This was quite a hiarious photo taken a few days ago downtown, near the train station. We were walking to the bus station and we were stopped by this guy who asked if he could take a picture with me. I said sure and he posed with me, only he didn't have a camera at all. He wanted to have his picture with me and my camera. It was pretty classic and Marc and I got a good laugh out of it after we left.
Afterall, "This is China".








A view of the campus from the Library. Special note on the Chinese Communist flag flying high.
As you can see, the weather has improved greatly over the last several days.











The pride of Chenzhou, the Women's Volleyball team is shown here in a series of statues. This is taken is Yongting park, in the middle of the city. It is a very nice place and I have had the pleasure of going to this park twice now, with different people. They always have different parts which they enjoy.











As you can see I was the captain of one of the ships that sailed around the lake. It was 60 rmb for a 45 minute ride for two boats across the lake, which is about 8 dollars. The girl in the background is one of the students who translates for us to the street merchants and such. Read more!

Very tired today, so this post is more than likely not going to be very comprehensive. Yesterday was one of the best days of my time here in China, if not for the last decade! I can't explain why it was such a great day, other than the fact that we managed to laugh heartily thoughout that entire day. Four teachers, which turned into six by the end of the night--two students, which turned into four --all as we wandered the streets of Chenzhou.
Yesterday was Teachers Day, which is usually a celebration celebrated during the week--but this time it happened to fall on the weekend and it also was the opening night of the International Diving Compititon here in the city, which has the city looking its best. The main sqaure was showing a bootlegged copy of Mr. and Mrs. Smith on a jumbo-vison screen. 10's of thousands of people were in the square, all enjoying themselves immensly. We were followed by a large crowd of curious onlookers --three white people and one philipino all walking together through the square was quite the site to these people.
So much to talk about, but so little energy. Today one of our young guides took Claire and I up to the top of a the big mountain in the city--at the top is a monastery that is huge. I am posting pictures of those tonight.. 2,888 steps to the top--so my legs are killing me, but it was totally worth it. Such a beautiful place, but not peaceful in the least bit. Fireworks were for sale throughout the area and they were constantly being blown off here and there--just amazing actually. You look at such a beautiful place--a buddist monastery with such rich design and a simply amazing view and people just want to blow shit up.
But, as I remind myself daily--"This is China."
Anyway, I have to teach tommorow and this computer has a virus that I have been working on for the last several hours, so I am going to sign off a little short--much to tell, but no energy. Looking forward to the next week-should be a hoot.
Lots of pictures too... Read more!

and you thought college food sucked...

The last couple of days have been entertaining at some points, boring as hell at other points.
Yesterday in particular was an interesting day. I decided to call my neighbor and see if he was interested in going into town to get some things taken care of.
The most important item on the agenda was trying to get this sim card issue resolved with t-mobile, my cell carrier in the United States. Before I left for China, I made sure to have a nice conversation with t-mobile to see what I needed to do to make sure that my phone worked in China. I gave them two scenarios- A) That I would like to recieve calls on my mobile phone from the US. No problem there--my phone works perfectly. If you call my old phone from the United States, it connects if I have that sim card inserted into the phone. B) I was going to purchase another sim card here in China to use for business, when I am lost, etc. Everyone has a cell here and it is cheap to run one in the country--most calls costing 1/8 of a penny. No voicemail.
We began the journey by stopping for lunch in the city--I suggested KFC because at that particular moment for no particular reason, I was tired of the Chinese food and wanted to see if the Colonial made his magic grease and sodium concoction in the same regard in Asia as it is in the U.S. I am happy to report that in fact it only bears a slight resemblance to what we know--if the 11 herbs and spices are there, the Chinese palette has added a few others to give it a more authentic Asian junk food flavor. The worst offender was the cheaper chicken sandwich, which, for the record, contained what appeared to be shredded carrots and peas--in the meat patty. Lovely. The original chicken sandwich looked much better except for the mayo, which was spread on like drywall. Big globs of mayo oozed out of the back of the bun as my friends lips were squirted with the paste. Mmm, scrumptious. The mashed potatoes and gravy were about the same, but the meat gravy was runny and made the potato turn into a dark soup upon mixing. By far the biggest disappointment was the realization that the key menu item of KFC, the cole slaw was not even on the menu. Tragic.
We finished rather quickly--our disappointment led to a hasty retreat.
As we departed, it was time to find out how to resolve the issue I was indeed having with the cell phone. The problem is that Tmobile and the other American carriers like to lock your phone so that only one sim works in that phone at any given time. As previously noted, I asked them about this and got the good ole--No problem, Mr. Hogg, your phone will be ready to work without any problems! I get here to China and what happens?
When in doubt, find a Chinese chop shop to take care of it. For 60rmb or about 8 bucks, they would hook it up to a machine and break the coding on the device to make the phone work again. To make this already long story short, we searched and searched for someone that would be able to make it happen, but no one knew what it was that we were trying to do. We went from shady shop to shady shop--the cell phone graveyards and junkyards of the orient, in search of someone who knew who to jump the phone to break the unlocking mystery of the TMOBILE.
We literally spent hours looking for the right people until finally the sun was setting and we decided to call it a day and catch the #22 bus back to the University, admitting defeat for all to witness. I decided to give it one more shot as we were waiting for the bus and went into another shop. We were met by a guy that spoke some English and he knew what we were attempting to do, but he couldn't make it happen-he directed us to another shop and told us he would take us there. We followed this kid through a mirage of shops, going upstairs and then back down, all looking for what would later come to be the "guy". We finally found him--a kid of no more than 17, cross eyed in American polo shirt. He looked at me and smiled and said the Chinese word for American. I nodded and he smiled and immediately took us into the back where a team of young kids were all working on cell phones--they were appretinces. We found the Trump of the organization--a small Asian man with a boyish like face who looked to be in his late 30's. The dialogue began to go back and forth in the loud tone that the Chinese use when conducting business. Nodding and stomping surrounds us--the technician manages a smile toward me and takes the phone ands says in a polite tone, 60.
I nod, but not like a tourist--its cheap, but there is no need to let him know this.
The waiting begins.
He works like a surgeon preped for surgery, sans cigarette hanging from his mouth as he opens up his next patient. Moments later the phone is apart-a collage of various parts strewn across the table--he is on his third cigarette as he begins what will be a regular occurrence for the next hour--he shakes his head as he looks at the board, like it was not even created on this planet.
In end, one and a half hours later, he finally gives up and hands me back my 6rmb and shakes his hands much like an orangutan once did at the Buffalo Zoo when I was a child.
We leave, our heads hung in shame. We had such hope in this man, but it was all for none.
Upon arrival back at the flat, I discover that my flat has also flooded--in the bedroom a bit and tidewater in the bathroom. As we were walking up the stairs to the flat, one of my new students comes running out of the affairs office, asks me to sit down. Immediately I know that something is amiss. Although the Chinese are strong believers in rest, this was taking it too far to be a cordial thing.
"What is the problem?"
"What is the--problem?" she asks me right back again.
"The problem--what is wrong?"
"What is--Oh! What is wrong! Your flat Mr. Tim, your flat is flooded! Look!"
She takes me into the backroom, into the spot where their bathroom is and shows me an almost constant leaking coming from their ceiling. I gasp. Thoughts of the revenge of Katrina surf through my mind. My own little tsumani might be upstairs. I start thinking about what I have left on the floor. My feet begin traveling faster than my head-- I sprint up the stairs, unlock the door, waiting for the rush of water to engulf us.
It doesn't.
There is, however, the sound of running water somewhere in the flat and it is rushing briskly. The little Chinese girl, very cute, begins to freak out at the sound.
"Mr. Tim, that is the running water. Where is it?"
Suddenly, I feel like Indiana Jones on a quest. We tiptoe in order to not disturb the leaky pipe. The levee seems to have held as we arrive at the bathroom and discover an inch of water, about ready to leak all over the carpet. Had we stopped for dinner, my things would have been lost (or washed).
When we discover the accident, my friend shrieks at the water level and jumps into the water to try to shut if off. She looks back at me when she realizes that the leak is there, but the source is somewhere else.
"Mr. Tim, look in your western style bathroom! There is a --how do you say? knob in there!"
I am stuck on the knob comment. What kind of knob? She sees my philosophical look at runs into the bathroom and turns the VALVE (or knob) off and lets out a little sigh.
We call my employer, Mr. Bob, who comes right over and has the same reaction that the girl did--like they are amazed that something like this could have happened. I nod and smile. Sometimes people seem to forget-- "This is China." Read more!

The Flat....

So, here the are-- A few pictures of the flat that I spend most of my time in. It is nicer in person than I think it appears in these pictures, but for free, you can't complain all that much....
This is the couch, which has the arm rests that fold down, very nice for us tall westerners. My sleeping bag snuck into the picture.
You can also see the computer that I am typing on right now as well.







A view from the other side--
As you can see, the fridge with the chinese ad, the nice drapes to keep the light from shining outside so that the bugs dont find my deck to hang out on all night-- the side view of the plasma tv.














Ahhh, the kitchen. Simple, chinese kitchen, complete with stains on the sides from the upstairs. Very small, cluttered space, takes some getting used to, but I bought that nice new wok featured in the picture and it works very well. The heat source is below in those propane tanks. Again, it looks much better than it is.

Another profile of the living room-- lovely. I decided to also include my current dvd collection so that you could see some of the items that we get here. Again, all of these dvds are mint quality for about $7.50 for them all. Still cant believe its that cheap!





















Read more!

First day of teaching!

I awoke this morning to the knowledge that it would be my first day teaching English to non-speaking students. I will admit that I did not prepare much for the class this morning because the textbook that I was given, English for Secretary, was quite silly. The dean and the other teachers, all Chinese also thought that this book was ridiculous and they said that I could teach whatever I chose to. Teaching is not easy work, especially when there are more than 50 students who are listening closely to everyword that you say to them. I was a little nervous walking to the building this morning because I did not prepare a structured assignment for the students and I did not have any idea of how basic or advanced their knowledge of the language was. Upon arrival to the facility, I quickly came into contact with Apple, who is the acting dean of this particular department. She is a sweet, older women with a very pleasant disposition. She immediatly gave me some green tea, both a very expensive kind from another province, which is supposidly world famous and another loose green tea which she enjoys as well. Over tea, she explained to me that many students had come to her in the last couple of days and asked her if they were going to be taught by the American, as if I am some sort of teaching professional, known in many countries! She said that her department was very pleased to have someone such as myself teaching for them and it was truly and honor for them. I felt myself blushing at all of the admiration, especially since they had yet to see how I could teach. These compliments set me at ease with what I was doing as we sat in her office sipping green tea and waiting for the moment where the school bell would toll and I would walk up to room 311 and begin my new life as a teacher.

To my surprise, Bob, or Zhifeng Chen, the guy from foreign affairs that intially offered me the position, also came to the classroom to watch me teach the class--along with Dean Apple, another dean from another one of the colleges as well as 4 teachers in this different section of the English department. So not only did I have to impress some 50 students, but 7 collegues of mine.
As the bell rang, I felt a strong burst of energy. Game on. We walked briskly up to the classroom and waited for the students to settle in. One of the other teachers forged on ahead, they wanted to annouce me to the rest of the class. I sat back, the moments speeding up, heart picking up speed as he annouced in his strong Chinese tone, blah blah blah blah Mr. Tim, America, blah blah blah and Dean Apple gave me the nod--
Thunderous applause rings out from inside of the room, these are not the college kids that I know or once was. Smiles beaming from their faces, they look at me with wonderment as I enter the room. The gasp at the fair complexion of my skin, my large frame jetting outwards in front of them as I make my way to the podium standing a few feet from my audience. They are here to hear what I have to say, what I have to teach them.
And it feels so good.

For the first time in several years, it feels good to be an American. Here politics do not matter as much as politeness does. A smile cures a thousand ailments, hapiness abounds in these lovely people. For 100 minutes today, we laughed at each others lack of understanding but applauded ourselves at what we able to overcome. I had prepared something, so after my slight intro we went into their introductions, which took up the entire class period. I had each of them write down their favorite English word and one by one, had them recite it back to me. As each student was selcted, they would stand up and say what their name in Chinese, if they had an English name, they would say what that was and then they would say their favorite word and then why it is their favorite.
Simple enough, but it produced awesome results. Some were shy, some were cordial, but all were willing to give it a shot and the students worked with each other to help them pronouce the different words--a very different enviroment than the American experience which is so competitive. There was no calling people stupid or shy, just a real willingness to help each other understand the language.

Following the lesson, I was taken out for a special lunch by bob and some of the other teachers. We went to the student "canteen", where we enjoyed Dumplings (my new fav) and peejo (beer). It was a celebration of my lesson. Each teacher could not stop expressing how very proud and happy they were of my lesson and how well the students actually responded. Many times throughout the 1.5 hour long meal they commented on how I did better than expected. I always grow a little suspect when people make comments such as this, but with these people I know that they have the best intentions. Many beers later, I bid them fairwell and made my way back to my flat, another major feat accomplished.

This is the freshman registration booth, located in the center of campus. Thus far, 8,000 new students have registered for the fall term. I have some better shots of the Unversity than this one, which I will post following this one.













Another shot of me teaching. These were taken by Bob.















My first class of students! Hard to beleive, but these are all sophomores!

At the end of class, I asked the students if they had any questions that they would like to ask me.
I was expecting what sports do you like? Are you married?
But no. The first question was:
Do you believe in God?
Without giving my answer ( I don't remember exactly what I said, but it was a perfect PR way to answer it) I would like to point out that China the official religion of China is atheist, so with that I knowledge, I attempted to give as rational an answer as possible. Read more!

I hope that you are all enjoy this documentation, I am having a blast using this a way to get my ideas floating forward.
Tommorow will be my first day as a teacher here at the University. I am looking forward to it, although I am feeling ill--have been for the last several days. I think my body is adjusting to the humidty and heat and the weather change has been quite constant in its changes.
I am not teaching the actual English majors tommorow, but rather the GER students who are pursuing a degree in something other than english, so their english is pretty bad, but I will manage...

I discovered that eyeglasses here are between 6-30 dollars for really nice frames.
"This is China". Read more!

I think that I might have mentioned the Mooncake craze here in good old China--the festival is coming up within a couple of weeks and these different displays of what I call the mooncake madness is the heart of tourism in the area. The actual festival is down in Hong Kong--the lantern festival.
I keep thinking it might be a good idea to send one of these home as a gift--then I tasted one. Not for the western palette--let's just say that.
The outside of the cake is fine, a thicker cake like batter, golden brown and very sweet, but the inside is a giant goop, crystalized complex sugar mimicking whatever flavor it is supposed to be--the worst tasted thus far was what my translator called, green tea cake. Not so good. The smaller mini cakes that have much more batter than filling are decent, but not worthy of the high price.








This could be considered the largest mooncake in the city--which is in a place which boasts that it is an American Cake House.
Which begs me to ask you, when you think of an American Cake House, what do you think of?
IHOP? Krispy Kreme?
Well, lets just say that this place doesn't serve pancakes or donuts, but cavity causing sweet breads with mystery flavors to suite any palette and the mookcakes, well, the queen bee seems to be housed here.
This moon cake fetches a whopping 3800 rmb, which is a mere $475 US. This is about what I am making per month here (as my base) and it is about what the majority of Chinese make in 6 months time.
The design is cool and all, but $475?


Welcome to Joindoon! I really need to take pictures of these places inside, but I dont want to freak these people out when I pull out the camera to show my friends back home all the wierd and wild stuff they eat here in the PRC. Let me just say that I saw a butcher gut a dove this afternoon and offer it to me. Now I am trying to be as polite as possible, but I just have no use for a Dove for dinner.

The woman in the green is one of my collegues where I will be teaching tommorow morning. She is a very sweet woman who demanded that her husband drive us around throughout the day. She took us to eat at this simply wonderful dumpling house, just down the way from the McDonalds and the food was delicious, but the food just kept coming and coming and coming--- between four people we must have eaten easily more than 60 dumplings. Best food I have had yet, except for this lovely soup I cooked last night. The other person standing next to her with the white shirt and not dressed like a group of mormons is Marc, the Phillipino gentleman I mentioned earlier in my blog.


Yet another example of the crazy mooncake craze that has plagued this nation like SARS.














Moments like this are what is essentially China. Crazy streets with everymode of transport attempting to share the pathway with one another. I love pictures like this because it shows how insane and totally choatic it is here. China is where old habits die hard and the country is builing and moving at record rates. This town of 375,000 was not around 10years ago. The University I am teaching at wasn't here 5 years ago, but it was 5 different colleges that they made into this one campus, etched ever so slightly into a mountain side.
As they say here whenever I express my amazement of things---"This is China". Read more!

The first day of school in Chenzhou

...and I am not teaching.
There is a national diving competition here in the city and most of the decision makers in the University are more concerned about this than what classes to assign to the English teachers, so Mr. Happy informed us yesterday that we all dismissed for the week, so I have a 10 day vacation!
I had originally intended to go to Hong Kong, but I cannot as my resident permit is not even close to being complete, which means I cannot leave the country and Hong Kong is just governed by China, so it's a no go. Instead, I am seriously considering making the pilgrimage to Beiijing for a few days. It is a whopping 16 hour train ride, but I am ready to see this country! It is a whopping 750rmb for a sleeping coach roundtrip-- $93.75 in US for 32 hours on the train--not a bad price at all. The train leaves from Chenzhou and I will depart either tommorow evening or wednesday morning, depending on if I can get others to go.

Anyhow, it is time to get the day going. I finally discovered that they do sell my cell phone charger here in the city, so I am going to go hunt for it, get a sim card and see what else there is to do.






Here are some picture I have been trying to upload for the last week, but with little success. These are two students who accompanied me to the city the first time I went. They were very honored to be taking their teacher to the city for an adventure unlike any other.










Remember these pictures of me at this weight--I think I have already dropped 10lbs in this humidity!
















This was a great shot. Most of the college girls here arent like they are in America! The idea of Girls Gone Wild in Asia is taking them for a ride on the Ferris Wheel!
These girls, like many other women here, do not know how to swim, have never been on a Ferris Wheel!!! I took them on an old, broken down ferris wheel in the park and the about peed their pants--it was quite amusing.
I offered to also teach them to swim for $50rmb per hour!

Anyway, I am off to the City!












Read more!

Boeing Strike, New Orleans

Although I had an exciting day here in good old China, I must comment on the other major things happening on the homeland this evening.
First of all, reading all of the things going on with New Orleans and the rest of the Mississippi Delta makes me feel ill. It is just terrible that something so tragic had to happen in such a poor area of the world, a place that I have visited several times in my short life and I can certainly imagine the devastaion that is going on in such a volitile area. My thoughts are with those people.
My thoughts are not with the stupidity of other people in the world, namely Mr. George W. Bush. Although I will not take this opportunity to shun him as most others should and need to do, I would like to take the opportunity to point out that this past evening there was a benefit concert for the people of the Mississippi Delta and Kanye West went from his scripted dialougue and began to speak about how the less wealthy people are not taken care of in the same fashion that others are. He also made a direct comment about Bush--and NBC actually censored it from the west coast audience.
PATHETIC.
Let's recall-I live in a communist country. I expect to be censored. But the good ole' USA censored West not because he swore, but because he told his version of the truth, which I think is pretty on the mark. I just hope that the people will take this opportunity to again look at what Bush has done since his tenure of leader of the free world and where we all are in the pot of life. He has done a shit job folks. He blew it with 911, he turned patriotism into nationalism, we have had a terrible recession, the price of gas has doubled before this latest tragedy--at least we caught Nixon before he could do this much damage....

Speaking of damage--Here we are again and these lunkheads at Boeing decide that they are getting paid enough money for a job that if they lost it to the asain market, they would be stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart. Thankfully my mother has always been thankful of her job and not bought into the union bullshit that spews from the Machinist Unions mouths. It just doesn't make much sense to me how these people can strike when the economic conditions are in dire straits, the price of gas is at an all time high, Seattle is the most expensive place to live in the country and these people decide that they need more than what they were already getting--a nice salary, a bonus, more sick time than anyone I know gets, stock, etc. and most of them don't even have a college degree and they are bringing in 50k+. My advice, come spend a week in China you capitalist fuckwads. May the repo man come and get your ATV's, your SUV's and your other things that you won't have because you tried to bluff your boss and he is holding the Ace's. It will be a little pleasant to watch the entire Seattle marketplace sit and watch and wonder what the hell you hicks were thinking when you voted to strike.
Be thankful for what you have--it isnt under water in the Delta. While the rest of the world is watching the tradegy unfold, you decide that your overemployed asses aren't getting enough....
PATHETIC.
***I would like to point out that my mother, who is occasionally irrational, as most mom's are- voted NO on this strike because she is grateful for having the life she has and most of that comes from the hard work that she has put in during her 14 years (or more) with the Boeing Company, so this little rant is in no way reflected upon her, but moreso on those pro-union dipshits that she has had to work with for the last decade plus*** Read more!

Friday, September 02, 2005 9:43pm

I have just come back from a pleasant gathering with some of the students that have arrived for the new term, which begins officially on Monday. However, neither the students nor the teachers have any idea of which classes are going to be taught and who is teaching them. I have had one meeting with the Chair of the English department- a Mr. Happy, (I should explain right away that everyone in the English department and possibly everyone attending University has an American name which they select because their given names are thought to be too difficult for Westerners to understand.) who informed me that he was very happy to have an American here teaching classes and that he would inform me of when I will begin teaching the students.
In meeting them over the last week, I am ready for the challenge and am prepared to deal with what I am up against. Most of these students have the most basic understand of the language and they have decent tone. For the most part, they are progressing like they have read the language from a text book, but have very little experience working directly with the language. I am going to try to make them try to speak it whenever possible if they are really interested in learning the language. Some of them tell me that they would like to be able to become a translator of English in a different country and if that is the case for the most of them, I am going to have a lot of work ahead of me, but I wouldn’t mind it in the least. This evening there was a group of about 6 boys, all of them 20 and very naïve. I am discovering this a lot about the Chinese college kids. They don’t have anything to prove and they seem to just enjoy living out their youth. There is a lot of handholding by the same sexes and I am wondering how to take it. At first it was only the girls that I witnessed doing this. I didn’t think much of it—lets face it, these Chinese women still love Hello Kitty like it is a religion! Then tonight I saw several schoolmates holding each others hands at Paul’s and I am growing a little more suspect. Paul seems like he is certainly gay, but I keep going back to my American stereotypes and laughing at how stupid I am being. Let me note for the record that I don’t care if he is gay or not, but I think it might be possible that these boys that are at his apartment might also be gay as well, but we will see if that is the case in the coming weeks. Again, it doesn’t matter in the least bit, but it is odd enough to mention. I must again mention that the Chinese are also very naïve and would make easy prey to someone who would be considered a professional and a peer mentor to these kids. Time will tell. In the United States, we feel like we are so free and open minded, but we certainly have some social attitudes that are not present in China. This is something that is apparent in everything that is going on as this country attempts to place itself in the middle of western culture. The concept of working in this country would be of particular amusement to any Westerner as an average work week should never go over 32 hours and time spent away from work is used for relaxation and not consumption—one thing that Capitalism will certainly have issues with.
Teaching is certainly within that perspective. The concept of time doesn’t matter as much in China—I keep hearing the same thing from the professionals: Things take time in China, Mr. Tim. They say it to me not in frustration but as a courtesy because they know that they could steal the leisure award from the French without any issue whatsoever. In the United States, students register for classes at the end of the old semester and professors put in their class listings weeks into the previous semester to give everyone enough time to prepare the information. School officially begins on Monday and Mr. Happy doesn’t think we will start on Monday, but I will still be paid my monthly salary, even if I don’t end up teaching for several weeks. I feel like I need to call him and ask him when he thinks I will begin teaching, because I wouldn’t mind going up to Changsha and seeing where Mao is actually from. I have a number of things that I need to check off my must see list!
Now that the students are beginning to trickle in, I am beginning to see what I have actually signed up for and I am excited for the new term to begin and at the same time I am also beginning to get a little stir crazy. There has been a lot of waiting this past week, which has kept me from going into town and getting to know the city a little more. The weather has also turned in the last couple of days and I am a little afraid that the monsoon season might have possibly come already, although from what little I have read on the subject it would seem that it isn’t supposed to start until the end of the month, or Mid-October, which would be great because I want to try to get to either Beijing or to Xi’an, Shaanxi to see the Terracotta Warriors that protected Qin Shi Huang’s tomb during China week, which is where we have a week off.
Beijing is going to have to wait until Spring Break, when we have a longer period of time off to explore. There are just so many things to go and see in Beijing that I want to make sure not to rush it. There is the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, The Summer Palace and the gates leading to the temple of heaven—all things which, like the Chinese, take time.
As I said before, the last week has been one of mostly waiting and wondering just what I have gotten myself into. Yesterday and some of today have been a struggle. I lost power to half of my flat yesterday afternoon as well as knocked out the internet on the computer and broke the chair that was provided to me. It was in pretty sad shape as it was, but my ass gave it the final blow. Typical. Then this afternoon, my ipod decided to take a shit on me and I lost some 2600 songs in one false sweep. This is particularly disheartening because my music is going to be the one lifeline that I had counted on throughout the journey and there is little to no help that I am going to be able to get any of it back—at least until I arrive back into the United States.
But the time and the whining are not worth writing about. However, I must mention that I am getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes, especially in the evening during my sleep. They have a particular longing for my face, specifically my cheeks. It is a little funny, but I am also concerned because of what those little fuckers could be carrying in the blood which they are transporting. Malaria, Leprosy, whatever—the paranoid American traveler doesn’t need anything else to happen to him from traveling around the planet. Disease is the only real concern that I have. I had a full tap water machine delivered to the house today for a deposit of 60rmb, which is about $7.50. The water is 6rmb per 5 gallon, which is about .80cents. The cooler that it comes with has a boiling water and normal water release on it and the boiling water is hot enough to prepare noodles without cooking, so it is quite useful.
I have to rely on the goodness of other people in order to get food at restaurants, order water, get things fixed and haggle with merchants, but if I have to go out by myself, I am fully confident I can manage at least somewhat. I have only gone into town once with a couple of students in tow, but I think tomorrow I am going to head into town by myself and make a go of it. There are two main buses that connect me to the city, the 22 and the 27, which are both 1rmb each way, which is .13cents each way. Not too bad considering it is 30minutes via bus to get downtown.
According to Paul, my neighbor from the Philippines, who has been here for a year, there is a market in Chenzou that I can actually buy meat from. This would be a welcome moment as I already growing a little tired of having to go through the hassle of waiting for people to go with because I can’t read the damn menu. There is no English whatsoever, but people are very willing to assist if they can figure out what you need. When ordering food it is a little difficult because restaurants do not place their menu items together or number them. At times there are pictures which you can point at, but this is fairly rare of an occasion. Most of the locals tend to want to go to the cheap eat places. The food in these places is not bad in particular, but meat dishes are quite skimpy on the meat, even by what I would consider Chinese standards. So I am anxious to go to the shop and buy my own vege’s and do a little stir-fry, just to make sure I still have the skills. Read more!

C is for Change

I will be talking about this quite a bit--the change that is happening in China as the country becomes more and more interested in the western style of life. Buses like this one are the most common to ride in--ours was a little more high class than this city commuter bus. Bus transport is the slowest mode, but is worth the money. Transport from the University to downtown takes about 30 minutes, but only costs 1rmb, which is about 13 cents. If you were to take a cab to the city, it would take half the time, but more than likely cost around 50 rmb as Xianang U is just outside of the city limits and a toll booth--which is 20 rmb one way and you must pay the cabby's toll back into the city. 50rmb is about $6.25. So obviously, the bus routes are the way to go.


China's development to westernize itself is growing. Newer condos such as these are growing around the city and China playing host to the 2008 Olympics is certainly in part to this occuring. Throughout the city, buses and city streets are lined with the proud advertisement "CHINA 2008" with the Olympic rings. The buildings next to this one were beat up shacks that will be demolished at some point, when the Chinese get around to it.




"Endless Distribution in Transformation"
A sign of westernization--these ads appear all over the city--reminds me of the Apprentice, but after reading a story on CNN about how the market is opening up and the US is trying to design its own trade restrictions against China, I think this is more what this is trying to say.

Here is the article....

BEIJING, China (AP) -- China's government-run media lashed out Wednesday at U.S. efforts to limit imports of low-cost Chinese textiles as negotiators from the two sides met to try to settle the dispute.
"Trade protectionism has incurred huge costs for Chinese textile producers," the government's China Daily newspaper said in its lead editorial.
"Protectionism is a loss-loss deal for both sides in international trade while undermining the global effort to build a free and fair trade order."
Chinese textile exports have soared since a worldwide quota system expired on January 1. Washington has already imposed temporary quotas limiting growth in imports of some Chinese textiles to 7.5 percent a year, but U.S. clothing manufacturers want broader limits.
The chief U.S. negotiator, David Spooner, said earlier that Washington had presented Beijing with a proposal to cover all items now protected by safeguard agreements plus any categories that might be affected in the future by imports from China.
The American limits would last through 2008.
His talks with Chinese Commerce Ministry officials entered a second day Wednesday.
Beijing argues that developed countries like the United States should focus on high-tech, big-money goods like airplanes and not try to stymie Chinese production of low-cost items like socks and underwear.
It also says that limits on Chinese goods would force U.S. consumers to pay more for clothing.
U.S. clothing manufacturers say the flood of cheap Chinese goods since the beginning of this year have forced 19 U.S. plants to close and resulted in 26,000 lost jobs.
But talks have yet to reach the make-or-break stage, said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, who was in Beijing on Wednesday.
The aim: "Either get a good agreement or no agreement," he said.
If no agreement is reached, U.S. manufacturers will continue to rely on the safeguard system which allows them to petition the U.S. government on a case-by-case basis for limits if imports are seen to be threatening American industry, he said.
The dispute is politically sensitive at a time of soaring U.S. trade deficits with China, which last year hit $162 billion (130 billion euros) -- an all-time record high with any country.



And finally, the true sign of American Influence, the golden arches. If you enlarge this picture, youll see a nice statue in the front of the store that is of a young American boy with his baseball hat on and his baseball glove. The girls I was travelling with wanted to go in and eat, but I refused although I am sure a big mac attack will occur at some point--more out of the need to have meat that I can somewhat recognize.
There is also a KFC across the street from this MC'd's. And next door-- a pizza buffet.
We opted for a nice noodle shop. One thing I am having to get used to is that there is very little meat in dishes and usually egg in some form. The noodle place had a beef noodle soup with lots of cilantro and little beef shavings and a brown, hard boiled egg in it. It was a little greasy for my liking, but not bad. Read more!

Today was the first full day in Chenzou and I was given the gracious opportunity to travel with two soon to be students of mine into town for some supplies. The journey was very amusing and somewhat long. Chenzou City is about a 30 minute bus ride from where we are located, which is considered the "suburbs".
These are all pictures that were taken during the journey. As you can see, it was a very overcast day here, but still very humid. By the end of the day, my shirt was clinging tightly to me.




This is a very common site in Chenzou and I would imagine other cities in China as well. Men with giant carts loaded down with goods from who knows where. This man had one of the larger carts we saw throughout the day, but it was not uncommon to see bikes loaded with 75 bags of rice weighing at least 50lbs a piece.







I thought this is a funny picture because the billboard looks very much like the one in this photo. This is also driving into Chenzhou.













These are the giant supermarkets that are in the city. There isn't any Wal-Marts here folks, but these are the places to go if you need supplies are not up to the consistant haggling that goes on in the marketplace, which I will show later.









This is the part about China that is the most intruguing. There were several buildings like this one throughout Chenzou that would not seem out of place in any Western City.
Progress is alive and well in the city as the Chinese are becoming more responsive to Western interests in the far east. The modern look to the cities is in no doubt due to the Olympics that will be coming up in 3 years. All over the city, there are signs that proudly read BEIJING 2008!!!
*Interesting little factoid: The China Women's Volleyball team is headquartered in Chenzou. Read more!

China Thoughts

Let me just say first off that I cannot check the site to see if these blogs are actually making it into cyberspace, but I believe that they are. This and the BBC have been the only sights that I have seen blocked. So, please make comments as they are sent to me via email and that lets me know that the site is working. I might look for another blog to post to that I can see as well, but this one has so many functions, its going to be tough to let go.

I do not have a lot of time in which to write this, as I am supposed to be meeting a student to go into town and get supplies with. We were supposed to have breakfast, but it is now 10:15am and I have a feeling that breakfast is done with.

The last 72 hours have been quite amazing for me. I am not sure why, but I didn't really think any of this was going to happen for the entire time I was making it happen. It didnt become a reality for me until I landed in Tokyo Narita airport (which, by the way, is 1 hour train ride away from Tokyo, so I didnt even get the chance to see the city). It was at this point, after a quick 10 hour flight, that I realized that the journey was underway. The flight from Seattle to Tokyo was nothing short of good--except my goddamn ipod refused to work (I have since figured out what the issue was and am in the process of getting it back online). I did watch something in the realm of four films and had a couple of good bloody marys.

More on that later--as I really must get going. This is the main quarter of the University at Dusk. If you click on the image, it will enlarge it.
The University is on the outskirts of Chenzou City, which I have not really seen much of, but will today.









This is the medical science building, which is to the right of the other building in the picture above. As you can see, this University is fairly modern and was just built in the last couple of years.








This was just taken this morning from the back of my apartment at about 6am. In the cloud lines is a mountain that I will be investigating in the near future.


Anyway, that is all for now. I need to get out into the city as I am sure Susan is wondering what the hell I am doing.

Hope your all well. Read more!

China has arrived, now I am just waiting for the jetlag..

Well, I am very happy to report that it would seem that I can actually access my blog. I am writing this short note to say that I have arrived in Chenzou and I am currently writing to you from my flat here on the campus. It is much, much nicer than I had expected! The living room and the bedroom are near perfect, but the bathroom needs a good cleaning (please hold your laughs) and the kitchen is beyond my realm of filth.
Now, I am going to test to see if this actually posts.
Cross yer fingers. Read more!

5 Daze 2 China

The days are flying by so fast at this point, its hard to pause for a few moments and write about what is going on.
Yesterday the final piece of the essential puzzle was put into place for going to China. I received the Visa back from the San Francisco Consulate of the People's Republic of China with my Z visa included in the passport. I was granted one single entry and a friendly reminder that I need to go to the securities office within 30 days to get my residental working visa.
It is somewhat shocking to stare at this piece of paper that ended up costing $150us to allow me into the country. It took a lot of little steps to get through in order to get the Visa going to get to this point where I am today.
Where am I today?
I am laying on the bed that has already been sold, my room a complicated mess of various items that I have yet to decide where they need to go, what needs to be done with them. The house could be declared a disaster area with all of the various items laying about. This is truly the liquadation of my life. I am learning more and more that these possesions that we buy, so much of it we don't really use and hardly any of it really retains it true value.

I have discovered that this blog might not actually work in China, sadly enough. We will have to see if it is blocked by the great firewall of China--there seems to be varying opinions about how the firewall is actually blocks the information from going through. From what I have gathered, Chinese citizens have less access than expats, so I might be safe, but it might be difficult to access at first.

Some people have asked me why China? The answer is quite simple and might even seem slightly scapegoatish. Politics really have an effect on me personally. Things have really changed in this country over the last decade and I don't feel that I am getting the fruits of my labour in the U.S. I think that our government is the most dishonest it's been since the Nixon administration and George W. probably even outweighs Nixon in that catagory. How this country does not directly blame an oil tycoon for causing the worlds oil problems is beyond comparision to me. At least the Chinese are honest about what they are doing--they let their people know that they intend to be intrusive. Where the United States is losing their ground in innovation, the Chinese are picking up the slack and becoming a powerhouse in the world market. I am interested to go to a country and experience their customs and culture and attempt to compare it to ours in a fair and just setting.

What is Americana? This is something that I have been thinking about for several months. There are going to be things that I am going to miss, but not much that I cannot live without.
Anway, enough for now.
Its time to get this day rolling.
Lot of shit to do today. Read more!

Beer Bust

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) -- Hundreds of looters battled police all weekend at the site of a beer train wreck in violence that left one woman dead, South African police said on Monday as they kept a heavy guard on the remaining alcohol.
The train carrying 180,000 crates of beer from South African Breweries derailed on Friday night near Waterval Boven, 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Johannesburg, Superintendent Izak van Zyl said.
By Saturday morning, police were battling up to 200 people from the nearby township trying to make off with crates of beer.
"It was a lot of trouble from one train crash," Van Zyl said. "They were firing rubber bullets into the crowd. The issue was the beer."
A 19-year-old woman in the crowd was killed when she fell under the wheels of a truck, he said.
Police handed the site over to railway security staff but were back again on Sunday morning, firing more rubber bullets as looters converged on the train. Officers raided nearby houses, recovered three out of 500 missing cases and arrested six people.
Van Zyl said 20 officers would remain at the site until the overturned wagons and surviving beer crates could be recovered, an operation that could take up to a week. Read more!

I am trying, however I can, to be productive, get things that I need to get done and blog as much as I can so as to document all of this that is happening at the speed of sound. This has been a very overwhelming, but pivitol set of moments as I say goodbye to a chunk of life that has been bittersweet at times.
Seattle is a changed city and I did not enjoy my time nearly as much as I had previously. This is mostly due to how much the city has changed in the time that I have been gone. The main problem that I see are the growing pains it always has have not been resolved, but the housing prices are up and wages are the same they have always been--not competitive. Sure, some are doing well and some aren't, its the nature of capitalism, but this place in particular is seething with uncertainty.
I would love to write more, but... its time to go show off my Volvo wagon. Read more!

Missing Dave with the eyes on China

It seems almost official.
I recieved the document last night that clears me by the Chinese government to teach English Culture and Literature for a University. I am out of my skin with anticipation, such an amazing opportunity to actually DO something with my life, although it just feels like the next progressive move.
I leave in about a week! Next Sunday I will departing for lands not known here.
If you can think of anything you want that I have, email me about it. I don't plan on coming back for a long time.......... Read more!

There will be more than this...

Below you will find a broad sampling of the Coldplay show last night. I am going to crop up some of the 45 images I took at some point today and make the presentation a little more savory.
The show itself stopped at nothing sort of amazing--the British just know how to both make music and performance come together in a tight little package.
Think Radiohead and U2 with simple lyrics and you have a coldplay show. As you can see, the visuals were just amazing.
More on all of this later. For right now, its time to enjoy another day off....

This is the great Chris Martin standing directly behind our seats as he sings the finale to all the fans!!! Oh yeah, right behind us.

My Visa for China was also approved last night.
My last two weeks in the US are here. Read more!

COLDPLAY WHITE RIVER, TUESDAY

Read more!

DMB SAN FRAN

Is this Jon-Jon, from Beta Theta Pizzie?































Read more!

SBC Park Sat Nizzight!!!

Well, I dont especially have a ton of time to write about everything that has happened in the last 72 hours, but needless to say it was a great time. Dave Matthews Band put on an electifying performance at sbc park in San Franciso. The weekend was just awesome -- totally what I needed.
A special shout goes to Jacobe for making the adventure worth while. Jacobe is a true friend to stay with for a couple of days. I arrived at his place in the early am--he lets me sleep on his freshly fahbreezed bed while he goes off and works. Later on in the evening, after going to Fishermans Wharf while he slaves away at a pizza job-- I arrive at his pizza job and he pours me about 5 beers (not just your Republican loving busch or bud, this was the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale baybee!!! What what?
To "top it off" he also made me one of the Kick ass pies-- you should check them out http://www.extremepizza.com Yeah!
Okay, so anyway, Ill give much more in the coming days. Enjoy the pics. These were all taken from the shizzle, my nizzle. Read more!

The times are a changin...

10:30am
Six hours from departing for San Fransisco, where I will see DMB for the 1st time in about a year!!! Very excited about getting out of town and heading down to San Fran to take in the city as I have never really done before. The last time was with Megan and Fargo, probably some 5 years ago, heading down for my 27th or 28th birthday.
This weekend is going to be choas, pure and simple. I am staying with the great Jacobe, one of the few people that I still talk to each week from Pullman. He is having to work most of the weekend, but I sure I will get some time in to see him. It is always good to see old friends, even if it is just for a little while.
I arrive at 8am tommorow, bright and early.
Then its off to the consulate... (yes, the proverbial ball is still in play)
Dave on Saturday night and, might I add, quite possibly tommorow night as well. We shall see about that!
Pics will finally be on again as I plan to take many on my trip. Then hopefully I will come back and I will have some good news about the China experience.
Well see about that one.

The last post was and still is of concern, but again somethings happened today that make me, for whatever reason, want to continue down this pathway to see what is at the end of it. My father is right, if I don't see this one to it's conclusion, I will always wonder to myself, what if I.....
So, for now, I bid you fair adue. Read more!

Dust in the wind...

good afternoon.
After much deliberation, I am now leaning toward cancellation of my proposed tour of duty in China. After a long a bitter, misunderstanding with the parental units, I no longer feel secure about travelling half way across the globe to a distictly foreign country. There are many reasons for this new change of agenda, but most of it comes from the fact that I do not have the funds to go on my own terms, do not have a savings and limited support from my family.
With all of these things at issue and the fact that the letter of invitation has not arrived today and I need to deliver that piece of paper to the consulate, I am leaning toward cancellation of the entire affair.
I think I am going to plan to leave in a year, compile my savings, try to pay off as many bills as possible and go on my own terms. I no longer feel especially confident that everything that needs to happen in the process is going to happen and if it all did, I dont think I have enough in savings to make it happen.
I am not willing to give everything up to go somewhere that I am not going to have the little bit of support that I have here. If it isnt here, I can manage. If it isn't there, I am fucked.

This process will continue, I will keep attempting to go until something happens, but if all the ducks are lined up and it comes down to just my decision, I am now leaning toward staying here, doing whatever it takes to survive.

Sad.

However, I am leaving for San Fran this weekend, which is going to be a much needed bit of time off. Maybe my thoughts will clear and the sunshine prospect of getting out will shine again, but it seems that the battle is losing its shine. Read more!

So much text,so little time.

Monday morning, summer 2005.
Woke up this morning feeling nice and refreshed, ready for the day--a little too early. Today's business was seemingly important, trying to mask my identity at work, trying to get everything set for this weekend as well as move a little more forward with the China deal. I am now just awaiting the official invite from the University that will allow me entry into the country. I need the official invitation from the University, which is authorized by the local government, which will then allow for me to apply for the Visa to the school, which I need to get from the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.
Confusing, I know, but all the wheels appear to be in motion. Imagine how crazy that it is going to be for the handful of you that actually read this blog to know that it could very well soon be written from China. I can't tell you in words how much I need for all this to happen. I feel as though I am withering away here in Seattle, always looking for the next best thing in a long line of possibilities. Going to China is going to allow me the peace of mind to be okay with where I am in life and accept that where I am-- this is a needed thing for me because I need to get moving on with my writing career more than I can describe--but it doesnt happen here because I am too busy trying to make enough money just to survive.
I have many things to say about this journey that I have taken over the last several years, but I am holding it in until I get to the next plateau and can reflect on the experiences I have had.
I think from time to time we all think we have had it rough in our definations of the reality in which we exist and I don't want my reflections to appear as selfish as I think that they might if I were to check in with them now.
I do know that in order for myself to be in this place that I am right now is not good for me as I am checking out of so many things because I just want to move to this next stage, but its probably for the best when it all comes down to it.
Its a wierd kind of thing, what I have been going through lately, mostly because I have begun to value my time with myself so much that after being at the office all day with people I dont really have anything in common with, I mostly just want to sit and veg or do a little writing--its a strange beast inside of me right now, but one that I think makes the most sense.
My writing is at the strongest level it has been in years and this is due in part to this blog. The fact that I think about it several times a day and want to just write here for the sake of me writing is a good sign that my education certainly paid off in huge ways.
There is something about the written word, misspellings and metaphor that make it the sweetest art of all, but it is such a shame that more people do not take the art of the written word more seriously. Instead we sit back and scan things, looking, looking, looking, but for what?
My guess is that we are looking for that little tidbit of magic that we get when we read--truly read things. The moment where our minds begin to create context around what someone else has put together -- but when we are a culture of scanners, what do we really learn? What do we really create?

As of late, I have had so many different stories running round my brain that I hope to share some of these with you in the near future. I hope to share stories of China, of communism with all of you. I guess we will see in the coming days if that dream might become a reality..... Read more!

Sunday-day

Woke up this morning not feeling like I had slept much at all.
Lately I have been having a better time in dreamland than in reality and it is because my life is so choatic right now that it seems hard to pin anything down emotionally and so my brain works twice as hard as night when the rest of my body is asleep.
But anyway--
I am still waiting to see if the thing with China is going to become a reality or not, but at this point, it does seem that although it could happen, I don't think it will. I will know for sure by the time I go to San Franciso, which is next weekend. If I have the paperwork in hand, ready to go and apply for the visa, then I will do it. If I do not have the paperwork ready to go, then I will have to abort the mission due to time constraints because I will not be able to afford the ticket.
So it goes.
At this point it could really go either way, but for right now there are so many unanswered issues that it is difficult to see which way is going to work for the best. I know that if this does not work, I am not on the right path.
Then again, I cant feel too bad-- next week its DMB TIME !!!!

















Three shows in the span of one week. Saturday night in San Fran, then two in the Gorge. Depending on the China situation, I might be selling my gorge tickets, but we'll see. I still dont have a solid taker for the other tickets, but I will have to start working on that!!!

Ayway, its my day off and I need to get some exercise and some other things taken care of. Much more to write, but so little time to do it in.

Hope all is well Read more!