...West Meets East

A Quick Workaround...

2009-06-15T12:41:00.000+08:00

Hey, everybody! I did my homework and found out how to access a way around the great firewall of china. As you know, many sites have been blocked over here so I did some research and learned about proxy servers. They are basically the only way around the restrictions the government places on sites over here, by re-directing a website request to another server different from my host domain server, I am able to get around a little better on the net.

Just want to let you all know that we are all alive and well, blogging still, just on another site:

Go here if you want to keep up with us all...

http://www.travelblog.org/bloggers/gypsyking

Be sure and write some comments on our latest posts so we know you are out there reading about our continuing adventures over here in the Middle Kingdom!

Peace.

2009-05-21T22:00:00.001+08:00

5/23/09

Hello to all!! My brother Tim in Atlanta is actually posting this for us because of recent developments with the internet here in China. Thanks, Tim!!

Along with adventure travel comes irony. And irony abounds here in our small city of DanYang, China. Everything seems to be going great here as far as teaching, enjoying our city, seeing the other areas of China on the weekends, but two nights ago our home 24/7 DSL internet access began to hiccup for a few hours. First we could not get online at all, and then when we did finally get back online it was intermittent, and once it finally seemed to settle down and all was well in cyberspace, suddenly we could no longer even access Google with any confidence. Hmmmmm....

By yesterday morning the situation had worsened. We can access Google, sometimes, but other sites are blocked and the only real site that is being blocked that we give a damn about is Blogger.com because that is our blog domain host. Just to verify my hosts are not tapping my phones and restricting just our internet access, I hopped on my bike and went over to a local internet cafe this morning and sure enough, www.Blogger.com has been completely blocked here in China for the time being. Ditto YouTube.com...there's chat on the net about why but I can't read it because the powers that be are blocking any search results that even mention Blogger...that is the wide reaching power of Communism in a nutshell...

For some reason, there is no explanation available from anyone of course, we can no longer access the host of our blog, Blogger. I've heard of this happening before we got over here, you can look at which sites are blocked at www.greatfirewallofchina.com, but I was thinking ahead last year and created a back-up blog on another site, Travelblog.org, just in case.

The irony is we can't ask anybody why our blog host is blocked, or any other sites for that matter, because then it would be apparent that we are trying to access forbidden sites here in China. Duh.

So I will be sending out an update soon to everyone I think is reading our blog and send them over to our back-up blog instead. Maybe things will loosen up in a week or two, maybe they will get more restricted, we honestly have no idea. It's all part of the adventure in the Middle Kingdom.

Talk soon...

To read the old blog you can go here, www.gypsykingadventures.blogspot.comTo read our new, updated blog you can go here, http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/GypsyKing/

Thanks for reading!

Sean & Jenny

In the teaching groove...

2009-05-12T12:32:00.003+08:00

Jenny here again...I've really been in a mood to write lately so here is another glimpse into life here in hot, sunny China. The past few weeks at school have passed quickly. I had a week where I sang songs with my classes... yes, all eighteen classes in one week. I put together a PowerPoint presentation with the words to songs by artists that our students love such as Avril Lavigne, Linkin' Park, Westlife, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, and of course the Backstreet Boys. So for an entire week, I sang along to the words to many of these American songs as my students belted out the words along with me. It still shocks me to watch and hear these teenage guys singing My Heart Will Go On (Titantic theme song) at the top of their lungs. They had a blast and so did I...I'm a kareoke diva at heart....

Another week I had the kids play a game which they love here. Anything with competition is appealing to these kids - they are born to compete at everything. Last week I copied Sean’s lesson and taught about Amnesty. I made them all President of DanYang and gave them a list of nine prisoners. I divided them into groups and had them discuss which five of these prisoners they would grant amnesty. Then we discussed it as a class.

I had a mother that was doing drugs, a man who was drinking and driving, a banker who stole money, a protester and possible terrorist, a student who was a computer hacker... There were nine different people and descriptions. It was very interesting as I went from one class to the next, which criminals they would absolve of their crimes.

The only similarity that I found amongst my students and I believe with Sean’s as well, was the fact that they never granted either person that stole money amnesty. In China, to steal money is dishonorable, unacceptable, and definitely unforgivable! However, most of them let the mother who did drugs go because a “mother’s love” is most important.

They usually let the engineer who was drank, drove and injured a child go home as well. Their thoughts on that were that he just made a mistake and he should be forgiven. When asked if it would make a difference if it was their child that he hurt, they said they still would forgive him. It was a very insightful week of teaching for me.

This week I am teaching idioms. So far, so good - I'm not blue in the face, yet. I am becoming very relaxed while I am teaching and am actually enjoying it more. Unfortunately, this week the school hoodwinked me again by rearranging the students in all of my classes. The students are placed in classes 1-18 according to their grade point average. Class “1” being the best and brightest in all subjects (except oral English of course, there are no grades or measurements for oral English skills). Now all of my students are strangers to each other and will have to make friends again before they feel comfortable enough to speak English.

Just as I was on the precipice of a breakthrough they take the wind from my sails! Oh well, I will conquer. At least they are still all of my students... just jumbled up into different classes.

On Sunday, I met with one of my students to go into town and have our picture taken together. They have those machines that will take a picture of you and put you in many different settings. Huge business here! These kids have their pictures taken over and over again to give to their friends, thousands of little picture stickers are flying around the school.

They do not have a “yearbook” per say, but they do have these pages that the students give to each other that will ask you about your favorite color, book, food, etc. They even have me writing out these short autobiographies. They are so excited when I hand them back my completed profile. To many, I will be the only foreigner they will ever meet. I try not to forget that. I am an ambassador, not just by being a teacher, and a foreigner, but also as an American.

I will blog again soon. I have many ideas for upcoming blogs but of course, if you want to know about anything... ask me!

Oh that reminds me... Sean’s Dad had asked me how the Chinese use a computer keyboard since they use characters. This was an awesome question and I did ask my host because I had wondered that myself.

The answer...They have to memorize a system of keystrokes that make up a word. They actually have two types of keyboards. The regular ones they have to memorize but they also have special one’s that when they learn to use it, can actually type things much faster than if you or I was trying to type it in English. By using just a few keys, they can write complete sentences.

Then of course, there is the cell phone. To text a message to someone is even more laborious but these kids do it so often that they are able to fly through the different screens and type messages very quickly. It seems very difficult to me but then again, I do not understand Mandarin!

Talk later!!

Jenny in the city...

2009-05-11T15:10:00.003+08:00

Hello, Jenny in the City here...Wow, it has been so long since I have blogged. I have so many things to talk about I am not quite sure where to start. Well, I will start with my day out on the town here in DanYang. Every Friday I only have two classes to teach so I am done with work by noon. Friday is Sean’s busy day so this gives me a chance to explore China, well at least DanYang, on my own.

My first stop is to pick up our broken cell phone from the repair booth at our local supermarket (which we refer to as Wal-Mart) because it has anything and everything but there prices aren't quite as good as home. On our train ride to Wuxi last weekend we could not get a seat so we had to stand and it was a national holiday (mistake!). Us, and several thousand other travelers were so crammed onto the train like sardines that all those people jammed up and into each other for almost two hours actually broke the LCD of Sean's cell phone while it was in his pants pocket - now that is a lot of people!

As usual, we were promised it would be ready on Friday but now the youngster is trying to explain, using his ten good English words, that it will not be ready until Monday. We ended up laughing together (laughter will get you so much further than anger in China) and I even convinced him to help me order some Pork Dumplings at the little stand right next door to his repair kiosk. Most menus in China are written only in Chinese so any time that I can get the help from someone who speaks a little English and there is food around... I am getting help!

After lunch, I meander my way through the displays of watches, belts, buckles, accessories, and cell phones and into the clothing department to look for some workout clothes. Now that summer is approaching quickly (it was 93 degrees today), I have needed to do some shopping for lighter clothes. Well for the past few weeks I have been rummaging through rack after rack looking for clothes made for someone, lets say... bigger than a 13 year old! I am now wearing a XXL and on a good day an XL!!!

I am usually pretty confident about my body but this has done irreparable harm to my ego!

Hence, my need to now find some work out clothes. Well that and the fact that in China most of the things that you eat are carbohydrate-based! (Rice, Dumplings, Noodles, Breads, more Dumplings..) I eventually did find a few tops...I gave up on finding a “workout Bra” I will just have to use an Ace Bandage.... haha. I also discovered that women in China do not wear many shorts.... well at least not to work out in. I have been forced to wear sweat pants while I run, but I must do what I must do.

Feeling good after my purchases, I decided to test my luck at the hair salon. I have been to the same salon and same guy twice before. The difference today is that I do not have an interpreter with me - I was going in solo! To some women this might be their biggest fear; leaving their hair color to some man that you can not communicate with other than to say “Hello”. My feelings... even if he colored my hair green, people could not stare at me any more than they already do... so bring it on!

I'm used to it now but everywhere, and I mean everywhere, I go people stop in their tracks, they stare dumbfounded, kids point, adults look shocked and then curious, some kids actually hide behind their parents leg's for a moment (until I say Hello!), and whatever I'm doing draws an even bigger crowd than when I'm with Sean. If I'm looking at a cell phone, five people are beside me, watching silently. If I get something to eat, several folks will watch and follow me to see what I ordered. People stop me in the street constantly, but they are so sweet!, to take pictures with me, say hello and chat, touch my hair, or just to be close to me for a minute or two. It's craziness, until I remember that I am China and this is just my reality now. We both get a kick out it really...

It really is like being a celebrity, except I can't speak their language, so I don't have to worry about what they are saying about me...hahahaha. Their world seems to just stop as I whirl and twirl past them, then I will always smile, say Hello or maybe really surprise them with a little Chinese, and we all have a chuckle - and they ALL smile back, wave, grin, laugh. They are not rude at all, not in the least. Sean says they are just dazed by a foreigner with yellow hair and breasts larger than a twelve year old...:)

As I entered the salon, my hairdresser immediately recognized me... DUH!! I followed him back to the area where everyone sits around as the various products are applied to our hair. There was one woman getting a perm, a man getting his gray hairs colored, another woman getting her hair dyed brown and then of course, me. In the seats next to me were a grandmother and her grandson who were waiting for Mom. I looked over at the computer screen that everyone in the room was watching and I was amazed at what I saw... Tom and Jerry... yes, Tom and Jerry, except in Chinese.

I can not tell you how surreal it was to be sitting there getting my hair done while this group of Chinese people of all ages glued to the screen and laughing hysterically at an American cartoon. They giggled and laughed over and over again, each time looking at me to see if I was laughing with them. I certainly was! They all tried to speak to me but all I could say was “Wo bu mingbie” which means “I do not understand”. A phrase I use quite often.

As I emerged from the salon a new, radiant woman, I decided to treat myself to my favorite pastry at our favorite little bakery (another need for the workout clothes). Armed with my Mandarin book in hand, I asked for some assistance in finding the pastries that are in a box with the Chinese character for “nailao” meaning “cheese”. I was delighted after searching through all of the boxes that there was one box left. I can not tell you how wonderful these pastries taste. They are small, flat discs of dough and the outside crust is almost like phillo dough (think Baklava!) and the inside is filled with a firm cheese and raisin mixture that, when heated up in the microwave for about ten seconds, melts in your mouth, and they stick to the roof of your mouth like peanut butter. Yummmm! My student, Jolin, turned me on to them and now I have turned Sean on to them too. I love to find little treasures like this. We have Great Wall red wine, Tropicana Orange Juice, Nescafe Instant coffee, Skippy peanut butter, and then these cheese pastries. They all make DanYang feel more like home.

I rode my bicycle back home and was pleased with my day. As I pulled up to our apartment I was greeted by a very sweaty Sean. Turns out he had forgotten to grab his key before going out for his afternoon run and locked himself out of the apartment..he had been waiting outside for several hours waiting for me to return - and it's hot here! Of course, being as laid back as he is, he was just standing there by the bike rack, just waiting, and he had only fifteen more minutes before he had to go teach his next class. He said he felt lucky and that I would be riding up any second...He even had time to chat with me about my day before heading out again and just making the bell. He is a lucky pup..

That is it for now but I will write again tomorrow. I have so much to catch you up on!

Hong Kong, Redux...

2009-04-26T22:01:00.000+08:00

Hong Kong... What a city!!!

Sean is much better about blogging as we travel. I am different. I want to enjoy everything and then write about it. So, here I am the day after our 22 hour train trip home, the bags are unpacked, the laundry is cleaned and I am ready to get back to normal life again.

Sean and I figured that since we were half-way around the world we should take the opportunity to see everything that we can... and that included Hong Kong. I had no idea what to expect and as we made our last minute plans (a talent that I have had to cultivate here in China). Let me just say, that as we held our breaths and hoped for the best, we have really learned how to travel by the seat of our pants. For two people who can’t speak more than 10 words of Mandarin (which by the way is useless in Hong Kong- they speak Cantonese!) we get around pretty damn good.

It started last Friday when I gave Sean the one hour notice to pack his suitcase... we were to be on the 5:10pm train to Shanghai. Like a pro, he gathered his things and we agreed that we would meet at the front gate at 4:20pm, right after his last class he had to teach. I lugged both suitcases down our five flights of stairs and rolled them all the way to the front gate where I met up with Sean, we hailed our taxi and boarded the train to Shanghai on time.

Once we were in Shanghai, it was up to Sean to use his incredible skills of luck, patience and perseverance to acquire us the much needed tickets on the train that was to leave the following day headed to Hong Kong. We danced and giggled like fools after he emerged from the ticket office almost two hours later with the tickets in hand. We were actually going!

We had a great train ride into Hong Kong. I really do enjoy traveling by train. I think it is so much better than air travel because you get to watch the scenery of the country rush past you. Again, we navigated our way through the subway system in Hong Kong and eventually made it to our hotel. The room that Sean had reserved at the Island Pacific Hotel (last minute while in Shanghai the morning before leaving) was perfect. I was shocked when I saw we had a wonderful view of Victoria Harbor.

True to form, Sean and I quickly cleaned the residue of the train ride from our bodies and were off to enjoy what Hong Kong had to offer. Sean and I had both done a great deal of reading on the train and knew exactly what we needed to see. We had lists of restaurants and places to see and we were eager to accomplish them all.

From the top of Victoria Peak to the waters of the Victoria Harbor, we saw it all and loved it all. What an amazing city... Hong Kong. I will go through all of our pictures as soon as I have a chance and put captions on them so that you can see the many things that we did. But for now, I must get ready for my week back at school... or maybe not. I just found out that they have another school holiday... MAY DAY. We might have another 4 day weekend!

Zie Jian!

Hong Kong, Part III

2009-04-25T11:34:00.007+08:00

Wednesday. Today we have a lot of ground to cover but again we’re stymied by a highly recommended noodle shop that has since been turned into a Yoga salon(?). Opted for what turned out to be amazingly authentic gourmet burgers at a place called GBU complete with fries, onion rings, Coke with real ice, and U2 blasting through our skulls because someone told the Chinese that American’s love their music LOUD! Did some more trinket shopping...

Walked a while until we found the cable car that takes us to the highest point on HK island, Victoria Peak. The Peak is home to stiff breezes, dazzling hikes and scenery, and up until 1888 people were hauled all the way up to their mountain estates in sedan chairs by burly Chinese slaves. Today it is a 10 minute cable car ride that is alarmingly steep and slices through lush forest topped off with breath taking views of the city for as far as the eye can see. Madame Tussaud has a wax museum up here but we skipped it and had coffee and read an English newspapers instead while looking out over some of the world’s most expensive real estate.

Back on the sidewalks, we skipped over to the docks again and took the ½ ferry ride over to Lamma Island. Lamma is a leafy, low-stress island where no cars are allowed and the seafood is so fresh it may still be flopping around when it comes to your table. This place is more casual and laid-back than Key West and it was a nice break from the chaos and noise of HK. I had some fish n’ chips at least four inches thick and Jenn had a pasta dish with free-range chicken. We ate in peace and listened to the light waves while Jenn made plans to get the most out of our last night here. The ferry ride back was choppy and clouds were rolling in but the views were enjoyable because the city was just lighting up for the evening.

For our last bit of HK, we struggled through a 45 minute stop and go cab ride to the Happy Valley racecourse. HK is crazy about their horseracing! This place used to be a malaria-ridden marsh but now it’s a monster of a racetrack. It is the only legal gambling available here (you have to go over to Macau to hit the tables and pull slots and roll dice), and in just one season of racing here HK’s spend about 91billion HK dollars. That’s only about 11 billion in US but you get the idea. In ONE season.

It is a gorgeous track and for about 10 HK (less than $1.00) you get a racing form in English and access to the front rail infield, everywhere but the upper balcony executive boxes, and we could smell the horses flying by us for each of the eight races this evening. The party is at the infield on Wednesday nights and tonight is foreigner night apparently because we don’t hear any language other than the Queen’s English and our English for a few hours. We bet on the ponies, won a few and lost a few more, but end up having a great time although we did lose a little money - which I guess is the irony of gambling anyway. Incredibly beautiful track and the light rainy drizzle made the night air sparkle and the grass almost glow.

As we headed home, hopped off the tram and had one last western dinner at the Spaghetti House where the bbq ribs were fall-off-the-bone good and Jenn had some spaghetti with meat sauce that was equally as delicious, along with some light and tasty garlic bread. Got home late and looked out over Victoria Harbor and called it a vacation.

As we were leaving we had to convert the rest of our Hong Kong dollars back to Yuan that we can use back here in DanYang. I put some pics of the money in the blog because I believe it is some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

We said goodbye to Hong Kong both agreeing that we could live here easily and that we would research teaching jobs when we were ready to cross that bridge again later next year.

Will write again after the 22 hour train ride back to Shanghai and we get back to our quiet town in DanYang.

Zie Jiang

This is West Hong Kong island, an area that they call the Central area. There are thousands of these shops in this district that sell anything and everything related to seafood. Shark's fin soup is the specialty here along with other edibles that I could not recognize.

The shops were spotless, well-lit, and everything they sell is extremely organized and easy to read (in Cantonese of course).

This is an area called Soho, this is around lunchtime and it is bustling with both ex-pats from Britain and USA, etc. right along with huge crowds of hungry Chinese. We had a gourmet burger here that was the best we have had in China, a place called GBU. Also a good area for shopping.

A typical street scene, busy, hot, crowded, but fun and lots of energy. We loved the old neon signs and you can imagine how cool they look at night all lit up!

This is Hong Kong island as seen from a ferry as we head over to a small island called Lamma. There is a whole village full of ex-pats and locals and they are known for their fresh seafood restaurants. We ate. They were right. Delicious!

Hong Kong island, North West area as seen from Victoria Harbor.

This is a special boat used just for Dragon Boat races, a very popular sport here in China. The boat is filled with men who paddle like crazy - it is huge here. They also have these races in Tampa believe it or not...

This is the bay of the small island, Lamma. It was basically paradise here, albeit quite remote. There is a school and as we got off the ferry we were mobbed by dozens of school kids all in their little catholic uniforms, long hair, speaking English with Australian and British accents. Reminded us we really are world travelers...

This lady stood out here on the rocks and fished for about 3 hours, her basket was full when we left. She was pulling in small, silver fish that looked like mullet. I'm sure they are tasty because they eat everything from the water here.

Some of the seafood from one of the restaurants. You just walk up, point to what you want and they throw it on right there for you and voila, you've got a meal.

There is a temple on the island, believed to be over 150 years old. It was burned down in 2004 but the villagers, about 5,500 of them helped rebuild it. These are large coils of incense that burn for hours...

This is the favorite sport of Hong Konger's - horse racing. Happy Valley racecourse is hugely popular and it's the only legal gambling available here on the island.

For a small entrance fee you can stand right on the rail and watch the ponies warm up for each race (these guys are headed to the starting gate) and once they are off you can feel the hoofs thundering by you - it is a fantastic evening and a gorgeous racetrack.

The real race, we won a bit of money on this one...

I thought the money in HK was just beautiful. This one has the phoenix on the left, which is one of the symbols of royalty (emporers) here.

Check out the detail in the huge lion head on the left of this 100 HK note.

An interesting mix on the 50, a combination of a dragon and a sea turtle...:)

There are some scenes on their notes too...this one is an ancient pic of HK island...the pic doesn't show the detail - amazing.

The blue fish almost looks like a dragon too..

This scene is taken from the top of Victoria Peak. There is an additional plaza that is on the very top of the peak that offers splendid views for just a few cents xtra. The tram is one of Hong Kong's best achievements.

Hong Kong, Part II

2009-04-25T10:26:00.006+08:00

Tuesday. Got up early and went for a run, well, a trot, to be right in the middle of things as the city wakes up. I try to do this when I can as it never fails to reward me with a more pure, i.e. authentic, view of the culture, whether it is Manhattan or Shanghai or here on HK island. We need to get acclimated quickly, if possible. It didn’t take long for both of us to realize we are isolated all over again here in HK – they speak Cantonese here so none of our Mandarin works anymore!

With nearly 7 million people crammed into about 1,000 sq. kilometers (about 425 sq. miles) here, to say it’s densely crowded here does not adequately describe the sensation of being devoured by mobs of people – thank goodness neither of us is claustrophobic (we simply could not function here if we were.) Our best analogy so far is that of being dropped into the middle of gigantic schools of fish.

Thousands and thousands of silver, yellow, black fish swarming and churning and rolling their way through life; If one turns suddenly the entire group follows instantaneously with lightening fast precision, and although it seems impossible, there are rarely any collisions of any kind. Huge schools meet each other head-on and pass without incident, without even a glance or wince of danger – hell, most don’t even look up from their cell phones or I-pods or walkie talkies or papers.

It’s as if each has been blessed with some sort of radar, a powerfully intuitive group radar, which must come with a Chinese birth certificate. Bodies dart, zig, or zag just enough to avoid what, elsewhere around the globe, would invite certain physical damage. But here in China, HK especially, mere fractions of inches seem to allow for the masses to propel themselves as fluidly as water flowing around a stone.

This is the financial district so there are not many historic building left since the Brits took over in 1841 and began rebuilding the city through reclaimed real estate. I manage to chop and glide my way down from the Central section Eastward through the harbor sidewalks and side streets for a few miles, all the way to Statue Square; in memoriam to The Glorious Dead from WWI, the only real historic sight other than the impressive new office army of buildings that caress the heavens.

It’s stifling-crowded here, think NYC on steroids, and my stroll takes me by store after store teeming with owners and wives’ of owners (the real bosses here) who wrangle and supervise dock workers unloading truck after truck of soft and hard goods into marine supply storefronts (that’s HK for “we sell anything and everything that swims or lives in the water”).

Streams of shirtless men and burly women work quick, sweat hard, and are strangely silent as they carry sacks of rice, grains, boxes of deep fried somethings, and all sorts of dried delicacies (at least they are here), using dolley’s, hand carts, and makeshift containers loaded to maximum, and then at least doubled up to save a trip, into these tiny stores. They claw and maul their way from the street into the stores with supplies, dodging and weaving their way directly through a sidewalk-thick flow of Chinese and foreign businessman and women marching valiantly towards their office buildings.

This area of HK is all big money and ambition. With their comical, “place to go and a short time to get there” grimaces plastered on their faces, most of these drones are decorated in the same outfits; Navy blue casual suit, brown shoes, the free Daily Standard from Britain, a latte in one hand and a cell phone to the ear in the other, and the ubiquitous white iPod earbuds dangling around their neck. The women wear white blouses but pretty much look the same. It looks like NYC at lunchtime but one good whiff of these streets reminds me that we are far far away from NYC.

Glazed, fatigued eyes betray an otherwise smart appearance and once again I’m grateful for my decision to have left the 9-5 office jungle for greener pastures and I daresay, more adventures. Today I’m just a tourist here and I like it that way. For their part, they ignore the bald foreigner, as does the rest of the city.

I ogle the locals and am empathetic to the worker bees as I make my way to grab some coffee and head back to the hotel to wake Jenny. I did not cause, nor did I see, one collision nor hear not one loud word – this place is so polite, so amazingly efficient, and brimming with tact and manners it’s almost eerie. It’s civilized China; a dazzling mix of the old regime adopting the new.

Today we decide to walk some more, then grab some lunch, then hop on one of the plentiful buses and trams that take up most of the city streets, which are at least 2x as wide as most cities to accommodate all the traffic and pedestrians.

HK is an unusual amalgamation of British efficiency on the outside; barely holding down the frantic animal that is modern China on the inside. It is divided into four distinct sections and we are on the main island, which is small in comparison to Kowloon located a stone’s throw across the harbor, then there are the hundreds of outlying islands, and then the New Territories.

We don’t know what most of these folks do for a living but they sure look busy. We walk past hundreds of storefronts selling things we can’t even identify each tidy and neat with a steady stream of men and women coming in and out, but these are not customers, or even hawkish buyers. We don’t see anyone buying anything, just loading them up all morning, day, and night. Probably selling to restaurants is our best guess so far....

Many of the same stores can be seen in Shanghai but here in Hong Kong they are much more organized and clean. British-tidy we call it. And if you ever wonder if shark’s fin soup really is hurting the masses of sharks out there, by any estimation our answer is undoubtedly yes. Thousands of boxes of fins just on one street alone, displays cases stuffed to the brim with the largest (about 5ft high, to the smallest no larger than a coke can) with hundreds of markets selling all varieties and at shockingly high, and low, prices too. They are laid out to dry in the sun and then sold out of large barrels, boxes, whatever will hold them. We won’t try the soup just because it’s obviously damaging the species and we’re basically hippies these days...:)

The sensible British installed trams (in the US we call them trolley’s), these pint sized double-decker buses go over every inch of HK and for the paltry sum of $2 HK dollars (about .30) you can ride to the end of the line in any direction. These trams are plentiful and efficient and we sat on the top and just watched the city go by below us for hours until we got hungry.

We make our way to a noodle shop that is recommended in TripAdvisor only to find it has been replaced by a posh hair salon. Not to be deterred, we lower our heads in shame and shuffle over across the street for another quick round of McCafe. Sometimes it’s just too strenuous and stressful to navigate a menu in Chinese and go through all that. And yes, it was delicious.

We both need clothes so we rummage through a street market shopping area and find some cheap stuff for both Jenn and I because they have our sizes here, and they don’t have anything close to our sizes in our home city. The prices are good, around 8 – 10 US for shirts, pants, tops for Jenn – we are pleased with our finely honed haggling skills.

We map out and eventually locate the bus exchange, jump on the 75 and relax on our way over to an infamous harbor here in HK called Aberdeen. It is named after the sister city in Scotland, where I just happened to live for two years (well, about an hour and a half North closer to the highlands). This harbor is famous for the sampans that local fishermen use to work the waters and also from a James Bond film where he is hopping around sampans and shooting bad guys. It is also home to the world’s largest floating restaurant, Jumbo. It’s kitschy and HUGE, and the dim sum was forgettable, but we are famished and just not up to arguing about getting charged not only a VIP surcharge but also an additional tax on our bill. Sometimes we just can’t help being tourists...Go for the views, not the food.

Made it back home in time to grab a party-nap and then put on some flashy, “we know how to party if there is one around” clothes and hit the HK party district. Lan Kwia Fong (Orchid Square) is home to the trendiest pubs and hangouts in HK and like Shanghai, it’s basically where all the folks who are not from China go to get their drink on. We had beers with names we haven’t seen in months, chat in English without having to pronounce every-single-word-clearly and well, end up drinking too much. The cab ride home was quick and cheap, just like this section of town.

More tomorrow...

Just a street shot showing how everything in this city points up! The city is really jam-packed to the maximum so, as in Manhattan, we spent most of the time walking around looking up.

Taking a break on the bus for some cheeze...

The Chinese are a bit shy so I end up taking more street scenes and landscapes than candid people shots (my favorite)...street scenes are easier there though because there is never a lack of subjects...

The mass transit in HK is fantastic...buses come by every 3 minutes and cost about .20 cents to ride to the end of the line...the trams (green cable cars) are a throwback from the British colonization and they are even cheaper (.10), but they make more stops so they are not as efficient but you can sit on the top and really enjoy the views of the cities. And then there are the ferries that speed everyone over the water to the outlying islands, etc..they are cheap, dependable, and fast.

Typical side street where a market has blossomed...

This is the small area called Aberdeen and it is famous for one of the James Bond movies (who knows which one?), and the constant flow of sanpans (the ubiquitious Chinese fishing boats) zipping in and out of the harbor area, along with the largest floating restuarant in the world; the Jumbo. The view was great, the place smelled of diesel and fish, we were hit up incessently by boat women (the women own the boats here) for a ride around the harbor, and they ripped us off at the Jumbo restaurant by charging both a VIP surcharge (2x) and then an additional tax. All in all, still not a bad day in HK though...:)

Some fish spread, out, to advertise the days catch from one of the sanpans...

This is a sanpan (meaning three planks in Cantonese); small, easily maneuverable, smelly, but you just can't say you've been to Hong Kong if you haven't seen one of these, or a thousand...

The view of the nicer part of Aberdeen harbor showing how the rich people, and the poor people, live in Hong Kong...home of the world's most expensive real estate; top price in the best area is $5,500 per square foot.

The infamous Jumbo restaurant...much nicer inside than you would expect, but the food was forgettable and I already mentioned the additional charges for tourists...:(

Jenny spotted this graveyard on the way to Aberdeen. Rarely will you see graveyards in all of China because space is at a premium and there is the water table to think about, in addition to cremation being the method of choice. Don't know why this one is here but it was remarkably beautiful and serene...

This is a widely talked about bar in Lan Kwai Fong, which means all tourists and ex-pats come to this area of town to get drunk and speak slurred English...La Dolce Vita..they have a great reputation but was a bit of a disappointment on this Tuesday night, but there were a dozen or so other bars waiting for us so we moved on after a beer...

Speaking of night life...this is just one small street in the Lan Kwai Fong area...needless to say we don't have these kind of options back home in little DanYang...we got up later than expected the next day, and that's all I'll say about that...:)

Hong Kong Adventures, Part 1...

2009-04-20T23:03:00.009+08:00

For our first evening in Hong Kong we were salivating at the thought of having some infamous dim sum at The Palace, which was recommended from one of my favorite blogs, Anthony Bordain's No Reservations on the Travel Channel...unfortunately they only serve dim sum for lunch but we had a fantastic authentic Chinese meal, then headed out to Lan Kwai Fong for some beers and some fun. We found both in copious amounts...

This morning we slept in, then had some very tasty McDonald's burgers and fries (the best in China yet) then hit the subway which runs under the Victoria Harbor and over to an island (there are over 200 here) called Lantau. Lantau is home to the Po Lin Monastery featuring the largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha in the world, over 100 feet high and HUGE.

The cable car was quite an adventure in itself, easily the longest and highest we have ever been on - spectacular views of Lantau and Hong Kong International Airport.

The Buddha is impressive to say the least. We climbed exactly 208 stairs and enjoyed the peace and quiet despite a fairly heavy crowd of Chinese and Westerners. Pictures say it much better than words...

After relaxing with the big guy we headed back to the subway and got out in Kowloon which is directly across from north Hong Kong island separated only by the harbor. We were still craving some dim sum and on another recommendation from TripAdvisor we ended up walking about half an hour to the Marco Polo Prince hotel and right across the street is Sweet Dynasty.

Hong Kong is famous for their dim sum and we were not disappointed a second time! We whoofed down several plates of some of the best dim sum ever; lightly fried pork filled dumpings, small egg roll wrappers stuffed with shrimp and dipped in sesame seeds, slices of peppers, eggplants, and taro root filled with cheeses, and some of the richest, smoothest tea in China.

With our bellies stuffed, we headed down to the harbor to watch the light show at arguably the most famous skyline in the world. We both agreed we have seen no other city that comes close to the beauty and breadth of Hong Kong harbor, and it is certainly the longest, stretching almost 180 degrees from left to right...gorgeous.

After a few beers at Felix, an uber-chic bar at the top of the Peninsula Hotel with a view so stunning it literally took our breaths away, we trotted back down and hopped on the Star Ferry and were back on Hong Kong island in less than 10 minutes.

Our first day here also happened to be the hottest on record in the last 100 years for this day in April, and we barely broke a sweat - guess we are used to hot weather being from Tampa...the whole day confirmed that now Hong Kong is our favorite city in China, but we will always have Shanghai...:)

Here are some highlights...

Hello Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong...

2009-04-19T17:17:00.008+08:00

As I write this I am looking out at the view of Victoria Harbor from the 15th floor of our hotel. It's foggy this evening but that isn't dampening our spirits one bit as we are enjoying a bottle of Penfold's Shiraz/Cabernet, dancing around our hotel room to the Black Eyed Peas blasting from the ipod portable boom box provided by the hotel, and Nancy Pelosi is gloating about something pseudo-democratic on CNN. Yep, definitely not in DanYang anymore...we are in hot, sexy, neon-rich Hong Kong.

Hong Kong! Special Administrative Region. Juilong...

As with practically all communications from our host schools here in China, I got the word that I didn’t need to teach for the whole week ahead, late last Thursday evening. I told Jennifer the good news but it seems she had not been told any such thing by her school. Hmmm. So with the opportunity of nine days off to explore the country dangling like a dumpling in front of us, Jennifer called her host, Cynthia, personally, and after some wrangling and hemming and harrumphing Cynthia confirmed that indeed, we both have the next week off due to student exams.

Okay, it was late Thursday night, and we did have to confirm the information otherwise we would not have been told, but, we looked at each other and just grinned like two fat cats who were sharing a canary – all of the sudden we had nine days off to explore China! And although frustrated, yes, we know they are not irritating us on purpose; our hosts simply have no concept of planning and preparing so to let us know any more than absolutely necessary and not until the very last minute possible is simply not on their list of priorities. It’s just the way things are here and we deal with it be being very flexible and thinking fast on our feet. Yes!

So within a few hours Jennifer had put together a nine-day trip starting with a quick 40-minute train ride from our lovely city, DanYang, to Shanghai for an evening in our favorite city so far, and then our adventure really began – at Shanghai we hop on a fast train (with sleeper) for a 20-hour ride from Shanghai through some of the most sceneic and beautiful provinces in China; Zhejiang, then Jiangxi, and Juangdong, until we eventually disembark at Kowloon, one of the four distinct sections of Jiulong (Hong Kong).

Although it would be deliciously convenient, we are not able to purchase train tickets all the way to Hong Kong from our little city, so we agree to pack for the best and hope for more good luck and plan on buying our tickets once we are in Shanghai. For my part, I volunteer to navigate the treacherous Shanghai train station which means I end up standing in three different lines, over 40 minutes in each, until finally shuffling up to the window where I use every Chinese word I know and some I even make up to go with my sign language and thankfully(!), walk out with two tickets (655 yuan each, about $85 ea.) in a soft sleeper, which means a small room with four bunk beds (luxury here in China!). On the way home we hit a Pizza Hut and have a huge Supreme, original crust, and some Heinekens to celebrate our fleetfootedness!

Yesterday. We are feeling quite worldly and pleased with ourselves as we haggle with the vendors around the train station and pick Jenny up two sexy, hippie-traveling-the-globe sort of way, gauze skirts that you see on granola-eating tree huggers everywhere these days. We roll our little caravan luggage to the station and then calmly and efficiently jostle and elbow our way in the early Spring Shanghai heat through the crowds to the immigration screening and deportation process to get over to the Special Administrative Region known as Hong Kong.

Once screened, departure-formless, stamped, and approved, we are herded through a maze of tunnels and end up pushing our way to the front in the waiting room, nestle in with our luggage and look at our passports.

We giggle like school kids on an all-day field trip as we compare passports. The blue, black, pink stamps and seals and visas, all in different languages and codes, are beginning to look like the graffiti of jet-setters, world-travelers, explorers. I take a light nap while Jenny reads up on our destination and a few hours later we are rolling our luggage through a puddle of urine left by a toddler who couldn’t wait, and why should he(!), find our sleeper car, and are elated when we meet our traveling bunk mates, a young couple from Argentina, who speak better than average English, who are backpacking their way down to Thailand, from Shanghai via Hong Kong.

So we had a good train trip, got to speak some English and catch up on a few episodes of our latest obsession, ABC's Lost!, and now we are putting our first evening in Hong Kong together, after a much needed nap.

Talk soon...

From 0 - 60 in one lesson...

2009-04-14T08:06:00.006+08:00

Hello, Ms. Jenny here...Of all the things that are challenging here in China, I did not think that teaching would be the most difficult. I knew I would have difficulty with the food, and the language, and even the loneliness from feeling, and actually being, so far away from home and family.

But I'm realizing now that my new career is the most challenging aspect of my time here in China.

Let me begin by saying that last week, I did not have to teach at all! Well, initially I was first told that I would have to teach on Tuesday and Friday only. It was not until I got prepared on Tuesday, dressed, then biked over to my school and showed up to teach that I was casually told I was not needed today. With a smile they said I had a holiday. Grrr...

When the same thing happened on Friday I bit my tongue and just accepted that this is not a communication problem; it is just how it is here in China. From another casual broken English explanation, this time it was because of exams and then there was also a “Tomb Sweeping” holiday that my students had a few days off to celebrate.

So they decided to let me know about it when they could(?)..Sigh...

Sean also had a few days off as well, and the same communication issue happened to him too, but we did relax about it and ended up taking a few trips to some local towns, Nanjing and Suzhou. I will talk about them in another blog.

During our few days off I took some time and prepared a few good lessons for my students. I came up with a game called “The Alphabet Challenge” which is fashioned after the board game, Scrabble. The alphabet is written up on the board and points are awarded according to the first letter of the word used by the students and the amount of letters in a word. As soon as a letter is used it can't be used again so I felt like this game would be a good way to get my class enthusiastic and perhaps creative about English - I think I went overboard.

They went fanatical!

I chose to split the class into two teams... the Chinese are very competitive. And I mean competitive! And no matter how many times I explained that I only wanted one person from each team up at the board to write a word - they would not (maybe could not) listen! It was Mayhem!

They were as driven as I have ever seen them. I think that I even saw a few elbows. Lets just say, it was not how I pictured the class would play out, but it sure was fun to watch. Sean and I discussed the progression (or sheer loss of control - 55 Chinese students yelling and pushing is loud!!) of our classes during lunch and even after making a few adjustments, I am still finding myself being attacked by word hungry (point hungry) students.

I will bring my camera with me tomorrow and take a video of a class as they attack the board like hyenas on a lion’s carcass. Like I said, it sure is fun to watch.

“Are they learning anything?” you may ask... yes, I think so. We do review the words that are written and correct any spelling mistakes and I also give them new words to think about.

At least I am not hearing “This is boring!”.

Next week, I have decided to bring in the lyrics to some American songs by bands such as ColdPlay, Avril Lavigne and Back Street Boys. I will bring in the music and we will sing songs together while reading the lyrics on the overhead. Yes, I will sing with my class. This is something that every teacher is expected to do, the students absolutely love to sing, and I have put it off until now. I did sing a song (by myself) in our English Club two weeks ago. I sang Desperado and Sean sang a song by Stone Temple Pilots (of all groups!). They loved it...at least they clapped and cheered like they did.

Until next time... Keep smiling! :)

A day in the life...

2009-04-07T10:56:00.012+08:00

Hey! Jennifer and I just got back from a weekend in the same city we went for Valentine's Day dinner, Nanjing, and I was sitting on the train whisking through the countryside at around 170mph when I had a flash of brilliance. :)

My passion for traveling is equaled only by my frustration and angst when trying to convey the joy of the experience to others. For many, traveling is about finding solitude and peace in the middle of a completely different world, such as Elizabeth Gilbert's, Eat, Pray, Love. I on the other hand, enjoy immersing myself into wherever I am and soaking up all of the unique surroundings using as many sense-sponges as possible - I eat voraciously, talk incessantly, watch non-stop, hear acutely, and even over here in physically aloof China, the occasional connection of a hug lets me touch my host world.

All these new experiences give me volumes to chat about with friends, family, the guy drinking the same beer as me at Four Green Fields, the taxi driver in a new city who happens to be chatty - I enjoy telling everyone who will listen all about the crazy places I've been - but my words and descriptions always fall short. Especially when compared to the power of pictures.

So I decided to try a photo essay. Many of you may not know that I was enrolled to begin my graduate work as a Journalism major at USF but decided that Education gave me more options for traveling (since I'm too old to be trekking through war torn quagmires such as Iraq, Afghanistan, or New York City). And since writing, and taking photos is a passion of mine, why not put together a collection of photos and text that describes what a day teaching is like for me here in #1 Sr. High School in DanYang, China?

I like to begin things on Monday's, and mine began at 6am when I popped out of bed to the clanging and clattering of construction directly beneath our window and grabbed my camera and starting shooting. I kept it with me through the whole day, shooting everything I felt would be interesting. It ended with a Chinese feast in a private restaurant generously provided by the parents of one of my students who are asking if I will consider tutoring her privately as she is heading over to the United States soon and wants to learn more English asap!

On my way to watch the Chinese Flag raised for the morning, I grabbed a short video of the students as they formed up and then ran out to the track to line up for the weekly student speech. Click to watch..be patient, the web is still slow sometimes.

I'm putting some captions with these shots so you get the full effect of the experience...it's not glamorous over here by any stretch, but I hope I can convey how much I/we enjoy it.

Here are a few of the more interesting pics, to see the whole photo essay of my day, click on any picture to review all the photos.

Tip: When you click on a picture, or a video, in the blog, you are automatically taken to the viewer called Picasa. Once you are in Picasa, click the Slideshow button in the top left corner underneath the name of the photo album, DayInTheLife. Using the slideshow, you can adjust the time each slide appears so you can read all of the information provided in the captions.

Enjoy!

Zie Jian!

All in a day's work...

2009-03-31T20:39:00.005+08:00