Die Hard

"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

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).

Penglai & Yantai

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'

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...

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.