Stay Tuned

Hello everyone.
Last night I got back from my vacation with Ang. I took many pictures that I will soon post. So stay tuned....

We had an awesome time, we had a couple soft beds, lots of good food, a little shopping..... it was fun.


Check back soon!

A week's vacation spent in Chanxing...

Hello friends and family and fans!

It's been too long I know. I haven't been writting much lately because I haven't been doing too many excting things (well out of the ordinary of Changxing-life anyways). I just had my May Holiday break last week. It was China's Laor Day, so most people in China get a week off to relax and be with their families. Most people will travel and the such for the week. However last week I spent a lot of time getting to know my home town (current home anyways).

I spent a lot of time lounging around the city's tea houses, parks, and riding my scooter all over H-E-double-hockey-sticks. I read a lot and actually got pretty tied up in a C.S. Lewis book about space and aliens other nerdy things like that. I had originally planned to head to Beijing to see the Great Wall, however it would have been extremely expensive, and I'm sure that last week the population of Beijing at least doubled. Then I thought of just hopping on a bus/train and heading South... but I would have spent just as much money going from place to place. SO I saved money, and relaxed. PLUS in just about a week... the prettiest lady that I know of will be visiting me for 2 weeks.

I guess you could say that I saved all of my energy for this highly anticipated visit from my mei nu. We will be going to Suzhou, Hangzhou, Guilin, and then Shanghai for a couple of days. Guilin is the big part of the trip. We are flying there, I bought the ticktes on the Friday of my break. Here are some pictures of Guilin! If you click on the pictures you can see more than what's initially shown. There are some beautiful small towns surrounding Gulin that I think we will stay in instead of the city. This area is supposed to be one of the 3 heavens-on-earth of China. I really can't wait.

OK so last week I took a few pictures of Changxing and the surrounding areas. The following one's made the blog-cut. I rode my scooter for about 45 minutes into the country... and it's amazing how much fresher the air is outside of the cities and how much sweeter everything smells. I'm not just saying that either... the air had a flowery and fruity smell to it; it was great.

I saw this huge outcrop of the hills while I was leaving Changxing, so I drove towards it. I had to drive down this very plush road (the trees you see are ginko trees i believe) and came upon a very small little village at the foot of this massive rock. I didn't go any further than this, but I liked this spot. Its only about 10 minutes from my school--on the scooter.

Lonesome houses in the woods... there wasn't too much around these parts. Just the sporadic cluster of a few homes every 2-3 miles or so. Very quiet and peaceful.

Some more shots of distant hills.... I would need the old 4-wheeler to reach these ones. My hog isn't too well equipped to take the hills and mud.

This is a park right around the corner from my school. I come here a lot to walk around and relax after classes. Usually I will see some of my students playing around the fountain (that you cant see), or causing other trouble that their parents wouldn't approve of.

This is where I was reading...

This is to the left of where I was reading. During the May Holiday a lot of couples will plan weddings because it's one of the few times out of the year that they have no work. This day I saw about 10 different couples in the park getting pictures taken. A few of the couples had their pictures taken on that bridge, or in front of the flowers near me. And then they'd venture my way and take pictures of the foreigner reading in the grass. THEN they'd ask me to pose with the husband or the wife or both for a picture with them. This happened like 4 times! One guy looked at me after he took pictures and says: "Mary is not for you." Then he laughed! So I was thinking about it.... cuz at first I thought he meant the bride was not for me, which i just kinda shrugged off as a joke. But then I realized that there is about an 8% chance of that Chinese bride's name being Mary. So maybe he said: "Marry is not for you." So in broken English this guy was telling me that I'm not marriage material! Maybe....I don't know what he meant. It's a mystery.... I thought it was funny though.

This is a closer shot of that bridge that I was sitting near. Green is everywhere, and this park also smells nice because of all of the trees.


Ok so that was my break. It was pretty uneventful, but it was some good solid alone time. I enjoyed myself for the most part. I got to explore my city, I got a haircut, I shaved, I ate some good food, I watched a few movies (OK a lot of movies) and now I'm just anticipating the arrival of my lady. I'll keep you posted about our Guilin trip.

Batei!

KIDS

The last 2 days my 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders had no classes because we had a "Sports Competition." It was similar to the field days that we used to have in school... except more competitive. So I found a little spot in the shade and enjoyed the sun. I got some great pictures.

It was about 80-85 yesterday, and about 75 the day before. So it was very hot, and the kids were dripping sweat. Some took their sweaters off, but most of them did not.... I still don't understand this. Oh well!

This was what it looked like from my seat. No nosebleed seats here!

This was the 1st day. LOTS of kids EVERYWHERE!

A few of my students who found my little spot in the shade...

These kids had better equipment than I did. They were taking pictures of the foreigner.

These girls were trying to hide from my camera...

This girl speaks very good English. And when I ask her how she is... it is always "I am very very good." She sat with me in the shade because she was "very very VERY hot!" She's awesome.

Hellraisers...

She didn't want her picture taken and was running from the camera....

but my very very good friend and I finally got her!

This is one of my 4th grade students.... I like him. 2 days ago I caught him dancing up a little jig in the hall when he thought no one was watching. Funny little dude.

I like this picture.

The girl with the camera may be my favorite student. Sweetest girl, and a really good student. She will be travelling to NYC this summer with her father. I know this because she tells me 3 times a week!

Some of my favorite students. Starting from the left: the half face boy's English name is Kobe, and he LOVES basketball; the girl with the crazy hat on is ALWAYS smiling or laughing; the boy to her left is notorious for challenging me to Kung Fu matches whenever I see him, I call him hyper kid; and the rest are just plain nuts!

Hyper kid next to me there. He's a cool little cat.


This guy was comparing his muscles with everyone. Then he pulled his pants up like Steve Urkle, and was walking around flexing for the teachers around me. Future entertainers everywhere!

That's it! It was fun and the kids were all having a blast. Those are the animals I put up with every day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hangzhou II, Home, Huzhou, and a bunch of Hoodlums

Updates! Pictures! Yeaaaa!

A lot has happened in the last few weeks, most of you already know the deal so I will spare you. But from all of this I have gained a new place to eat on Sunday afternoons..... Edward's parents! They think that I'm SO charming, and SUCH a nice man, that they've invited me to eat lunch with them EVERY Sunday after I have class. How awesome is that??

For those of you who know me (even a little), know that I have never once given up the chance to eat a free home-cooked meal (and I say that with complete confidence in my accuracy). Edward's father plays Mr. Mom because his mother is a very influential teacher in the Changxing area, and works often. His Dad makes some killer pork-meatballs, babmboo shoots, salted pork, and yes, my favorite, bull's stomach (which only tastes good with a lot of soy sauce, white rice, and a quick swig of watered down beer). They are very hospitable people, and I get to see the creators of the monster that we all know as Edward (Mr. Quien (pr. chen)).

So yes, things work out no matter what. Unless you don't let them... then most things will seem hopeless. This situation has worked out for me in the best way possible. I hope!

So pictures it is!...

Park In Hangzhou....Lots of green everywhere. Spring in this part is very lovely... unless of course you are near a big smoke stack and/or one of the hundreds of battery factories located within 10 miles of Changxing.

Nice view of a distant Temple that we visited.

This is the market that we visited in Hangzhou.

Small village near some hills that we hiked around. This was close to the temple.

Old stone carving of a Buddah. I liked this temple more than the Wu Xi one because these stone carvings are MANY years old, and they are made of REAL stone. I was very impressed.

Inside a cave where there are many old carvings lining the walls. I rubbed one of their hands for good fortune (it is said to bring you fortune if you rub it 3 times). Keep your fingers crossed!

One of the openings into the cavern. This cave had a lot of jade in it... i forgot my chisle and hammer... nards!

Another carving of a fat Buddah. I think there are about 350 of these statues around the area of the temple. They're neat!

View from the top of a hill we hiked. Very nice..... wish you all could see the panoramic view.

More from the same spot...

Good ol' China! You can always count on seeing trash in a beautiful place.... this was one of many. It makes me angry! Therer is this beautiful hiking area where you have thousands of tourists per month.... and you can still count on seeing TONS of trash in at least 5 different parts of the place. Insane....

Yea its sideways.... but this is me chillin' out with the man himself.

This is a very famous carving. Pretty big and fat and happy looking Buddah. I like this one.

This is a walkway going through the temple yard.

Another small Garden. Very green as I mentione before.

Monks in the background just leaving prayer. I got to see it, but no pictures... I felt it was being a little disrespectful. That's Owen looking at something....

Those are little animals (fake of course) on the roof peak... i thought they were cool...

This is the Buddah that watches over these hills. The hills were said to have flown there (in an old legend), and this is the keeper of the mountain. Kinda qwirky lookin fellow. He would be fun to take to the Sportsmen's Tavern!

I just liked this shot. Top of a pagoda statue.

Shot of a small pond. I dont know if the water's supposed to be this color.... but it looked nice.


The following pictures are of two weeks ago when we walked from Tai Hu to this small little village and hopped on a bus back to town. It was a very nice afternoon. Hot as hell tho. We found a cool little boat house restaurant and had a couple of beers... then proceeded to the said small village and got to see how 90% of Chinese people live. Very simply. It was nice.
This is a shot of the village as we were waking up to it from the lake.

Can you guess what these are?? It may look gross but they're actually very popular and very tasty..... can ya guess???...

They are actually bamboo shoots... this is how they're dried. Nearly every meal you have in China contains some sort of bamboo shoot dish. I love them. They have a fresh taste to them... anyone who's ever had them will know what I mean.

Shot of the village as we entered from the main bridge.

Brit and her buds from Hangzhou walking through the streets of this little village.

This is waiting for the bus to come. What you see are green houses. A lot of them had some form of eggplant... much skinnier than the one's I am used to seeing at home.

The following shots are of my first couple of weeks in Changxing. Not all of my pictures but just to give you a taste.
Gambay! This literally means "To the bottom," which translates in English to "Chug IT!!" However this is a typical "Cheers" in China. SO, at most dinners we get drunk because you will chug maybe 5 glasses of beer (pi joe), red wine (hong joe), or white wine (bai joe (which could be compared to moonshine, or kerosene!!..... very very strong)). That is Edward sitting next to me, and some of the administrators at my school.... all of which were at least buzzed in the photo. I think I was drunk... I tried some bai joe....

The little dudes and dudettes at their morning exercises. Every morning at 9 I wake up to a man shouting at the kids to do jumping jacks, and other things in Chinese. I fear that one day I will wake up to the military shouting commands to troops outside my window and wont think anything of it until its too late... it would make a good story anyways!

This is my appt building. I live on the Top floor closest to the front.

These are some hills and a park right around the corner from me at sunset. Very nice and clean park.

Edward actin' a fool!

Edward and I in the teacher's office. I was getting revenge on his bunny ear attack on me in the first days of China living.... Take that bastard!

Last week they had basketball tournaments at our school with other primary schools in the area. It went on for about a week. Some pretty good ball players around here.

Kids flying kites during P.E. class. I think this was the only kite that I saw take flight. The other's would just find themselves divebombing another student.

This is a restaurant that I go to often where they make fresh noodles for you. I can spend 4Yuan ($.50) and get a heaping bowl of noodles and pork/beef.

Making the noodles.

Stretching the dough out...

This littlel dude was showing me his skills. He felt that daddy was getting too much attention.


Last weekend Jim, Owen, Jaer, and myself went to Huzhou. Huzhou is a city about 30 minutes away where you can go shop and eat some good food... both western and Chinese. Its a cheap day trip.This guy's kite was the highest in the park. He was pumped...

Kids looking at some baby chicks. I think mom was more excited about the picture than the little one. Then again I wasn't yellow and feathery. Can't win 'em all!

Now this is a brick carrier. I hope my boss doesn't get any ideas from this one....

This is a huge beautiful tree in the middle of a construction zone... just a bit ironic, because I'm sure that there will be a mall here or some huge smoke stack...

Feiying Temple. We went there...

Sorry, I dont feel like editing these photos. However here's the temple a little closer. Those are the foreigners walking at me.

Mushroom looking statues with carvings on them. I dont wanna hear any jokes about this one...
Small pond in the park where people were canoeing in.

A building across the pond. Nothing too exciting...

Garbage!!!

Shot of the park limits.

Block housing. Virtually every person in a city lives in this form of complex. No houses in cities really... or very few at least.

River along the silk trail. Pretty.... but the water's a little contaminated here.

I found onion rings!! They were perfect looking!! Quingdao (sp?) Beer too! It is one of China's premier lagers.

And that's that! I'v been having lots of fun here. I've been very busy, but it's a great experience so far. I will try to update the blog more often so I dont have a 60 page entry every month. However my traveling will be a little limited so I will do my best.

Gambay!