise.

Third and Final Slice of the Jiangxi Trip

2009-01-01T19:02:00.001+08:00

Thirty

2008-12-31T16:41:00.005+08:00

Well, it's official now. I am 30. To celebrate, I grabbed dinner with a few friends the night before. Morning of - I woke up and checked the internet. The Raiders won and the Eagles were up by 40. I thought I was still asleep. The night of - My school was having their holiday celebration halfway between Christmas and New Years. It was a collection of plays, kung fu, and a couple song numbers, one of which was everyone singing to me:

After the party, a few of my colleagues and I headed to the local bar. This is my friend Laura, from Manchester.

Timing the Traffic Light

2008-11-26T21:51:00.006+08:00

It's a little bit of a slow day here in the Wild East so I'll write about something fast. The traffic lights are timed here. Have I mentioned this before?

Not only are they timed going from green to red, which is reasonable, but you can also see how much time you have going from red to green. Can you imagine that on Broad Street around midnight?

This adds a whole new element to traffic navigation. When I'm riding my bike, it allows me to slow down enough so that when I get to the corner, I can achieve maximum speed as soon as the light turns green. Other people like it for the opposite reason, they can speed up just in time to make the yellow light. I witnessed what happens when the two occur simultaneously.

I was riding my bike home (from a night of poker) around 9:00 pm. The streets were less crowded, as they usually are around that time of night. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see a taxi gunning through the intersection while a construction truck passes through at the same time. They simultaneously hit their brakes as the taxi swerves around the truck, hitting a concrete support beam head-on instead. Luckily, the taxi's speed was such that the driver and girls in the taxi were able to walk away. None of them got in the ambulance I phoned for. The truck driver was also unharmed, as was his truck.

So, that's it. On the whole, it was not a terribly awful or exciting event, but one to take a lesson from nonetheless.

Rachel's Trip, Take 2

2008-11-26T21:15:00.001+08:00

What laziness giveth...

2008-11-26T17:37:00.003+08:00

laziness taketh away...

And on that note, the beard has been shaved. I was digging it, but it was getting a bit too long, causing me to eat mustache hairs from time to time. So, I was left with a decision:

-shave for the first time in six weeks
-or, trim the beard every few days

So, the beard is gone, but I welcome it back with open arms in about 3 weeks.

Go Phillies!

Chinese Wedding

2008-11-24T22:38:00.003+08:00

No Dancing, Cigarettes Yes

My friend Joy got married last week. It was my first Chinese wedding and aside from the smell of flowers and optimism in the air, it was very unlike the American weddings I've been to....

There was no church or temple for the ceremony. The bride and groom were at the entrance of the restaurant to greet everyone, in their wedding attire. The wedding started at 6:30 and, at that time, the MC welcomed the bride and groom into the reception. After entering, the two exchanged vows in front of everyone. This was followed by speeches from their fathers, the groom and two people I took to be the maid of honor and best man. My Chinese is ok, but these people were talking real fast, I was catching every fifth word or so....happy....luck....life....children....

Dinner was a buffet, and it was not exclusively ours. It was part of a larger restaurant. And this was by far the largest buffet I've seen - over 50 dishes, most of which I could identify (or at least categorize as meat or vegetable).

There was light music but no dancing and no dance floor. Instead, every table was given a box of chocolates and two packs of cigarettes. SMOKE 'EM IF YOU GOT 'EM.

The bride and groom, after eating, make their rounds just as they do at American weddings. And by that, I mean they literally make the rounds. They have to do have a drink (or shot) with each table. And if they are getting too drunk too fast, it is the duty of the maid of honor and best man to drink the shots for them if they cannot.

Now, I thought Joy and her husband were pretty hammered by the time they go to me and Greta's table, but I asked Joy later and she said they were ok.

About 9:30, people started shuffling out. All in all, it was a nice time - not as lively and bustling as an American wedding, but just as festive and focused on what was most important - two people publicly declaring they're love for each other.

My good friend Jin

2008-11-22T20:17:00.004+08:00

One of the best ways to learn a language is by doing language exchanges. Basically, the way a language exchange works is: you speak English for an hour, and then you speak Mandarin for an hour.

Jin, a Shanghai native, is a former student, but now she is a friend and we usually meet up about once per week, drink coffee, and talk. I usually show up with a bunch of Chinese words I want to practice and we sneak in some English (or Shanghainese) here and there. Our exchanges are definitely lopsided towards Mandarin, but she doesn't seem to mind. As a result, she is one of the main reasons my spoken Chinese is progressing well.

This picture was taken the other day....it's been almost a month but it never gets old...GO PHILLIES!

Beard

2008-11-17T23:03:00.002+08:00

Rachel's Trip, Take 1

2008-11-13T16:46:00.001+08:00

A Year

2008-11-12T20:41:00.002+08:00

So, Monday was the one year anniversary since I arrived in China. In the morning, I woke up to the Eagles-Giants game and the first two plays pretty much summed up the entire game.

On the first play, the Giants ran for 8 yards. On the second play, we picked it off and soon capitalized. That seemed to be the story of the night - the Giants doing pretty much whatever they wanted while the turnovers kept us in it. They outplayed us so bad, it's impressive that we only lost by 5.

Obviously I was disappointed, but I quickly reminded myself that the Phillies won it all and my mood was right again. How long does it take for a championship to expire? After the game, my buddy Scott (another Philly guy) and I grabbed pizza and beers.

The night saw my first time playing poker in China. The game was at a local bar, right out in the open and advertised --- man I love Shanghai. It was a 300 rmb ($20) buy-in and, at one point, I was up about 1500 rmb. But I quickly gave most of it back and ended-up winning about 200 rmb.

That was it === nothing too extravagant.

GO PHILLIES!

Reaction to the Election

2008-11-12T19:57:00.005+08:00

We here at the Wild East try to keep politics off the blog, but I think a presidential election merits a post. And while I don't have the biggest sample size, I thought I'd let you know the reaction to Obama (chinese: 奥巴马) being elected has been mostly indifferent here, at least from my experience.

I've spoken with my Chinese friends and students about it. In general, they like Bush and think that while he's a bit of a cowboy, he's a good president. They don't understand why we went to war in Iraq. Some think he's got a fake smile, but he's a good guy who has a generally favorable attitude towards China. They appreciate the fact that he attended the Olympics.

As for Obama, they seem to like him too. They realize he's a microcosm (my word, not theirs) of America in that he has mixed blood, but don't seem to know much else about him. I can't blame them. I didn't know the name of China's president when I came here a year ago. But, obviously our election gets more coverage here than their politicians get in America.

One of my students said, "If McCain won, I have work tomorrow, but Obama won and, so, I still have work tomorrow." That's my favorite quote and the best way to sum up the Chinese reaction - aware, but not overly excited or nervous about it.

Happy Holidays

2008-11-12T19:35:00.002+08:00

You know how sometimes you want to say something to someone, but you constantly forget?

Yeah, well that's been happening to me but now I am finally remember to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I meant to tell you this in early September when I was in a coffee shop and heard "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" and, then again, a couple weeks later when I was reminded at the gym and "Happy Holidays" came on.

So, if you're the type of person who loves Christmas music so much that you wish it was played throughout the year, at random times and places, go to orbitz.com and take a look at flights. The land of year-round Holiday music is only a 14 hour plane ride away.

Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!
And Go Phillies!

October Trip

2008-11-12T11:06:00.002+08:00

Rachel and I took a trip last month to the Jiangxi province, which is a good window to the simple life of how the rural Chinese live. Our first stop was Nanchang, a city of about 3 million people along the Gan River. I got the impression that not many foreigners make it to Nanchang and that makes sense. There really isn't much to see there, except an ancient temple.

But that's why this trip was different from the others I've taken. We were not setting out in search of the Great Wall or some other tourist site. Instead, we were seeing the countryside landscape and visiting some places a little less polished.

So, in Nanchang, the locals turned their head more than once to look at us and wonder what we were doing there. It happened a lot throughout the trip, much moreso than anytime in Shanghai. From Nanchang, we took a train to Lu Shan, a mountain range about two hours away.....

CHAMPIONS

2008-11-01T09:43:00.003+08:00

The back of the Shanghai Daily has a picture of Brad Lidge celebrating and Jamie Moyer digging up the pitcher's mound and I still can't believe I'm looking at it. A Philadelphia Sports Championship - I thought this was an urban legend - something that we would talk about for years but never experience. And then Wednesday happened. (Or Thursday rather...)

The game started at 8:30 a.m. and I was awake at 6:00. My mind was racing and I couldn't sleep. The Phils are at home and have twelve outs left, compared to the Rays' nine, so I like our chances. I head to the convenience store to pick up some brew. The pre-game show consists of random Chinese soap operas, children's cartoons, and South American Soccer Matches. My buddy Trev makes his was over minutes before game time and we quickly discover that the pecking order on the Chinese sports channel is:

1. Houston Rockets Games
2. World Series

In other words, for the first time since the Series started, the game is not on TV here. So, we jump on our bikes and head to the Big Bamboo. It's mostly empty, but there are a couple of Philly fans in there - one lives at 18th and Spring Garden and the other's from West Chester. There's another guy from Toronto rooting for the Rays "because" they're in the same division. Funny, I thought it went the other way around. Go Mets?!? Go Braves?!?

The Phils have already knocked in a run and are winning 3-2. I think I've missed the most critical part of the game but I don't care - we're winning. Then, Rocco Baldelli reminds me that this is Philly so it's not going to come easy. I swill my beer as Chase Utley turns the play of the Series, a fake to first followed by a bullet to Ruiz for the out at home.

Pat the Bat breaks out of his slump at the perfect time and minutes later, we're ahead again. Now, I'm alternating between literally sitting on the edge of my seat and pacing the bar, watching each batter at a different TV. As packed as the bars were in Philly - that's how empty this one was.

Crawford hits a single so I vow not to watch the rest of the game from the TV at the end of the bar. The announcer (who speaks English - the feed is coming from ESPN International) comments that this is great for the Rays because with Crawford on 1st and Upton batting, a double play will be very difficult. Couldn't agree more!

Then comes the fateful 9th and we're World Champs! I scream and hug the other two Phillies fans like I've never hugged strangers before. The Rays "fan" bolts. I call Mom. Another Philly fan from Bucks County rolls in. We buy each other beers and proceed to spend the rest of the day drinking beer, eating pizza and telling Philly stories.

I realize the mayhem and revelry on Broad Street was out of control. I missed out big-time but let me have this: I had to be one of the last to go to bed. That's the beauty of the game getting over at 9:58 am. Given the range of emotions I've felt over the past two weeks, I'm missing Philly more than ever. So, do me a favor and leave a comment now.

Sometimes, people tell me they live vicariously through me and now it is my turn to do the same through you. Tell me about your night, where you watched the game and the madness that ensued. What was going through your mind? Tell me about the parade and festivities. I want to hear it all. I need to hear it all because who knows when this will happen again.

Enjoy the moment and never forget.........2008 World Champs!

Chinese Baseball Announcers

2008-10-28T09:03:00.005+08:00

“jiao mei dao”
角没到

This is what the Chinese announcers are saying and it translates to “point of view, not arrived.” But, in a baseball context, it means “from our angle, Crawford didn’t get to first base in time.” And I have to agree with them. It’s the top of the 7th and I’m watching Jamie Moyer take us farther into game three than most thought he would. The other thing the announcers are saying is “nu li” which means “great job.” They’re talking about Moyer’s athleticism at the ripe age of 45, diving and tossing the ball to Howard.

We’re winning 4-1, but Navarro follows this play with a double and I’m beginning to wonder if the wheels are coming off, as they have so many times before. But, we get out of the inning and there are two more to hold onto the win.

Here’s a sample of what it’s like to watch the game in China:

By the way, this is Philadelphia Phillies in Chinese: 费城费城人 (feicheng feicheng ren)

Moment of Silence

2008-10-21T11:25:00.002+08:00

Sometimes, I go a week or so without posting anything here, mostly because I'm lazy or can't find the time. I had plans to update the blog today, but instead I am taking a voluntary respite to honor Eddie Cavanaugh.

He was a friend of my sister and, most importantly, the father of my nephew. Like all of us, he had difficulties, but he fought them hard over the last two years. In this way, he is commended and remembered as it is the struggle that makes us great.

He will be missed.

Life as an Eagles Fan

2008-10-09T09:58:00.005+08:00

Saturday in the Park

2008-09-25T16:12:00.001+08:00

Picnic

2008-09-24T12:21:00.004+08:00

I went on a picnic last Saturday with my colleagues and students and am getting ready to post some pictures from the day...

Yes, I see the sweat stains on the birds hat and no, my washer is not broken. But this is a special hat. You know those hats that light-up along the borders of the logo? The ones you would never wear around South Philly? Yes, this is one of those hats. My dad threw it in my bag before I left to come back to Shanghai which I originally thought was nice of him. It's got a bunch of circuits on the inside so I can’t wash it. Hence, the line of salt around the Eagles logo.

Second, the picnic was a lot of fun. We grilled chicken wings, corn on the cob and steamed bread. No burgers anywhere in sight. My colleague Laura and I lucked out when we found a small hut selling beers for 75 cents. That's one of the things I love about this place - is there a spot in America where children are around and you can still buy beers there, let alone for less than a dollar a can? Later, it rained for the 15th day in a row and we had to seek shelter in a shack along with some people who were having their wedding pictures taken. But they were pretty cool and we hung out together, waiting for the storm to pass.

---

I didn't get to watch the Eagles game last week but, from reading the articles and box score, it looks like the D ran wild. Nice.

Next Monday morning, I should get to watch my first live Eagles game in about a year and it couldn't come at a better time....watching them smoke the Bears in Chicago! It's also the first day of the second biggest holiday here...a week long celebration of the founding of the PRC in 1949.

My second trip into China with a girl named Rachel...

2008-09-24T11:47:00.003+08:00

China Trip #4

This Rachel and I met three years ago, while we were in the security line at Midway, heading home for Christmas. She was in Chicago on business, heading home to Providence. Since then, we’ve stayed in touch and I would see her a couple times a year when she visited me and her cousin in Chicago or had business there.

She is coming to visit next week so we're taking a trip. Rachel’s one request was that hiking be involved somehow and my only request was that we not go to the Great Wall. So, we’re taking a trip to the Jiangxi province, which is about as far from Shanghai as Chicago is from Philly.

From Shanghai, we’ll fly to a town called Nanchang, then catch a bus to Lu Shan, were we’ll do some hiking. From Lu Shan it's onto Wuyuan, which is known for its scenery and architecture. The last leg of the trip takes us to Hangzhou and then Shanghai. The best part is we’re going to cover all that ground in about five or six days. Needless to say, I am stoked!

Two on one

2008-09-24T11:32:00.001+08:00

Well, it finally happened – my first two on one fist fight. I was walking down the street the other day with my friend Susan. We noticed these two guys ahead of us to our left, but didn’t think much of them until one of them forearmed her in the face. After that, I sort of lost it and, well….someone was filming…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM5hK9QaDrY

The 130-year storm

2008-09-18T17:09:00.002+08:00

Or, at least that's what the papers were calling it.

On August 25, Shanghai got hit with what has been called a 130-year storm. It’s the most rain they’ve gotten in a two-hour period in over 130 years. It wasn’t the most violent storm I’ve been around because there wasn’t much wind, but I have to admit it was impressive. The thunder woke me up at 6:30 and I stared out the window for another hour, watching the lightning and thunder.

This went on basically non-stop for an hour. If I wasn’t so tired, I probably would have done more than take pictures of our alleyway.

----

The other pictures from the latest slideshow are random and some are from a ferry ride I took last week across the Huangpu River. I had been wanting to check out the Yangpu Bridge for a long time and finally got the chance last week on a beautiful day.

----

(Also, I ended up watching the Eagles game on Tuesday night with a Cowboys fan, a Giants fan, and a Redskins fan. I know that sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it really happened. The NFC East's finest along with the other three teams - there we were at the Big Bamboo. The Giants fan was from Canada and didn't really care who won, but the Redskins fan was pulling for the Birds. He was getting on my nerves though because he knew the outcome of the game but was cheering anyway - bizarre. Obviously I was disappointed, but I have to admit it was a terrific game. And after watching, it's tough not to expect big things from the Birds this season.)

Pics from the 130-year storm, the Yangpu bridge, and my nose

2008-09-18T16:42:00.001+08:00

Nose hair

2008-09-16T10:38:00.002+08:00

– I’ve never trimmed my nose hairs. Am I the only one in this category? It drives my sister nuts. That’s part of the reason I’ve never cut them. The other part is you need all the filter you can get here. Just about every night, I come home, scratch the inside of my nose and the tips of my fingers are grey.

It’s almost at the point where I’m thinking about wearing one of those masks, the ones that make you look like you’re going into 9-hour open heart surgery. I always thought they looked menacing but anything beats snorting brown-grey dust. Greta made a comment that she didn’t notice what a clear day was like until she went back to Chicago and now I see what she means. There really aren’t many clear days here. Don’t get me wrong, it gets sunny, but not super clear.

I think one of the reasons men live shorter is pride (or stupidity). Women are not afraid to rock the surgery masks because of the dust and, on sunny days, they carry umbrellas. Don’t get me wrong. I wear hats when it gets sunny here, especially since I’m going bald, but I can’t bring myself to carry an umbrella unless it's raining. Women here, on the other hand, must carry umbrellas everyday - rain or shine. In my next slide show, I'll throw some pictures in to show you what I mean.

Withdraw

2008-09-16T10:13:00.002+08:00

I get homesick at some of the oddest times around here. Like, I could be in the middle of an English class and teach the phrase “sarcastic” and miss Philly. Or, for no reason at all, I’m just riding my bike home and miss riding my bike around the neighborhood.

But the last few weeks have been especially tough. First, it was my family being down the shore, then it was Phillies-Cubs, and now it’s the start of the football season. Maybe Shanghai’s mayor is a Bears’ fan and he’s got to have his Bears no matter what time they play. Or maybe every Sunday night game will be broadcast live here. In either case, I’m all set for Eagles-Bears in a couple weeks because last Monday I woke up to Bears-Colts LIVE.

But Monday night is different. The games come on Tuesday morning and I did not see the Packers or Raiders on any of the local channels. For Eagles-Boys, it looks like the best I can do is watch it Tuesday night at a bar called the Big Bamboo (same place I watched the Super Bowl).

http://www.bigbamboo.cn/Calendar/1213329144384-2510/Screened-Sports

As we speak, I'm tracking the Eagles on the internet as they're up 30-24. At halftime, I'll stop tracking it and hold-out until tonight at 10pm when the game comes on at Bamboo. Something tells me not finding out the score around here should be pretty easy.

Olympics

2008-08-21T15:16:00.005+08:00

The Special Olympics are winding down in Beijing this week. This is the first time I've gotten the chance to watch them consistently and I must say they are just as inspirational, if not moreso, than the regular Olympics.

I think it's because you can see the sacrifice the athletes make. With the regular Olympics, you know they train their butt off, but you don’t actually see it. Here, you can at least see some of the difficulties the athletes face.

So, with over a month of Olympics of some sort going on in Beijing, here is a collection of some of the Olympic sports I've seen on TV:

Marathon Swimming

Tae Kwon Do

Wrestling (& Special)

Triathlon

Walking

Judo

Boxing

Basketball (& Special)

Trampoline

Equestrian

Archery

Rifle Shooting

Swimming (Special)

Synchronized Swimming

Phelps Swimming

Some sort of horse trotting event that wasn't Equestrian and I couldn't believe it was an Olympic sport

Indoor Volleyball

Outdoor Volleyball

Sitting Volleyball (Special)

Ping Pong (& Special)

Track (& Special)

Tennis

Baseball

Gymnastics

Pole Vault

Long Jump

Discus

Weight Lifting

Water Polo

Diving

BRAWL

2008-08-19T14:34:00.006+08:00

I SIGNED UP for the gym yesterday and ended up seeing the 5-on-5 Olympic Men’s Chinese Brawl won by the personal trainers. Here’s how it went down:

I walk into the sales room, and asked:

Me: CAN I SIGN UP FOR THE GYM？
Sales Guy: SIGN UP？
M: YES， YOU KNOW， JOIN？
S: JOIN？
M: YES.
S: UMM， MEMBERSHIP？
M: YOU GOT IT.

That’s right. He understood the word with more letters instead of the ones with less.

We sit down in the break area and talk about the price. There are a few guys off to our left, hanging out near the juice bar. All seems calm, normal. I’ll be out of here in a couple minutes with my four month membership. At least, that’s what I thought --- until two of them started pushing each other. The next thing you know they’re fist-fighting. And no sooner do they start brawling than five more guys rush into the room and attack his buddies.

The maylay is in full throttle and I give up my front row seats in favor of the ones on the other side of the room. At first I thought it was amusing – “Hey, these two guys are gonna fight.” But when the other five came in the room, it all seemed coordinated and I didn’t know what was going on. One of the guys made a run for the front desk when one of the personal trainers took him down Brian Dawkins’ style.

It was pretty crazy and the whole incident was over in about 15 minutes. Watching it wind down was bizarre. No one really came in to break up the fight. The guys just got tired of punching each other so they stopped fighting, grabbed each other’s collars, and walked into a room to give diplomacy a try.

At this point, the sales guy made his way over to me and said, “Sorry about that. Where were we?”

Tough loss

2008-08-19T13:04:00.003+08:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/shooting/7566240.stm

This is up there with the Mets' collapse last season. Over the past ten days, I've watched Olympic sports that I never knew existed and it looks like I picked the wrong time to start watching Men's 50m rifle shooting. Is this getting any press in America?

In this sport, a typical score is 9 or 10. The highest you can get is 11. Anything below 7 is very abnormal. This guy was up by 3 points going into the last round. All he needed was a 6.7 for the gold.

He then shot a 4.4, which is unheard of for a pro. As a result, Slovenia picked up their first medal and China won another gold. Our boy finished fourth.

Of Mice and Mars

2008-08-14T15:13:00.002+08:00

Last week, a fellow English teacher mentioned that scientists were close to confirming the presence of water on Mars and he followed it up with, “where there is water, there is life.” It was a simple statement, and I've now confirmed that he’s right, at least about the latter.

I moved into my new place three weeks ago. Despite all my pets, I dig it a lot. The neighbors are cool, the air conditioner works, it's quiet at night, and everything I need is within walking distance. However, here are a few key differences between how you and I are living:
Your landlord speaks English.
You don’t need to leave your apartment to go to the bathroom.
Your stove, washing machine, toilet, bathroom sink, shower, and kitchen sink are not within inches of each other (bathroom + kitchen = bathchen). Mine are.
You don’t have a pole that extends from your bedroom window so you can dry clothes. I do.
Your washing machine doesn’t leak. And it is this last point that makes all the difference.

A day or two after moving in, I did my first load of laundry. I noticed the following day that there was a small trickle leading from the washer to the shower drain and thought nothing of it. I knew there would be grit and wrinkles in the new place. I mean, what do you expect for $220 a month?

But shortly after the leak discovery, other signs of life started popping up – ants, roaches, and mice – around the bathchen. The following day, I discovered mosquito bites on my left arm. Good times. Today, I went to the supermarket and bought factory-strength Raid. In addition to removing the first layer of paint on the counter, this stuff eradicated all bugs this side of the Yangtze.

Now, I just need to figure out what to do about the mice.

SUMMER IN CHINA

2008-08-14T15:11:00.001+08:00

Nihao

2008-07-31T15:07:00.002+08:00

Hey there -

Sorry I have not been updating the blog more frequently. I was doing pretty good there for awhile, but then I switched apartments and the new place doesn't have an internet connection.

In the near future, I'm going to post some pics of Suzhou, the creamsicle bike, and the apartments in Shanghai.

The fact that there has not been an update on here has been an update in and of itself. There is really not much new in the Wild East, at least with me. I study or teach everyday and most days, I do both.

Everyone is getting excited for the opening ceremony next Friday and I have been given off from work as a result. Or, rather, in Chinese fashion, I have to work Thursday instead of Friday. I don't mind though because I like where I teach; the classes are smaller and the atmosphere is more laid-back than my previous job.

-Chris

ps - the answer was the American Consulate. I just thought it was ironic. I had seen our consulate many times, but I never noticed what was 40 feet away.

My first typhoon

2008-07-19T20:54:00.002+08:00

Typhoon Kalmaegi lashed Taiwan yesterday and today it hit China, in a province south of Shanghai. It's been downgraded to a tropical storm so most of what we're getting right now is heavy rain and a little wind. My first typhoon has me thinking about my first hurricane, Hurrican Gloria in 1985: http://www.geocities.com/hurricanene/hurricanegloria.htm

Does anyone remember that one?

Here is a link for the typhoon:
http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=87634

One from the Vault

2008-07-14T23:49:00.003+08:00

This is Norm and I outside the Qingdao Brewery on April 10 (originally intended as a videogram to our buddies back home but I don't think they ever saw it).

We skipped lunch and drank beers instead. Good times.

Reasons for getting hitched

2008-07-09T13:58:00.005+08:00

It’s not as exciting as Fight Club, but there’s this thing called “Chat Club” at the school where I teach. Most classes are structured and you have to focus on a particular topic – pets and weather for the lower level classes; business language and interpersonal skills for advanced students. But, there’s no structure for “Chat Club.” I can pick a topic and talk about it for an hour.

On July 4, I taught about the Revolutionary War and typical American holiday celebrations. Yesterday, inspired by a conversation I had with my friend Joy (who is Shanghainese), I chose marriage and started out with the following question:
Why do people get married? The first three reasons were:

1) loneliness

2) wanting to take care of someone and vice versa

3) fear (of what, I'm not sure)

After a solid ten minutes, someone mentioned the word "Love." I thought it was interesting that this was the fourth reason and not the first or second.

It was even more interesting to hear why people have children. Here are the top five:

1) having kids is fun

2) wanting to take care of someone

3) continuing the blood line

4) keep a marriage together (?!?)

5) hope that the next generation can lead a better life

Again, after ten to fifteen minutes of discussion, someone mentioned "Love."

The reasons for having children were much better than the reasons for marriage, but still I was startled, I thought love was the best reason for both.

Shanghai Geography

2008-07-09T13:51:00.002+08:00

Here's a little quiz for you all. I just noticed this today.

In Shanghai, the Consulate of Iran is across the street from:

a) my old apartment building

b) the American Consulate

c) the school where I teach

d) my new apartment building

e) there are over 130 foreign consulates in Shanghai, but Iran does not have one

Our captain also sings

2008-07-06T17:39:00.002+08:00

A bit hot

2008-07-06T17:18:00.004+08:00

It was 87 degrees with 90% humidity today…….at 2 a.m. I took a pee three days ago and haven't had to go since. That’s how rotten it is here.

My t-shirts are soaked. I’ve involuntarily lost five pounds and have considered walking around with an umbrella like the Shanghainese ladies. It is ridiculous. Last winter, I kept hearing stories about the brutal snow storms and ice everyone was experiencing in Philly and especially Chicago. All the while, it never got below 20 in Shanghai and now it is payback. As we speak, weather.com says the temp here is 99 and it feels like 107. Agreed.

To top it all off, there's a nice blanket of smog to coat the air like whip cream covering a chocolate sundae. Delicious. I feel like I'm in a microwave. The sun cooks the city and everyone I work with keeps talking about how it’s almost 40 degrees out. I try to trick myself that they’re talking about Fahrenheit, but then I remember that I’ve been in saunas cooler than this. So, if it's hot where you are, click on this link and just say to yourself: I'm not as hot as Chris (and I never will be).

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/local/CHXX0116?from=recentsearch

Sunday Suzhou Sunday

2008-07-05T00:28:00.005+08:00

I travelled to Suzhou a few days ago with Cuili aka Dingding. It's a smaller town of 5 million (40 minutes by train from Shanghai) and this gives a brief glimpse into what it's like to travel along their canals in a gondola.

I'm Handsome.

2008-07-04T23:58:00.002+08:00

That’s right. Read it again, read it outloud. Yours truly is handsome. I know - I couldn't believe it either.

The news was delivered to me earlier today at work around 1:30pm Shanghai time. Last week, our school video taped one of my classes. I’m not exactly sure why, but I suspect it had something to do with advertising. And again today, they videotaped today's class.

When I asked them why, they said, “It’s because you’re handsome.” I knew I moved here for a reason. Great for the self-esteem + terrible for the ego= a happy 4th of July here in the Wild East. And just to think…I was only wearing an orange DRPA shirt in honor of the holiday (as a segway into my July 4 class, I talked about the Delaware River).

2nd round of pics from the U.S.

2008-06-28T10:19:00.001+08:00

Spit

2008-06-28T07:15:00.002+08:00

I got spit on yesterday by a four year old. Part of me still can’t believe it happened. I was carrying a bag of clothes that had been sitting at my friend Sally’s house for the past six weeks.
It was real soupy out - sun blasting, the humidity about 142% - one of those days where you felt like you were inside a dog’s mouth, ready to pass out.

I saw the little crumb about 30 feet ahead of me, fixing his shoe, but I thought nothing of it. I barely noticed he was there as I walked by, but the same can not be said for his awareness of me. As soon as I got next to him, he took aim and took off down an alley. The next thing I know, there’s foreign saliva on my forearm.

I’d like to say I hunted the kid down, that I found his parents and made them pay Chuck Norris-style....but I didn’t. I was stunned and really it isn't that big of a deal...but it is bizarre. Most of the little kids I see around here are pretty cool – if you pay attention to them, they eat it up; if you take their picture, you’re their best friend. But this kid was different, he had a spur-of-the-moment hidden agenda and I was it.

While I was walking home - sweat on my brow, dribble on my arm - I couldn’t help but think there was an underlying cause behind what he did. Maybe he’s just a bad kid, maybe he spits on everyone. Or, maybe his parents were complaining about foreigners that morning . I'm not really sure.

I get odd glances a lot here. My Chinese teacher told me when the locals stare, it’s out of curiosity. But, sometimes the locals give you that Mr. T Clubber Lang stare like the next words out of their mouths will be “Pain.” And then you say "Go for it" and they smile and say hello.

Or, you say "Nihao, neighbor" and they just stare back, like this is the title fight they’ve been training their whole lives for. In an ideal world, I’d know how to say, “Take it easy, buddy. If you think there are a lot of foreigners here, you should see where I’m from.” Either way, I’m letting it go. If nothing else, I’ve got an off-beat story now about the Chinese Mr. T and his spit.

First set of pics from home

2008-06-27T14:51:00.001+08:00

Back where things make sense

2008-06-25T09:20:00.003+08:00

I’m back now – back where the signs can’t be read and there are more people, cars, and bikes around than you ever knew existed, where babies have a slit in their pants so they can poop on the sidewalk, where the construction never stops, and the authorities call you every few days just to make sure you are who you say you are. Yes, I'm back in the Wild East.

I never really went through culture shock when I came to China in November. It’s such a livable, convenient city that if you only visited Shanghai, you could not say you visited China. It’s not an accurate portrayal of the rest of the country (not that any one city is). But going home, I went through some sort of reverse culture shock – it's like my brother said, “you’ve changed Doogie.” The trip itself was surreal. After thinking about going home for months I was finally back amongst people and faces familiar and getting an idea of what it would really be like to live in Philly again. I spent five weeks there and one in Chicago with trips to D.C., New York and world-famous Conshohocken along the way.

In all, I made it to four Phillies games, my nephew’s T-ball championship, the White House again, two weddings (one of which I was the best man for), a college graduation, a bachelor party, a law school graduation, a sweet 16 party, Mother’s and Father’s Day BBQs, a Broadway play, and a baseball game at Wrigley. In many ways, it was the all-American trip. From Chinese food at an Irish Bar on 2nd street to my first visit to Bartram’s Garden, I took in as much as I could and kept up my Chinese wherever and whenever I could; and so…without further ado, here are some pics.

I'm a spy

2008-05-06T08:20:00.002+08:00

Norm and I at the Qingdao Naval Museum

Desperate

2008-05-06T08:16:00.002+08:00

The desperation of the homeless here is startling. I realize there is a wide income gap in America, but it must be wider in China. Yesterday, I saw a guy driving a brand new Ferrari down an alley next to a man with no legs pushing him along on wheels.

Everyone seems to play a role in society and the most menial of tasks are jobs. It is common to see people selling all kinds of things - sweet potatoes, DVDs, silverware – on the street. While it’s an illegal living, it’s a living and, if nothing else, it shows initiative. So, when I see homelessness here, I can only assume that most of the people are in the direst of straits.

Many of the forms of begging here are similar to that in the U.S., but the key difference is children. About once a week, a child, dirty and poor, asks me for money with his parents or owners nearby. I say owners because some of these children are orphans, bought by adults to beg for money.

A few weeks ago, I saw a child without his parents and it broke my heart. I still get the chills thinking about it. He was young, maybe 12 years old and he had burns all over his body. And I don’t mean cigarette burns. I mean he had a skin graft over his head and his hands were knobby and mangled. He looked like he belonged in a burn unit or intensive care or physical therapy. But, here he was, on the subway, asking people for loose change. So, we gave him a couple kuai and he moved on.

I think about this often and now I realize that it’s tough to be poor in a developed country like America, where at least there is an established infrastructure to help the needy. However, being disabled or poor in a developing country like China takes desperation to a new level.

"Sleeping" on the Boat

2008-05-05T17:31:00.004+08:00

It was a symphony of the worst kind on the overnight boat ride from Dalian to Yantai. These guys, especially the one on the left, put Boog to shame (and that is saying a lot).

Dreaming

2008-05-05T17:16:00.002+08:00

Back in January, I woke up newspaper-delivery early to watch the AFC Championship at an expatriate bar, the Big Bamboo. At 4:00 a.m., the streets were about as desolate as I’ve seen them. It was my first realization that the millions of people I see during the day really do sleep. It was an odd sight and, for a brief instant, I feel like Tom Hanks in Castaway – but at least he had Wilson.

I’m walking through a fine mist that coincides with the constant moisture in the air here. Aside from my visible breath, there are few companions around and the sun hasn’t begun to think about rising.

As I near what I think is the address, the voice of Jim Nantz begins to echo down the street. It’s music to my ears. It’s also four minutes into the game and the Patriots are not winning yet. Matt, my teaching colleague, and I inch our table closer to the guys smoking cigarettes. Cigars or cigarettes - make your choice because you can’t have both. And it dawns on me that Shanghai is probably 25 years away from passing smokeless provisions.

It feels odd to be watching the game “live” as it feels taped. The audio setup and video images interchange between high definition, being in sync, black and white, to crazy internet feed. I glance out the window find an odd mixture of people on the streets – the many Chinese caught up in the early morning twilight next to prostitutes waiting for the foreigners to leave the bar.

A guy with a Donovan McNabb jersey strolls in during the 2nd half. He’s originally from Upper Darby and is opening a Mexican restaurant here soon. I haven’t seen the guy since. But meeting him is a good metaphor for the type of foreigners you meet here – quickly coming or going, and dreaming a big dream.

Lately, I’ve been dreaming about my family and cheese steaks. Both are about to come true.

Slow boat to China (and from)

2008-05-05T10:44:00.003+08:00

This is a short clip of our boat trip from Dalian to Yantai last month. Get a load of the Chinese over the loud speaker at the beginning -- WELCOME TO MY WORLD.

Quick Chinese Lesson

2008-05-05T10:14:00.003+08:00

谢谢不要担心
我知道回家之前
你会比较忙碌

I got this text message from one of my students yesterday. I told her I was going to send her some English grammar exercises and she replied. Her message above says:

"Thanks, don't worry about it. (Xie xie, bu yao dan xin)
I know before you return home (Wo zhi dao hui jia zhi qian)
you are comparably busy." (Ni hui bi jiao mang lu)

It took me a solid hour to look up the words I didn't know, but it felt good once I knew what was being said. When you look up a word in a Chinese dictionary, you have to know the number of strokes in the character and which stroke comes first. It takes practice.

In this respect, learning Chinese makes me feel like a kid again. The terminology is new and completing the simplest task is something to be proud of. One of the (many) significant differences between English and Chinese is the tones - you have to master them through practice, but once you do, you can get your point across.

Dandong, Dalian, Yantai, Qingdao

2008-04-18T10:44:00.001+08:00

Yantai and Qingdao

2008-04-18T09:54:00.003+08:00

Yantai

We arrived at 3am and checked into a hotel with no hot water. The front desk told me the hot water would be ready on Friday, two days after we'd left - Sweet! When I plugged my camera battery charger into the wall, the electricity went out.

The hotel room was an appropriate metaphor for the city. It was clean and quaint, but there wasn't much to see so we visited the coastline and took some funny pictures before having lunch near the Yellow Sea. It was refreshing to breath the ocean air instead of the smog-ridden stuff in Shanghai that gives me grey boogers.

Qingdao

Churches - We visited a Protestant Church, which was built by the Germans in 1908, and a Catholic Church, St. Michael's, which was finished in 1934. The inside had ornate pictures of Jesus and St. Teresa along with confessionals which gave new meaning to the term "open." This is only the second Catholic Church I've seen in my limited China travels.

Brewery - Qingdao is the most popular beer in China. The brand was started here by the Germans in 1903. We checked out the hops bins, mixed it up with some of the mannequins, and drank beer at the end of the tour. Good times.

Naval Museum - consisted of a Chinese-made submarine that was put into service in the 1970s but retired a few years ago and is now being worked on (see pics). We also checked out Russian-made naval ships and aircraft, which were sold to the Chinese many years ago. From what I understand, the airplane designs are similar to American designs because the Russians copied us.

Lighthouse - At the end of a narrow pier, there's a lighthouse overlooking Qingdao Bay and the Yellow Sea. Pieces of it were under construction, but we climbed to the top and made our way into the open air for a few minutes and shot a quick video. Then we walked to a nearby park and drank 40s of Qingdao (Marconi-style).

Zhan Bridge and Huilian Pavilion - The bridge isn't actually a bridge. Instead, it's a long narrow pier that extends into Qingdao Bay. It reminded me of being down the Jersey shore as a kid. There were lots of people out for a casual stroll, playing cards, selling nick-knacks, and asking Americans to have their picture taken with them.

The Liaoning and Shandong Provinces

2008-04-16T10:28:00.001+08:00

Northeast China Pics

2008-04-15T19:52:00.006+08:00

I'm about to post pics from last week's trip with Norm. Here are some highlights:

Dandong

The airport was so small we doubled-back after landing in order to make our way to the terminal.
Ate dinner at a North Korean restuarant a few blocks from the border - the waitresses were a little taken back when they saw us, but we stayed here a few hours and chatted with them. Some of them spoke about as much Mandarin as I do.
Climbed the Great Wall at Tiger Mountain on Tuesday morning
Museum to Commemorate US Aggression in the Korean War - the building was a fascinating collection of propaganda and one-sidedness, it even went as far as to not mention Russian involvement in the war (which was quite substantial). I left here feeling prouder than ever to be an American.

Dalian

Known as "China's most livable city," we were here for only a couple hours between bus/boat travels, but I got a good feel from the city and would like to return sometime.
We ate seafood at the docks and caught a 6 hour overnight boat to Yantai, which is across the Yellow Sea

Clip from the Wall

2008-04-13T15:28:00.002+08:00

This is where we were:

http://english.dandong.gov.cn/

Norm returns to America

2008-04-13T15:13:00.002+08:00

As we speak, Norm is sitting at Pudong airport awaiting his flight back to Atlanta. It was a fun visit that saw us cover five cities in nine days: Dalian, Yantai, Dandong, Qingdao, and of course...Shanghai. My favorite part of the trip was somewhere between entertaining the waitresses at a North Korean restaurant, seeing the Great Wall, crossing a foot bridge ala Indiana Jones, climbing to the top of a lighthouse in Qingdqao, singing karaoke, or the six-hour boat ride from to Yantai.

2nd video from the Dunhuang Sand Dunes

2008-04-06T21:29:00.003+08:00

This is another short video from the Dunhuang Sand Mountains near the Gobi Desert on March 22.

Don't lean back in your chair!

2008-04-05T08:08:00.006+08:00

Rachel and I were walking around Lanzhou when we found this restaurant located next to a cliff. It's popular in the summertime, but I imagine you'd have to be pretty desperate for a seat to end up here.