Wandering Solo

Hobbiton

2012-02-04T17:14:00.002-07:00

My friends Alexa & Dan were in Hamilton over the weekend. We all went out to see Hobbiton, the location where they filmed the Shire scenes in Lord of the Rings & the Hobbit.

It was really cool, but unfortunately, I can't post any photos or tell you what it was like. They made us sign a confidentiality agreement to keep everything hush-hush until the latest movie is released at the end of this year.

They're so serious about keeping things top secret that the New Zealand government enforced a no-fly zone over the Shire while the film crews were there. The New Zealand government! If pilots were caught "accidentally" flying over Hobbiton, they got their pilot's license revoked with no possibility of re-issue. Peter Jackson's got some clout!

So if you want to see what the Shire looks like, you'll have to watch the movie, I'm afraid. Or you could have a look at Hobbiton. I highly recommend it.

Cricket!

2012-01-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

I attended my first ever cricket game over the weekend. It wasn't the big leagues, but I didn't know the difference.

I sat on the lawn with the other spectators - a family day out. The sun came out for a bit, but then hid behind some menacing rain clouds. Luckily, they never quite followed through on their threat.

I watched for three hours, trying to understand what was happening. Mostly it seemed like a lazy day for the players as well. The fielders hung out & watched as the batters jogged from wicket to wicket. Children gathered at the fence line for autographs from the closest player. & after 50 overs, they all broke for lunch, at which point some of the spectators went out on the field to play their own cricket games.

I didn't stay to the end - that would have taken another four hours after lunch. Aparently, this was a very short game. Many cricket games can go on for four or five days. You'd have to take days off from work to see a whole game!

Although I didn't really understand much of what was happening, it was a nice day out in the park. I'm looking forward to catching a rugby game while I'm here in New Zealand as well. It won't be the All Blacks because their season won't start until after I leave, but I won't know the difference.

Photo of the Week: Balloon Over Waikato

2012-01-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

Hamilton is world famous for its Balloons Over Waikato event. One morning, I saw this seemingly random balloon over the roof tops of my suburban neighborhood. I'm looking forward to seeing more of these at the festival at the end of March.

10 Things I love about Hamilton

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

1. You can walk down the street without navigating through a sea of people.

2. There are never any more than five people on the public bus at one time.

3. The cashier at the grocery store asks me how my day is going.

4. There is a restaurant for almost every type of cuisine you can think of.

5. Riding in the left-hand seat as a passenger in a car is fun!

6. Since New Zealand dollars are so close in value to US dollars, it seems like I'm spending more than I actually am, which makes me more concious of my spending.

7. Since there are lots of Chinese people here, I can still eavesdrop on conversations in Mandarin.

8. There are birds & insects & plants growing everywhere.

9. The tap water tastes better than any bottled water I've ever had.

10. It smells like grass.

Being a very interesting obelisk

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

There are lots of cool monuments & plaques all over Auckland commemorating the early settlers & their deeds, many of them stationed in peaceful parks around the city. This one made the editor in me laugh & laugh.

Local Tastes: NZ

2012-01-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

You may recall the wacky potato chip flavors I found in Shanghai. Blueberry, mango, numb & spicy! Some of them weren't bad, actually.

Here in Hamilton, they have their own local tastes. I found these delights at the grocery store the other day. I skipped the lamb & mint flavor, but the lime & black pepper was pretty good.

What's the craziest potato chip flavor you've ever seen?

Once were warriors

2012-01-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

If you've seen the film Once Were Warriors, you might think that the Maori (the 'mao' part is pronounced as in Mao Zedong - 'mao-ree') population in New Zealand is suffering disfunction. But that movie was made almost 20 years ago, in 1994 - a lot has happened since then.

Although that story might still be true today in some Maori homes (as well as in the homes of families from every background, in every country), in the short time I have been in New Zealand, I have noticed that there is quite a strong sense of pride in the Maori culture here.

Maori culture & traditions can be seen everywhere - from the arts festival, to film & television, to a huge section of Maori language books at the library. & at many public spaces, the signs are in both English & Maori, reflecting a respect for the Maori language & people.

It's a good example for places around the world where minority cultures are forgotten in favor of progress. Our history is who we are. If we lose that, what do we have left?

Streets of China

2012-01-17T00:01:00.001-07:00

Streets of China from Ricardo Mendialdua on Vimeo.

What is this?!

2012-01-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

I checked on my garden the other day & saw

these little buggers hanging out in my beets:

Take a closer look:

What *is* that?!

Riff Raff

2012-01-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hamilton has a pretty interesting history. I saw a little of it when I went to the Waikato Museum in the city center (sorry, 'centre'), where they had a unique exhibition on the local rugby team, & a beautiful collection of Maori articles.

But possibly the quirkiest little bit is that Richard O'Brien worked on Victoria Street as a hairdresser at one point. Who's Richard O'Brien? Why, he's the iconic Riff Raff from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. In fact, he wrote the screenplay.

Hamilton has erected a statue in his honor, & last December Mr. O'Brien was granted New Zealand citizenship. He now lives here, & as luck would have it, he's going to be present at the Hamilton Gardens Arts Festival in February. I can't wait to see this guy in the flesh!

Intruder!

2012-01-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

100 Things: An update

2012-01-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ever since I left the US to travel the world, I've been trying to be more conscious of how much stuff I own. As a traveler, the fewer things I have the easier it is to move from place to place.

Before I left Arizona, I had four large yard sales to get rid of my stuff & donated the leftovers to charity.

I spent just six months in Vietnam, & when I moved to China, I found another huge pile of things to leave behind. Another layer of the onion peeled.

I spent two years in Shanghai, where I lived in a small apartment with a Chinese couple. I tried to stay aware of my stuff - to keep my belongings to a minimum. As I was packing to move to New Zealand, again I found a pile of stuff to leave behind.

It sounds like I've been whittling my possessions down to nothing. I should be getting frightfully close to the 100-thing mark at this rate, right?

Not so. When I left the US for Vietnam, I had about 350 things. I took about 350 things with me from Vietnam to China. & I packed about 350 things to bring with me to New Zealand.

After all that leaving-stuff-behind business, how could this possibly be?

Instead of a pile of books, I have a Kindle - less stuff. Meanwhile, I've acquired an assortment of clothing appropriate for all kinds of weather - more stuff. Instead of movies on DVD, I now download movies to my laptop (China's great for that) - less stuff. But I've collected a variety of SIM cards & currency from five different countries - more stuff. I haven't been reducing my possessions - I've just been exchanging it for more travel-minded things.

At least my stuff weighs less each time I move. I paid $100 over-weight fee on my first move, & $50 on my second. This time, I came in 10 kilos under weight. Small victories.

Photo of the Week: Chinese & Fish 'n' Chips

2012-01-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

My New Zealand house sit

2012-01-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

Not bad, eh?

They were selling vegetable plants at the grocery store, so I got a few & planted them in pots on the side of the house.

Hamilton is a quiet town of about 200,000 people. You can hear birds chirping in the morning & everyone is super friendly. It's a nice change from the big city.

First view of New Zealand

2012-01-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

Leavin' on a jet plane...

2012-01-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Things I've Learned 2011

2011-12-31T00:01:00.004-07:00

What an interesting year 2011 has been!

The most influential thing to happen this year was the office job. I've always had unconventional jobs - waitress, retail sales associate, adult education teacher, small business owner - so I thought it was time to try out salaried employment for a while.

In my office chair, I learned so much about writing & editing course materials for online English lessons. I learned about spreadsheets & timelines, PowerPoint & office politics. & I learned that - although I really do enjoy being a content editor - working a 9-to-5, enduring the daily commute, & sitting in a lifeless office all day are not exactly my thing. Thank goodness for freelancing!

This year, I was able to travel to London & the Philippines for work. (My first business trips!) I got to spend a month at home with friends & family. I traveled within China to Harbin, Xian & Tibet. Yes, Tibet! Amazing adventures.

But all this stimulating travel & discovery has contrasted starkly with the daily grind. People ask me why I would leave Shanghai when it's so easy to live here. Lots of people speak English so learning Chinese can be a hobby rather than a survival strategy. Western food & culture are widely available. Many people have drivers & maids because money is worth more here. Frankly, we don't really have to put any effort into living here at all. That's true. Maybe too true.

But Shanghai can be overwhelming with it's hustle & bustle, the traffic, the noise, the pushing & shoving, the shopping - oh! the shopping. I find I can handle it much better with my MP3 player on & my head down. I move around the city, I move through my life here in a bubble, without really paying attention to it - stimulation overload.

I don't want to coast through my life, & I don't want to spend my days in a bubble. Instead, I want to pay attention to what's happening, & I want life to be challenging. I want to see beautiful places, meet interesting people. I want to learn what it's like out there. I want to have to solve the kinds of problems that only traveling in a new place will provide. I want to do things the hard way - & that might be the most important thing I've learned this year.

Things I've learned 2010

Butterflies in my stomach

2011-12-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

One of my Chinese friends asked me if I had everything ready to leave for New Zealand. I told her I had awaken every morning this week with butterflies in my stomach. With a concerned look on her face, she asked if I felt sick.

Joiner

2011-12-23T03:12:00.001-07:00

I'm getting ready to move to New Zealand from Shanghai, China. A new year, a new country.

For the past several weeks, I've been doing my own sort of research on New Zealand. I've been watching movies from New Zealand and reading novels by New Zealand authors. I've also secured a place to stay, & have contacted friends of friends who live there.

In addition, I've been investigating social groups in the area near where I'll be staying. I've found a book club that meets in Auckland. I've contacted the local photography club. I've looked up a list of vegetarian restaurants in town. I've even investigated volunteering for the Chinese New Year festival happening at the beginning of February. People say I'm a joiner.

Even though I'll only be in New Zealand for three months, it's still long enough to be able to meet local people with similar interests to my own - something we don't have the chance to do on a short vacation. I'm excited to have the time to be able to linger, to possibly do some things twice.

Even so, I'm glad to be on the move - I'm happiest when I'm traveling. But it's important to make certain things in my life continuous. I can join book clubs wherever I go, & continue the discussion online after I'm gone. I can take photos of the places I go, share them online, & learn from others who are more experienced than I am. I can seek out others & celebrate their culture with them. Most importantly, since I've begun teaching English online & doing freelance writing on the side, I can now keep the same job as I move from place to place.

These are the consistencies that I maintain as my life becomes happily inconsistent.

Photo of the Week: Welcome to my own private Christmas

2011-12-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

10 Things to give a traveler

2011-12-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

During the holidays, we like to remember our friends & family with cards & gifts. But what do you do when there is a traveler in your life? They might not stay in one place long enough to receive anything you could send through the mail. It might seem hopeless to include them on your holiday card mailing list.

But there is still a way - the internet is a wonderful thing. There are so many digital gifts & e-cards out there. Besides, your traveler probably doesn't need any more stuff. Here are ten things you can give a traveler without weighing down their luggage.

Credit at Amazon.com for Kindle e-books, digital music & more
Virtual language lessons - a couple of my favorites: ChinesePod, Lo Más TV
Online exercise classes - MyYogaOnline.com
Netflix membership - the streaming only option
A membership at Hostelling International
A donation to their favorite charity - I like Kiva.org
Your unused frequent flyer miles
A tour in or around their currrent location
A visit - meet them somewhere!
A phone call - Skype.com

Wishing you a happy holiday season & a new year filled with adventure.

10 Things I'm going to miss about Shanghai

2011-12-04T00:01:00.007-07:00

1. Three-dollar taxi rides
2. Five-course meals for less than five dollars
3. Stuff on sticks
4. Hello Kitty motorbikes
5. Thames Town & the Sightseeing Tunnel
6. Random wedding photo sessions
7. Couples dancing in the park
8. Old men walking the streets at night in their PJs
9. Old ladies walking backwards to keep in shape
10. Speaking Chinese

Wouldn't that be the coolest?!

2011-11-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

I wonder how much the fare from Auckland to LA would be.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T23:59:00.006-07:00

I spent Thanksgiving with a few of my American coworkers at an American restaurant here in Shanghai called Southern Belle (owned by a Bostonian). The food was delicious, the company was pleasant, & I was happy to be able to share this day with others.

I am blessed.

Online teaching

2011-11-18T00:01:00.002-07:00

I'm really excited about my new job as an online teacher. I'll officially start in January, but to get used to how it works before I leave China, I've been teaching a few online classes after work for the past several weeks.

It's been really interesting to teach a class online. The dynamics are completely different from an in-person class, but it's still a lot of fun! The classes are 45 minutes long, & seem to fly by. I'm enjoying the contact with students, & the discussions that we have based on the material.

The students are from all over the world, but at the moment, most of them seem to be from China or Russia. That's probably more because we're in a similar time zone rather than being an indication of the state of the ESL industry. When I move to New Zealand in January, the students' origins might be different.

This is definitely a positive step forward for me. It's a new dimension in my career, & I'm excited about learning something new - not to mention the freedom of mobility that the new job will give me. Who knows where this will lead. For now, it's taking me south of the equator.

New Zealand plans set!

2011-11-11T22:39:00.000-07:00

I've just booked my flight to New Zealand! I'll be leaving Shanghai on January 1st.

NZ visa - check.
One-way ticket to Auckland - check.

I'll spend three months in New Zealand (the limit of a tourist visa), then fly to Australia in April, where I'll spend another three months.

Australian visa - check.
One-way ticket to Sydney - check.

What a way to start the new year!

Experiments of elimination

2011-10-28T23:59:00.002-07:00

I recently read a book called The Year of Living Biblically, in which the author recounts his attempt to live as near to the Bible's teachings as possible. He stops eating pork & starts growing his beard. He even throws a few pebbles at his friend who is having an affair because the Bible says we should stone adulterers. His friends bring up the question: What is the purpose of doing something like this? It's a good question.

Disconnected, a short documentary put together by a group of college students hits on a similar theme. They try to spend five weeks without using a computer. At times, it's difficult & frustrating for the students, especially when a research paper is due. During their experiment, their friends ask: Why go computer-free? It's not a real-life scenario - you will never be the only one without access to a computer. Another good question.

It made me think of my (as yet unsuccessful) attempt at owning only 100 things. When my friend Michael was in Shanghai last month, I showed him my apartment. His comment: "100 things, huh?"

Right. So what's the point of me trying to reduce my possessions? It's not a realistic scenario, & 100 is an arbitrary number. All true.

But these kinds of experiments have a greater purpose: to become aware of how things affect us. A year of living by the Bible might have been interesting - a bit quirky, & sometimes annoying for friends - but at the end of that year, the author suggested that he felt like a nicer person, & that he was much more accepting of other people's religious beliefs. The students who spent five weeks without a computer are now more aware of just how much time they spend with their laptops, & probably are more likely to step away from them when they're just killing time.

As for me, I haven't reached 100 things yet - not even close. But as I continue to strive towards that goal, I make smarter buying decisions, I look for ways to consolodate my stuff, & I'm much more aware of how much of our stuff is just stuff. It's all part of the process of awareness.

Research: New Zealand

2011-10-20T00:01:00.015-07:00

Since I will be moving to New Zealand in January, I've been doing a bit of research - looking online for novels, short stories & movies set in New Zealand or written by New Zealanders.

In the movie category, I've found Whale Rider, The Piano and Rain, all of which I have already downloaded.

Books have been a little tougher to find. I found a short story by Shayne Parkinson called All I Want, which I really enjoyed, but that seems to be all I can find. I'm sure I'm just not looking in the right places.

Maybe you can help me. Can you recommend any good movies or books about New Zealand that aren't tourist-focused?

Next: Online teaching

2011-10-17T23:59:00.001-07:00

My contract here in Shanghai is up at the end of the year. I'm staying with the same company, but starting in January, I will officially be an online teacher & freelance writer.

I'm really excited about the new job! It will get me back in touch with my teaching self (which I have dearly missed this past year), & my class schedule will be flexible - much more my style. Most importantly, it will allow me the freedom to move about the planet, which I've been striving for over the past few years.

Shanghai has been good to me, there's no doubt. But it's time to move on. Next stop: New Zealand.

Tibetan prayer flags

2011-10-13T23:59:00.004-07:00

Yep. It's true. Prayer flags are everywhere in Tibet - as if the whole country had a silly string party.

I had thought that people wrote their own prayers on the flags before stringing them up. But it turns out that the flags are pre-printed, & it looks like every string of flags has basically the same thing on it.

Our guide told us that the flags are always printed in five colors: blue for the sky, white for clouds, red for fire, yellow for the earth, & green for water. I always find it interesting how other cultures perceive colors.

White scarves are also ubiquitous. Our guide greeted us on the first day with white scarves. People drape them around statues of Buddha in the temples. & they add them in to the mix of prayer flags on mountain tops.

I didn't ask our guide the significance of the white color, but I know that many Asian countries use white for funerals or to represent death. Here the white scarves seemed to be good-luck talismans, so maybe they are used to evoke good spirits for protection. If you have any insight on this, I'd be interested to hear it.

Yak poop

2011-10-09T23:59:00.005-07:00

On our road trip through Tibet, we passed between beautiful rocky mountains, past fields of barley. A few times we stopped at a farming village to get out & stretch our legs. The houses were simple square structures of one or two storeys, with little adornment except for brightly painted decorations above the windows & doors.

In the middle of the day, when we stopped at these villages, there was no one in sight - as if the towns had been abandoned. But later as we were driving past the barley fields, we saw whole families bent over among the stalks, wielding sharp scythes and stacking the cut grain into neat little teepees.

Several of the houses had disks of yak dung drying on the outer walls. At first, I thought it might be part of the building materials - a resourceful way to keep the stones together. But our guide told us that Tibetans use the dried yak dung cakes as fuel in the winter time.

If I were to die tomorrow...

2011-10-06T00:01:00.002-07:00

Three things to remember:

1. You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.
2. The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
3. Death is the destination we all share.

Tibetan Road Trip

2011-10-04T07:22:00.000-07:00

My favorite day in Tibet was the day we took a six-hour road trip through the mountains. I love road trips.

Near the beginning of our trip, we stopped at a police checkpoint where our guide got a time-stamped voucher. We had to take a minimum of two hours to drive the 96 kilometers to the next checkpoint. If we arrived early, we would be fined by the minute. The system ensures safe driving without having to employ an abundance of public safety officers. Although at various intervals, we were greeted by very friendly police mannequins.

We started our trip near 12,000 feet - the highest I had ever been before going to Tibet. The two-lane road took a windy path up & up through the mountain tops. We crossed over three or four passes that day, each a little higher than the last.

The final pass brought us to more than 16,000 feet, where we found a rest stop with simple bathrooms, vendors selling jewelry, & Tibetans dressed in traditional clothing looking for someone to take their picture. There we sat in front of a beautiful glacier clinging to the mountain side as our guide took a photo.

Back down the other side of the pass, more beauty as far as the eye could see.

Debating Monks

2011-10-01T00:01:00.010-07:00

One of the most interesting things we saw in Tibet was what they called a "debate" at a Buddhist monastery.

We arrived at the monastery in time to see the afternoon prayer session, the elder monks chanting deep in their throats while a few hundred monks followed along. Well - most of them, anyway. Some of the younger monks on the peripheries were distracted by all the tourists who had come to watch.

After prayer, several monks came into the hall carrying huge cauldrons of cooked rice & beans, & doled out a handful to each of the men. Some monks had wooden bowls & spoons, but most simply used a small plastic grocery bag to eat out of.

The debate was supposed to start at 3:00. While we waited for the monks to gather in the courtyard, our guide told us that they would be debating the doctrines of the religious texts they were studying - an exercise in free thinking.

As they entered the courtyard, the monks paired up, one sitting on a cushion, & the other standing in front of him. According to our guide, the standing monk would pose questions about their studies to his seated partner, & the other would answer.

Of course, we couldn't understand the details of the debate since it was in Tibetan, but the monks were all very animated in their discussions. The standing monk would raise one leg as he asked the question, & stomp it down as he clapped his hands together enthusiastically. The courtyard was alive with the murmer of discussion.

Painted on the wall at one of the temples, we found what our guide called the circle of life. An evil-looking monster grabs at the circle from the outside, while humans go about their daily life on the inside. At the center are three animals: a snake, a chicken and a pig.

The three animals represent the three negative characteristics that humans must transcend if they are to reach nirvana. Our guide couldn't remember the English words for them, but we pieced together his descriptions, & decided on ignorance, jealousy & desire. This debate that we witnessed was the monks' attempt at overcoming their ignorance, bringing them one step closer to enlightenment.

The New Kindle Fire!

2011-09-28T20:57:00.009-07:00

It was only a matter of time.

Kindle announced today their new Kindle Fire, Amazon’s answer to the iPad. I can’t tell you how excited I am! I’ve only just seen the announcement, & have not actually held one in my hands, but I can see that this new device is going to be awesome.

Of course, the best thing is that it has the same touch technology that an iPad or iPhone has. It runs on Google’s Android software, making Android-compatible apps & games available for download on the Kindle Fire. Also, it’s smaller & cheaper than the iPad. Its 7” display makes it much lighter & more portable than the iPad, & at $199 it’s so much more affordable.

Still, reading on a backlit screen is not ideal. One of the reasons I love my Kindle is because I can read on it for hours without getting tired. Kindle thought of that, though, & along with the Kindle Fire, they also have announced the new Kindle Touch, which has touch-screen technology combined with the very readable e-ink, but it’s available only in black & white.

Although the Kindle Touch is available with 3G technology, the Kindle Fire does not have it yet. So you can use it to play games, watch movies & listen to music, but you can’t browse the web without a wi-fi connection. It also doesn’t come with a camera or a microphone, so you can’t call anyone or take any photos.

Even though it’s not the iPad’s equal – yet – I’m really excited to see this new alternative. It’s not perfect, but it’s a great start. I can’t wait to see the second and third generations of the Kindle Fire. Oh! The possibilities!

Potala Palace

2011-09-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

One of the first things we did in Lhasa was to see the famous Potala Palace up close & in person. I had pictured it being on a remote mountain top, difficult enough to reach so that pilgrims could feel they had accomplished something by getting there. Instead, it was smack dab in the center of town - the focus of attention as we rode down the main thoroughfare.

We climbed the stairs to the entrance & took a look out over the city. Across the street from the palace was a large concrete plaza with an obelisk stabbed into the middle of it. We later got a closer look at the monument & learned that it commemorates the founding of the People's Republic of China.

There were hundreds of pilgrims circling the palace, spinning their portable prayer wheels & chanting, some prostrating every few feet, looking as if they hadn't bathed since they started their journey to Lhasa from the countryside. Outside the palace there was a long line of fixed prayer wheels that the pilgrims spun as they passed.

The palace was decorated with colorful images of Tibetan gods, most of them fantastically monster-like. We were not permitted to take photos inside, but we were able to take some pictures of the painted walls just outside the entrance.

Inside it was dark & musty. Everything was brightly painted with a coating of smoke from the butter urns burning at various intervals inside the palace. Each pilgrim added a little bit of butter to each urn as an offering, ensuring the flame would continue to burn. Our guide told us that the fuel the pilgrims were using was actually vegetable-based since most people can't afford to give real yak butter.

Each pilgrim placed money in small bills in front of the butter urns, on the altars or between the slats separating them from the golden statues - in every nook & cranny available - bowing in prayer as they did so. The place was littered with money that would be used to make repairs to the palace, buy more Buddha statues & feed the monks living there.

Among the stashes of bills & coins, we saw hair clips, strings of beads & other every-day baubles - even grains of barley. Our guide explained that those who don't have money to offer the gods choose to offer what they do have, sacrificing what they can to ensure good fortune in the future.

Altitude Sickness

2011-09-25T00:01:00.002-07:00

The first day in Tibet, our guide instructed us to take it easy - no sightseeing or walking around too much. We needed to rest & acclimate to being at 12,000 feet. We took his advice & settled for a nice quiet dinner & a welcome Lhasa beer.

We were bushed from traveling, so we decided to call it an early night. Crawled into bed, lights out, deep contented sigh...

Turn to the right. Try the left. Uf! On my back, on my stomach. Back to the right side. Not sleeping. Close my eyes really tight. Think of Tibetan sheep jumping over Tibetan fences. Nothing. Not one wink the whole night.

The next day our guide asked us if we slept well. No, we moaned. Did you have beer? Yes, we muttered. You shouldn't have beer, he chided. Good to know. The next night we avoided the beer & were able to sleep much better.

It was the third day that really affected me, though. We had been out in the sun for two days, without a thick atmosphere or layer of pollution to protect us from the sun's rays. By the end of the day, I felt weak, lightheaded & a little nauseous. I spent the afternoon in bed with a slight fever, & that evening I skipped dinner altogether.

It took a few more days after that before I felt normal again. By the end of the week, I didn't notice the altitude at all. I started to wonder if going back down would have an affect on us, since we were now used to being so high up. But it turns out that altitude sickness only works one way. Thank goodness.

Tibetan Food

2011-09-22T00:01:00.006-07:00

I had no idea what Tibetan food would be like, but I figured it might not be very vegetarian friendly - not much grows at 12,000 feet. I imagined that yak meat & yak butter tea & potatoes might be the only things to eat there. Just in case, I brought a stash of granola bars with me from Shanghai so that I'd be able to suppliment whatever we found in the restaurants.

There were indeed lots of yak-based dishes on the Tibetan menu, but I was delighted to find a long list of Indian-style vegetable offerings as well. There were curries & naan & samosas a-plenty, all of which I happily gobbled up & washed down with a nice cold Lhasa beer.

First views of Tibet

2011-09-19T23:59:00.003-07:00

It was a seven-hour trip from Shanghai to Lhasa, with a stopover in Xian. Both legs of the flight were delayed, which wasn't much of a surprise. Reasons range from the weather to air traffic control, but flights are reliably late in China - a good thing to know if you're rushing to catch a plane.

Flying into Lhasa was an incredible sight. The Tibetan capital lies 12,000 feet above sea level. I expected to see snow on the mountains & lush vegetation below. Instead I saw a beautiful landscape of rocky peaks & trickling river beds with lots of little villages populating the river valleys.

As the plane approached the airport, I got a closer look at the matrix of streams braided across the landscape. I thought of Alaska - could that be glacier melt? I wondered where all the glaciers were.

I stepped off the plane into a bright sunny afternoon. It was much warmer than I expected - I didn't need my light jacket at all.

Outside the airport a throng of tour guides held up signs, each with a different name printed on it. I found the sign with my name & nodded to the man holding it. I spoke to him in Chinese at first. He seemed taken aback, but quickly recovered.

Once we had our bags safely packed into the back of the all-terrain vehicle that would be our transportation for the week, our guide welcomed us to Tibet with traditional white silk scarfs.

Back in Shanghai

2011-09-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Shanghai after an amazing trip to Tibet & Xian.

Tibet was incredibly beautiful - blue skies, rocky mountains, hairy yaks, sheep & goats everywhere, monks in dark flowing red robes & funny yellow hats, pilgrims spinning prayer wheels as they circled holy sites, & yummy curries & naan.

Xian was interesting from a historical perspective - the terra cotta warriors were fascinating - & the top of the old city wall made for a nice evening bike ride.

I'll be spending the next few days sorting through photos, so be watching for more details of the trip soon!

9-11

2011-09-11T00:01:00.008-07:00

Going to Tibet

2011-09-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

I leave for Lhasa on Saturday.

That's something I never thought I'd have the opportunity to say. Like, who ever goes to Tibet, right? TIBET, for cripes sake!

I had to get a special visa to go since Tibet is officially an autonomous region of China, but it was a fairly painless process - the tour company took care of all the paperwork - so I'm all set.

I can't wait to see yaks & prayer flags & monks & mountains & stars & pagodas & throngs of tourists!

39 Steps: A photographic experiment

2011-08-29T00:01:00.001-07:00

Inspired by a photo challenge on Red Bubble, & the title of the book by John Buchan, I decided to conduct a photographic experiment over the weekend. Starting at my front door, I took exactly 39 steps (the elevator ride counted as two - one in, one out) & looked around.

At first, it was difficult for me to find an interesting subject to photograph. Since I pass by this scene every day on the way to & from my life in Shanghai, everything looked so... usual. I decided to just start taking photos at random & see what happened. I snapped continuously for a few minutes, taking 70 photos total before I started drawing curious stares from the neighbors.

Back inside, I uploaded the shots to my computer. With very minimal tweeking - auto fix mostly - I wound up with five usable images.

It was a good experiment for me. It forced me to look at a very familiar scene a bit more closely - to notice the details - & I found some pretty interesting stuff.

Perhaps the point of this type of exercise is, instead of always looking to the future - the weekend, the next vacation, retirement - to notice where we are. Even if we've seen it hundreds of times before, it's still worth a second glance.

This is probably a large part of why I have such insatiable wanderlust - my inattention to where I am. I feel more comfortable with a constantly changing backdrop. When I see the same scene day after day, I get restless, longing for a new view. But what would happen if I zoomed in every now & again, & took a closer look at now?

What do you see 39 steps from your front door?

starting point

39 steps from the front door

determination

worker ants

沪 (pronounced "hu") is the official symbol for Shanghai

ginko leaf

between a rock & a hard place

POT: The Program for Online Teaching

2011-08-22T23:59:00.001-07:00

The internet is so cool. I just enrolled in a 24-week online teaching certificate program offered at Mira Costa College in Oceanside, California. The course is completely online & it's free, free, FREE!

Our first assignments are to download the e-textbook for the class (which I can read on my Kindle!), create a blog that we will use as our course journal, & create an account on Diigo for sharing links & other information from the internet with the participants in the class.

So far, I've been successful at only one of the three. Google e-books & Diigo are apparently not China-friendly. I'll have to see what I can do to work around the Great Fire Wall.

In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to the course. It will give me the opportunity to learn more about online teaching while trading useful ideas with teachers around the world. Plus, it will be a great way for me to stretch my boundaries & exercise my brain a little.

Virtual Groceries

2011-08-17T23:59:00.003-07:00

Since I've been away from the US for over two years now, I'm not really ever sure when I see something new or strange or crazy, if it's an Asia thing or if it's all the rage at home as well.

Case in point: I had heard about vending machines in Japan selling live crabs & used underwear. What will they think of next, I thought. But when I was in the US for a visit earlier this year, I was surprised to see, live & in person, a vending machine selling electronics in Dallas (how many quarters do you need for a Canon?), & one in LA selling fresh cut flowers. Vending machines. Like Coke & Fritos vending machines. Does no one else think this is strange?

The other day, during the morning push-n-shove on the Shanghai subway, I passed by a billboard that caught my eye. At a glance, it looks like the shelves of a grocery store, with brightly packaged food lined up in neat little rows. But a closer look reveals more.

Each product has a scan code pattern next to it that you can scan with your mobile phone. The scan places an order with the store, & the products then get delivered to your door later that day. You can shop on your morning commute & by the time you get home, your groceries are waiting for you. Not only groceries - electronics too. You can get a Canon for 6648 RMB (US $1038). What will they think of next?

So what's going on back home? Do they have this kind of shopping there as well?

Photo of the Week: Made in China

2011-08-13T23:59:00.001-07:00

The New Office

2011-08-08T23:59:00.121-07:00

My office moved over the weekend, from downtown to the international business district. The new office is bright and clean and funky-Swedish-designed to the nines. EF is big on making their spaces look cool.

We have rooms built of glass walls, elevated spaces with cushions to sit on for impromptu meetings, columns of green plants growing up through three floors of anti-cubicle desk arrangements, & a track of monkey bars bolted to the ceiling for an alternative mode of transportation between departments.

It's all very exciting & new. We're having a great time playing around on the rock climbing wall, making chalk drawings on our personal lockers, & experimenting with the new cappuccino machine. Woohoo! Google ain't got nothin' on us!

Today we received our shiny new security badges, complete with photo & job title - the kind that you clip to your belt & swipe to get into the building. I'm an official nine-to-fiver now, complete with membership card - something I never thought I'd be.

It's been quite an interesting experience - being an office grunt. In many ways it has posed challenges I never knew existed. For one thing, I've discovered that staying quiet, focused & seated for eight hours a day is difficult for me. Really difficult.

But It's been a good project for me to spend this year in an office. I've gotten a greater insight into what goes on behind the scenes. Not only do I understand the mechanics of curriculum development better, I've also gotten a glimpse into how office politics work - it's a whole new culture for me.

But most of all, I've realized that I really do love teaching. I love the interaction with students. I love creating a lesson & getting immediate feedback in the classroom. I love moving around as I work. I love the creativity that comes with teaching. & I love being personally invested in what I do for a living. Let someone else climb the ladder to VP of Academics. I'm quite happy in the classroom, thank you.

So I've started looking for ways to meld my two loves together: travel & teaching. EF offers online teaching - like having a Skype call with students - & the teachers have the opportunity to live anywhere in the world. I just need a healthy internet connection. I've already started teaching a few classes per week, & hope to continue with that full time after I leave China at the end of the year.

Memrise: A vocabulary study tool

2011-08-04T23:59:00.001-07:00

I've recently discovered a website called Memrise. It's a fun vocabulary study tool that lets you study in short five-minute chunks. The interface is based on growing your vocabulary "garden". When you want to learn new words, you "plant seeds", words that you're studying need "watering", & words that you've gotten right consistently are "harvested".

Here's my greenhouse:

As you can see, I have three wilting plants in my garden - the ones that I got wrong during my last study session - but I can water them (study some more) to make them healthy again.

It looks like Memrise started as a Chinese language study tool, but lots of other languages are available as well, including Spanish, Polish & Biblical Hebrew. You can even use it to increase your vocabulary in English so that you can finally ace the Sunday crossword puzzle.

I've been using Memrise while I'm at work to exercise my mind at the beginning of the day or when I need a short break from editing in the middle of the day. It's a great way to jump start my brain & much better for me than Angry Birds!

Blooming Lotus

2011-08-01T23:59:00.001-07:00

Continuing my quest for green leafy places, I spent this past weekend in Hangzhou. I had been there before & liked it a lot. So when I heard that the lotus were blooming, I decided to go have a look.

Blooming lotus

Water show complete with music soundtrack

As seen from the train at 350 kph (214 mph)

Naked Retreat

2011-07-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's the hot sticky summer weather, but I've been feeling a little uber-urban lately. All this glass & concrete & noise & hustle has me on edge. For the last few weeks, I've been taking little day trips away from the city in an effort to regroup.

Last weekend, a local wellness group organized a trip to Naked Retreats in Moganshan, a village about three hours by bus from Shanghai. Moganshan has long been a weekend retreat for expats living in Shanghai. Many of the buildings were built by Europeans in the late 1800s, & you can see the Western influence in the architecture there. The mountain used to be covered in pine trees until the local farmers discovered that bamboo was much more profitable. These days you can see green bamboo & tea fields for miles & miles.

We spent the weekend hiking, swimming, yoga-ing, eating wholesome food, & generally enjoying the surrounding green-ness there. We saw frogs & birds & butterflies - & stars. Stars! In the sky! It was absolutely delightful. It was so nice to get out of the city - away from the daily mad dash that is Shanghai - & breathe.

Naked Retreats Lodge

Wholesome feast

Hiking

The view from the top

Swimming hole

Chinese-Style Yard Sale

2011-07-18T23:59:00.004-07:00

Parks are where people hangout here in Shanghai. Families go there to relax on the weekends, engaged couples go there to take wedding photos, middle-aged men & women gather there in the evenings to dance the cha-cha or the waltz. Parks are bustling hubs of social life.

As I was walking around near the center of the city over the weekend, I stumbled upon what I might call a bird market. There were all manner of little tweeters for sale in handmade bamboo cages. Along side the bird sellers, men were selling wiggly worms by the kilo - bird feed.

But birds weren't the only attraction. The sidewalks were lined with cloths covered with all manner of mostly second-hand goods - from shoes to knives to tiny little teapots. Several of the vendors had one-of-a-kind items - a tibetan bowl, a wooden cricket cage, a porcelain figure painted in blue. It was the closest thing to an American yard sale I've ever seen in China.

Thames Town: Surreality

2011-07-14T23:59:00.001-07:00

Last week I went on a self-guided tour of the Xuhui District of Shanghai, where I saw Longhua Temple & the Xujiahui Catholic Church on the same day. I had so much fun that this week I took another itinerary from the Travel China Guide & went out to Thames Town, an English-style community on the outskirts of the city.

I had heard from others that Thames Town was an empty carcass of a tourist community that was built & then abandoned just as quickly - a veritable living ghost town - but I wanted to see it for myself.

Songjiang District is situated southwest of the Shanghai downtown area. One of its main attractions is the famous Thames Town on North Sanxin Road of Songjiang New City. This imitation of a British traditional old town is actually a community and was completed in 2004. It offers a tranquil oasis from the hustle and bustle of the city, and is worth a visit whether one has been to Great Britain or not.

Tranquil is a good word.

Subway No. 9 has stops at both Songjiang New City and Songjiang University Town. One can get off at either of the stations and take Songjiang public bus No. 14 or a taxi to the town, which is 4 kilometers away.

From where I live it took me an hour & a half to get to the Songjiang subway station. There I found plenty of taxi drivers waiting in a queue outside. Of course none of them understood me when I asked them to take me to Thames Town. I didn't have the Chinese name for it, so I called it the English-style town. That worked.

Thames Town has an area of about 1 square kilometer. It is equipped with everything that the residents need. Lakes, rivers, and trees surround Georgian and Victorian style villas and apartments.
There is a 4 star Liston Hotel (Tel: 021-37721998) by the lake, a Gothic church, advanced kindergarten and school, supermarket, clubs, and clinics.

It's really a beautiful town & could be something wonderful - if there were anyone there. In Shanghai, no matter if it's day or night, you're pretty much guaranteed to bump into someone every few yards or so as you walk down the street. But here in Thames Town, you're free to wander collision free.

Walking in the community, it is like being in a wonderland and many newlyweds like to have their wedding photos taken here.

One of the few shops open for business was a photography studio. It was easy to see why - the town has become a humongous backdrop for deep, meaningful glances.

Even with the lack of activity in the town, I spent a good two hours walking around, entertained all the while. Thames Town takes up a mere one square kilometer, so I ducked in & out of every nook I could find.

Tucked away where no one would find it was the Songjiang Art Museum. I love museums anyway, but the cool breeze of the air conditioned interior was irresistible. I saw more people in the museum than any place else in town.

幸福 Happiness

Inside were woodcut prints commemorating the 90th anniversary of the communist party, elaborate watercolor paintings on long silk scrolls, and a whole room dedicated to local photography.

After a few hours of walking around I sat at one of the few establishments open for business & drank a German beer. Europe's Europe, right?

Getting to Thames Town was easier than getting back - no people means no taxis - so I walked about a kilometer to the main road where I caught the bus back to the subway station.

Even though the town was quiet, it still held that China charm, & was well worth the visit.

Not Harry Potter - No glasses or lightning bolt

Random bus dressed up like a dragon

Making a movie about rain

E-Reading

2011-07-11T00:01:00.010-07:00

I read a lot. Books are like food for my brain. I especially enjoy reading in bed before I fall asleep. There's something about curling up with a good book that comforts my soul. I love the feel of a book, the smell of a book - new ones, old ones, musty ones, crisp photographic ones. I love them all.

I love browsing through stacks of books at the secondhand shop - stumbling upon titles I never knew existed, shelling out 25 cents each & carting them all home. I love passing them on to friends once I've read them & talking about what we liked & didn't like about the story, the plot, the characters. I love everything about a book.

But a couple of years ago, I decided to change my lifestyle - to minimize my possessions so that I could move toward a vagabond life. I reluctantly got rid of three tall shelves of books, saving only a handful to take with me when I left the US.

My first stop was Vietnam, where I was naively surprised to find that reading material in English was a rare luxury. It wasn't long before I began to feel desperate. Friends & family started sending me care packages of books to help feed my need to read. I coveted a neat little e-reader stocked with thousands of titles at a single click.

When I moved to Shanghai, my reading horizons happily expanded. There are a several cheap sources for books in English here, including Shanghai Secondhand, expat cafes and the copy book carts that appear in the foreigner neighborhoods after the sun goes down. I had an endless supply of read-feed again.

Even so, I still thought from time to time about getting an e-reader because it fits well with my long-term goals of reducing my material possessions. Besides, books are heavy & difficult to lug around as I move from place to place. Having them all in a neat little digital package would be a load off.

So when I got a Kindle as a birthday gift earlier this year, I was delighted & excited to start exploring the world of e-books. Since then - in just a few month's time - my reading life has completely & irreversibly transformed into an almost exclusively e-reading life.

Before the Kindle, I used to spend hours browsing the shelves in a bookstore. Now I browse Amazon, where I've created an ever-growing wish list. I used to buy five or six books every time I saw a copy book cart. Now I don't even stop to see what's on offer. I've gotten rid of almost all of my physical books & downloaded the e-books that replace them, plus hundreds - not kidding - hundreds more, cheap or free (one of the perks of living in China).

I never thought the change would be so quick, so complete. As I said, I love the feel & smell of books, turning the physical pages, perusing the spines on my shelf, the beauty of a well-rounded home library.

You don't get any of that with a Kindle, it's true. But what you get instead is infinitely better. I carry a full library in my pocket everywhere I go. When I hear of a book I'd like to read, I can download it instantly. If the book I decide to read on a long flight doesn't grab my interest, I can simply forget it & switch to the next title on my list. It's like the doors of Pergamum have been flung wide & I can take anything I want any time I want. It's a traveling reader's godsend.

(Full disclosure: I do not work for Amazon, nor do I sell Kindles. I *do* get a few pennies in commission if you click on one of the books in the little box in the left-hand sidebar. Over the past year, that commission has amassed to the lofty sum of 35 cents.)

Photo of the Week: Happy 90th Anniversary, Communism

2011-07-09T00:01:00.003-07:00

Tourist-ing in Shanghai

2011-07-07T00:01:00.003-07:00

While surfing the internet recently, I came across the Travel China Guide. As I clicked through their pages, I discovered quite an extensive list of do-it-yourself tour routes for places all over China.

On the Shanghai page, the first five tours have prices & are run by Travel China Guide, but if you scroll down, you'll find 23 more routes with instructions for doing them on your own. I haven't done much tourist-ing around Shanghai lately, so I decided to give one of their routes a go.

I chose tour number SH16, the Xuhui District, which includes Longhua Temple, Xujiahui Catholic Church & Library, & the Xujiahui Shopping Center.

To prepare, I looked up all the addresses on Google Maps, & made sure that I had the names of the roads & the attractions written down in Chinese. This is useful for communicating with taxi drivers as well as asking people on the street for directions.

Today's city tour leads you to Xuhui District which is in the southeast area of Shanghai. This self paced tour starts suggests starting from the Longhua Temple in the morning. Longhua Temple is located at No. 2853 Longhua Road and can be reached by public bus No. 41/ 44/ 73/ 87/ 104/ 734/ 809/ 864/ 933, Hushen Line or subway No. 3. The opening hours are from 07:00 to 16:30 and the admission fee is CNY5.00. Longhua Temple is the oldest and largest temple in Shanghai with a history of about 1700 years.

It took one hour to get from my apartment near Shanghai Circus World to the Longcao subway station on line 3. The temple was a 20-minute walk from the station. That's pretty typical for Shanghai - it's such a big city that it takes a while to get from A to B.

In the bell tower, there is a 3.3 ton bronze bell which is used on the Evening Bell-Striking Ceremony every 31st December to welcome the New Year. Spend CNY10.00 and you can strike the bell three times to dispel all bad luck and wish for good things. Everyday from 08:00 to 11:00 and from 13:00 to 15:00, you can watch the monks praying for souls of the deceased in the Grand Hall (Da Xiong Bao Dian).

The entrance fee at the temple was CNY10 (about US $1.50) instead of 5, but the rest of the description is accurate. I didn't ring the bell in the bell tower, but I was able to catch the monks chanting their prayers.

The vegetarian restaurant in Longhua Temple is very popular. Many people regularly come to pray and have lunch. Remember all meals are vegetarian.

The restaurant had one thing on their menu: a very yummy bowl of noodles & mushrooms for CNY10. You buy a ticket out front, then take it to the window where the cook scoops a ladel full of delicious into a bright orange bowl.

After lunch, take a taxi to the Shanghai Xujiahui Church at No. 158, Puxi Road. The public bus No. 15/ 72/ 42/ 43/ 126 and subway No. 1 all have stops there. The church was built in the early 20th century. It is the biggest Catholic Church in Shanghai and the birthplace of Shanghai Catholicism. Now there are tens of thousands of conversus in the parish.

It was a ten-minute taxi ride between the temple & the church (CNY18). I'm not sure what a conversus is, but there seemed to be only a handful of them at the church when I arrived.

There are several masses held each morning. If you are not a chiliast, you can only visit inside the church each Saturday and Sunday. The opening hours of the church are from 13:00 to 16:30 and you will be led by the conversus. If there is a special occasion, the church will not be opened so it is better for you to make a call in advance to confirm this. The telephone number is 021-64382595 and there is no admission fee. During the visit patrons are asked not to speak loudly and to refrain from eating. Visitors are encouraged to wear conservative clothes to minimize exposure of the body.

The church is a beautiful European style building with high arched ceilings & stained glass windows. These particular windows depict the life of Jesus, from the angel's message to Mary up to the crucifixion, with a mixture of Western & Chinese imagery. There were several people inside praying while a few tour groups gathered around their guides in the back.

Keep heading north along the Caoxi Road and you will soon arrive at the Xujiahui Shopping Center. Supermarkets, shopping malls and office buildings make it the biggest underground shopping center in Shanghai. It is said that one can get everything you need here. Your Xuhui District tour ends here so take your time to have a dinner, watch a movie or do some shopping.

I decided to skip the shopping center & instead went grocery shopping at Feidan, an imported food store a couple of subway stops from the church.

Longhua Temple was by far the highlight of this tour. I love temples - the ochre yellow buildings, the smell of incense, the chanting monks, the Buddhas with blue hair - & the vegetarian restaurants.

Xujiahui Church was interesting in that most Chinese people are not religious - it's unusual to see prayer ribbons with Chinese writing & stained glass scenes with Chinese images in a catholic church. Otherwise it’s your basic European style cathedral.

I'd say this experiment was a success. The directions given in the route description were easy to follow & the stops were rather interesting. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I think I'll go ahead & try another route next weekend.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T12:01:00.001-07:00

It's Official

2011-07-01T03:30:00.000-07:00

It's official: I've signed a new work contract as content editor, which will extend my stay in Shanghai another six months. I'm hoping to use the time to shmooze the appropriate people at my company for a position that is better aligned with my long-term goal of living & working independent of a physical location. I want to work remotely so that I can freely travel from place to place without having to take a vacation
to do it.

That has always been the goal since I started down this path, & based on the research I've been doing, there seem to be plenty of people out there who are location independent - web designers & bloggers seem to be the most prominent groups - but I haven't quite been able to figure out my own strategy for working independently yet.

I guess I'm still in the learning period. Maybe I haven't discovered the right formula yet, but I have found a few ways that won't work for me, which means that I'm that much closer to the goal. The most important thing is that I keep trying.

Back from the Philippines

2011-06-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a company off-site conference in Cebu, Philippines. I went with almost 200 employees from my office. Those that stayed behind must have felt pretty lonely. We stayed in a 5-star hotel, ate lavish meals, swam on a private beach - all expenses paid.

It may sound like a vacation, but this was definitely a work-related affair - there were Power Point presentations & team building activities day & night. But we were in a lush tropical location instead of in the office, which was okay by me.

One of our Filipino co-workers was getting married in Manila the weekend before the trip, so a handful of us decided to fly out a couple of days early so that we could attend. The wedding was in a beautiful cathedral built by the Spanish in the late 16th century . The entire wedding party looked amazing in their gowns & formal wear.

It rained buckets the whole time we were in Manila, but we were able to see a few of the sights while we were there, including the old fort where a museum holds the vertebra of Jose Rizal, showing the bullet wound that made him a Filippine martyr.

On Monday, we went to the airport to meet the rest of our co-workers who were flying in from Shanghai. The plane was packed with EF employees, the team leaders herding us to our seats. In Cebu, our group took up five tour busses, & we arrived at the Shangrila hotel boisterously.

We spent the next few days at the conference, & the evenings were occupied in town at the local bars. At the end of the week, the group flew back to Shanghai utterly exhausted. I'm thankful that I still have the weekend to recover before going back to work on Monday.

Business Trip #2: Cebu, Philippines

2011-06-17T07:29:00.002-07:00

One really nice perk of working a 9-to-5 is that you get to go to some pretty amazing places on the company dime. Last month I went to London for a week, & this month I'm going to Cebu, an island paradise in the Philippines.

Nearly 200 employees are going there for a conference. We're staying in a 5-star hotel with a private beach & free-flow mai tais. Of course the purpose of the trip is work - training, team building, etc. - but we're going to be on the beach with fresh fruit & sunshine all around. I can't wait to walk around in flip flops all week.

Language Learning Plateau

2011-06-10T23:59:00.003-07:00

Flat Iron - Phoenix, Arizona

I've been living in Shanghai, China for a year & a half now. Since I got here, I've been diligently studying Mandarin Chinese in hopes of adding it to my linguistic repertoire. It's been slow going, but I think I've finally reached a new level.

Learning a language is never easy, but there are times when it can seem impossible. In the beginning, people often learn new words quickly: red! yellow! blue! one! two! three! It's fun & encouraging to learn the basics in just a short period of time.

Inevitably, however, you reach a learning plateau, when you don't feel like you're advancing in your language abilities. After all that success in the beginning, it's frustrating to reach this stage, & many understandably give up when they find themselves stagnating. It's hard to push on ahead when you're walking in mud.

Even so, it's important to get daily exposure to the language you're studying, even if it doesn't seem to be producing results. A balance of active & passive exposure is best. My own language learning has a little bit of both.

Every morning, I listen to a ChinesePod lesson on my commute to work (passive), I go to the Chinese classes offered at my office (passive), I try to make small talk with my co-workers (active), & when I get home, I spend about 20 minutes practicing characters (active). In spite of all this, I feel like I've been stuck at the same level for a while now.

Sometimes the language just needs to incubate - we need to process what we know in order to move on to the next step. The harder the concepts are that you're learning, the longer it takes to process. So the more advanced you are in your language skills, the longer the learning plateau will be. But I keep at it because I know that I will eventually reach the end of this plateau - & the reward will be so worth it.

Shaoxing, China

2011-06-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Dragon Boat Festival, which meant that the whole country got Monday off from work. I didn't expect to see any festivities in Shanghai, since holidays like this are more an excuse to spend the day relaxing at home or shopping at the mall. So I decided to take advantage of the three-day weekend & go on a trip.

I found an outdoor adventure tour with SISU, a local outfitter & tour company. Plans for the weekend included biking & hiking in Shaoxing, a city about two hours southwest of Shanghai. Transportation, one night in a five-star hotel, all meals & bike rental were included in the 1300 RMB fee (about US $200).

The tour participants included Americans, Canadians, Brits, Finns, Danes, Dutch & Germans in the bunch - & two Chinese women - all friendly & outdoorsy. It wound up raining for most of the weekend, but we were able to do a short hike between downpours through the nature preserve next to the hotel on Sunday morning. There we saw pagodas & Buddhas & canal boats a-plenty, & we heard birds chirping - real birds!

We also visited a traditional huangjiu distillery in town where we sampled the famous Shaoxing wine in various stages of aging. When the Chinese say "wine", they don't mean the kind made from grapes. Instead, Chinese "wine" is a kind of liquor, though it's often not as strong as whisky or vodka. Some of it can be pretty harsh - along the lines of white lightning - & our first taste at this distillery wasn't exactly the smoothest. But each sample got better & better until the final sample, the creme de la creme - the 20-year-old wine selling for 800 RMB per jug (about US $125).

After I got back, I was looking for links about Shaoxing & stumbled upon this self-guided tour itinerary, perfect for those who don't have an extra 1300 RMB to spare. The site has some other routes that look interesting as well. I'm looking forward to trying some of them out on my own.

My hotel room

The view from my hotel room

Hiking through the nature preserve

Buddha carved into a huge rock

Traditional canal boats

20-year-old Shaoxing wine

Two Years

2011-06-03T06:35:00.000-07:00

It has been two years since I left the US to travel the world. In that short amount of time, I have experienced all sorts of wonderful, beautiful, stressful, amazing, crazy, inspiring, frustrating, exciting things - & I treasure every day of it.

My first year out of the country was spent half in south Vietnam & half in Shanghai, China. Click here for that story.

One major change this year was my job. I decided to take a break from teaching English for a while & became an editor for my school. It's been interesting trying to switch from talking to people for a living to sitting in front of a computer all day long. I haven't quite gotten used to it yet, but it's a good challenge to try.

Even though I have been rooted in Shanghai for the last year & a half, my second year abroad was filled with lots of adventures. I went to the World Expo & the Literary Festival, entertained several visitors from home, & had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with the local vegetarian group.

There were opportunities to travel outside of Shanghai too. I went to Hangzhou to see the vast West Lake, to Beijing to walk on the Great Wall, to Harbin for the annual Ice Festival, & to London on a business trip. I even spent a long weekend at a Buddhist monastary - not your typical vacation destination!

Of course, my favorite trip this past year was home. I was so happy that I could be there to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday, & to celebrate my own birthday surrounded by people I love. It really was nice to be home after being so long away.

With so much yet to see out there, I'm excited to see what my third year abroad will bring. I already have plans to go to the Philippines at the end of this month & to Tibet in September. After that, perhaps I'll head to the southern hemisphere for a while. The great thing about life as a wanderer is that the possibilities are endless.

Photos of the Week: Beginning & End

2011-05-28T23:59:00.002-07:00

My New Distraction: Red Bubble

2011-05-26T00:01:00.002-07:00

I've been looking for inspiration to be more creative in my daily life - sometimes I forget to be inspired whilst elbowing my way through the rat race.

While surfing the web the other day looking for said inspiration, I stumbled on a really cool website called Red Bubble. It's a community of artists from all over the world who post their work for all the world to see & comment on.

There are groups on the site with themes such as "Vibrant Colors" or "Trees" or "Shadows & Reflections". Each one holds challenges to inspire its members, & the other memebers can vote for their favorites.

Red Bubble might just be the inspiration I was looking for. I can certainly learn from other photographers who are more experienced than I am. Plus, my little point-&-shoot takes some pretty amazing images, & I'm excited to be able to share them with the online community.

Take a look at what I've posted so far:

Vegetarian Murder Mystery Dinner

2011-05-24T00:01:00.003-07:00

The Shanghai Vegetarians Club held a fun murder mystery dinner last weekend. We downloaded a game online with a list of characters & instructions for each phase of the game.

We were all assigned a character to play - I was the librarian, Rita Bookaday (hee, hee!) - & we were each given an envelope that contained clues that we could choose to reveal to the other players if we wanted to.

After the first round of clue swapping, one of us had to die - it *was* a murder mystery after all. Everyone suspected the butcher, Sam Chawpalot, but he vehemently denied it.

An excellent makeup job by the murder victim, actress London Wilton

In the last round we were each given a slip of paper with our "confessions", which we were to read out to the group. Each of us had a deep dark secret to reveal, but only one of us was the killer. I won't tell you who it was - you'll have to play the game yourself to find out.

Free Walking Tour of Shanghai

2011-05-22T23:59:00.000-07:00

One of the members on Couchsurfing posted that she would be hosting a free walking tour of Shanghai over the weekend. It sounded like a good way to meet some new people & get some exercise while I was at it, so I decided to join them.

The tour was led by three volunteers from Shanghai Impression, a local non-profit organization. According to the volunteers, the group's main mission is to help Shanghai visitors leave with a good impression of the city.

They took us to all the important sights near downtown, including the Grand Theater, Shanghai Museum & Xintiandi, telling us interesting stories along the way about each place.

At the end of the tour, they asked for suggestions for future tour routes. One person said she'd love to go on a tour of Shanghai street food. I seconded with a hearty "Hoorah!". Perhaps I can act as their consultant on the route planning.

Photo of the Week: Do Not Enter

2011-05-14T23:59:00.001-07:00

Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds

2011-05-12T23:59:00.000-07:00

Ai Weiwei is probably the Chinese artist that is most well-known in the West. His work spans all media of art, from sculpture to painting to writing to film to archetictural design. He is one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2011. You may know him as one of the designers of the 2008 Olympic stadium in Beijing, affectionately called the Bird's Nest.

In spite of - or perhaps because of - Ai Weiwei's international influence, he was arrested this past April in Beijing as a political & social dissident. He has not been heard from since, but the Chinese government has recently said that “Ai Weiwei will be judged by history, but he will pay a price for his special choice.”

For three years, he maintained a blog where he openly criticized the Chinese government. It was shut down in 2009. You can still go to the site, but you will only see a dead fly there. Before his writings were removed however, they were compiled into a book, which you can get here.

While I was in London recently, I had the opportunity to see one of his installations, Sunflower Seeds. Millions of bits of porcelain shaped & painted by skilled craftspeople to look like real sunflower seeds were spread across the floor at the Tate Modern. Seeing all of those seeds, so much alike yet so individual, makes you think of what it means to be a part of the whole - to be an individual in a sea of individuals.

Originally, visitors were able to interact with the seeds, walking on them & touching them, but by the time I got there, that was no longer possible. The museum said that the dust from so much playing around with the porcelain was causing a health hazard. Plus, people were probably pocketing some of the seeds to take home with them, which I might have done as well, the delinquent that I am.

Here is a fascinating 15-minute video about the making of the seeds.

Even though Ai Weiwei has been removed from public view, his works continue to make the rounds. You can see a new installation in London at the Lisson Gallery, which to Western eyes might look like a lovely set of animals depicting the Chinese zodiac, but to China is an example of deeply subversive social commentary.

It's hard for Westerners to understand why someone like Ai Weiwei is seen as such a threat in China - what harm can zodiac animals & sunflower seeds really be? It's just one man's expression of his opinion, right? One commenter on the Time Magazine site tries to explain it:

Americans like the idea of democracy. Everyone likes democracy, because it is a luxury. Americans have the luxury, and good for you. However, other countries might not share the same history advantage as you do, they did not found an entire country just by having people moved to a new continent and took over it and declared freedom( in the process maybe kicked out the natives and build the foundation trough slavery). Other countries have a burden of history, poverty and responsibilities that comes with their history. Americans of this generation are born with the idea that freedom is a given, but it is really earned. Ai Weiwei went to America for America dream when he was young and sworn he would never go back to China. He came to the States and failed and eventually dropped school and had a truly free life of just hanging around in New York. He might get the idea that democracy is just around there you can get it you just have to ask for it. But it is really earned and many Chinese elites are working hard to both keep China stable and build up the framework for a freer society, as well as lifting poverty. That's why I suggest many people are more eligible in this role than Ai, who is a star artists who represent an idea the media is in favor of. Sometimes, freedom is really overrated, responsibility is what needed in China. Look back 20 years in China, the government painfully sacrificed democracy and individual benefit, but in return lifted 500 million people out of poverty. It is easy to be an activist, but hard to be an realist

The Clink

2011-05-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

I tend to go for the unusual - it's what makes life interesting. I'll go to a place where the temperature is 30 below just to see some snow sculptures. I'll opt to spend a weekend at a quiet monastery instead of at a luxury hotel. I'll even seek out fake train platforms - why not. So when I heard about this hostel in London, I had to stay there.

Clink78 was originally a courthouse, with a few holding cells in the basement. They've converted it into a hostel & you can still stay in the holding cells if you really want to. I chose to stay in one of the dorms instead, which cost me 85 pounds for four nights (about US $140). The word "clink" apparently comes from the original jailhouse in London located on Clink Street, where it is now a museum.

The hostel still maintains some of the features of the original building, including the original layout of the courtroom, complete with plaques denoting the witness stand & the prosecutor's table. If you're feeling authoritative, you can sit in the judge's chair to check your email.

All the major tourist attractions are within walking distance of Clink78, & the hostel is just a five minute walk to Kings Cross station, where you can pick up the London Underground or a train to destinations beyond. There's even a travel shop in the hostel where you can book bike tours of the city or a day trip to Stonehenge.

One of the days I was there, I hooked up with one of my dorm mates & we walked all around the city being tourists together. It was really nice to have a travel buddy for the day, which I would have missed out on had I stayed in a hotel.

Clink78

Reception

Internet cafe

Dorm room

Breakfast

Platform Nine & Three Quarters

2011-05-07T23:59:00.001-07:00

I'm not particularly a Harry Potter fan, but I do appreciate a good joke. I had heard from some co-workers that you could find Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross station, so I went to check it out. When I asked a burly man in a station uniform to point me in the right direction, he half-heartedly pointed down a passageway & said, "Down there, left, then left," then turned back to his work, uninterested in my quest. I wasn't the first, apparently.

London's Tower Bridge

2011-05-06T23:59:00.002-07:00

I love all the textures, shapes & shadows that make up the London landscape. There are so many lovely surprises down every street. Even an ordinary office building can be the frame for an imposing structure that looks more like a Medieval castle than a bridge.

Westminster Abbey

2011-05-05T23:59:00.001-07:00

I was so impressed by Westminster Abbey while watching the royal wedding online last Friday that I couldn't wait to see it for myself. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea. The line was out the door & around the block - there were hundreds & hundreds of people waiting to see this magestic cathedral. I was able to get this shot between the heads of some of the hopefuls in line.

Buckingham Palace

2011-05-04T23:59:00.001-07:00

London Medieval Church

2011-05-03T23:59:00.001-07:00

London Tulips

2011-05-02T23:59:00.001-07:00

Photo of the Week: Blossoms in Red

2011-04-30T00:01:00.002-07:00

London Calling

2011-04-28T20:23:00.001-07:00

I'm going to London next week. It's my first trip to the UK, & my very first business trip. I'm looking forward to doing a little bit of tourist-ing while I'm there, though sadly I'll miss the wedding. That's okay - I wasn't invited anyway.

Chinese Fables: Kong Rong Giving Up Pears

2011-04-26T00:01:00.003-07:00

13 March 2011

23 April 2011

In the park near my apartment complex, there are several statue vignettes depicting well-known Chinese fables. This one shows Kong Rong, the Han Dynasty scholar, politician & warlord, who is famous for his act of filial piety as a young boy.

According to the plaque next to this sculpture, when Kong Rong was four years old, he was given the opportunity to choose a pear from several. Instead of taking the largest pear, he took the smallest pear, saying that the larger pears should be eaten by his older brothers.

The story is used today to teach children to respect their elders. While searching for more information on the story, I came across this blog post written by a woman who discussed Kong Rong with her five-year-old son who was learning about him in school.

At first, he didn't understand why he needed to give the larger pear to his older brother, but finally conceded that since Kong Rong did it, he should do it too. But when his mother tried to apply the principle to chocolate cookies, the five-year-old refused to see the connection. Kong Rong gave his brothers pears, not chocolate cookies!

Wedding Photography

2011-04-24T00:01:00.002-07:00

Last month I discovered a wonderful park near my apartment. I've been going there on the weekends to relax & watch the people.

One of my favorite things to spy on while I'm there is the wedding photo sessions. There are thousands of them are getting married each month in Shanghai. On the weekends, you can see couples dressed in rented wedding gear posing for photographers in front of picturesque scenes all over the city. My park seems to be a favorite backdrop.

The Freshary

2011-04-22T00:01:00.008-07:00

Wow! Things are starting to happen here in Shanghai. Healthy, organic, vegetarian-friendly organizations are popping up all over the place. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered an organic grocery store that delivers, & last week I visited an organic farm on the outskirts of Shanghai where I frolicked among the peach blossoms.

This past weekend, I found The Freshary, a vegan organic bakery with two locations in town. Everything I've tasted there is beyond delicious. The ingredients are fresh & locally sourced when possible, & they make everything from scratch on-site - they mill their own flour & make their own soy milk. & of course everything is vegan & organic.

Talk about yum!

Bug Eyed Desk Jockey

2011-04-20T23:59:00.014-07:00

I have been a language teacher for the past 12 years or so, both in the US & abroad. About a year & a half ago, I came to Shanghai, China to teach English.

I love teaching, but I figured that it was time for me to expand my horizons - diversify, so to speak. So when I got the opportunity to take a job as an editor for my school, I jumped on it. The new job came with a great salary, weekends off & opportunity for advancement. How could I pass it up?

After only four months in the office, I think my brain is starting to turn to mush. I sit for close to nine hours a day, staring at a computer screen. The only time I interact with my co-workers is when we go to lunch - everyone is busy doing their own thing. I've started drinking more coffee lately because it gives me an excuse to move around, to talk with someone - anyone.

I have to admit it - I'm not sure I'm cut out for this. I mean, it's a great job with great benefits. I work for the fastest growing English training company in China - possibly the world. We're creating really interesting stuff, & I'm learning all kinds of new skills. & I have weekends free.

But when I think of working at that desk day in & day out for the next... however long, it makes me cringe. & it makes me really miss teaching. I miss the interaction with students. I miss the energy of a classroom. I miss preparing lessons (did I just say that?!). I miss sleeping late.

What about you? Do you have a desk job? If so, why?

Hot Pot

2011-04-18T00:01:00.010-07:00

Hot pot (火锅 huǒ guō) is pretty popular here in Shanghai. It's a lot like fondu - you have a boiling pot of liquid on the table, & you order a whole bunch of raw foods to cook in your pot. They even have a serve-yourself condiment bar with tasty sauces & spices to add to your hot pot - from sesame oil & soy sauce to black beans & garlic to cilantro & red chilis.

The pot sits on a burner, so the liquid is constantly boiling as you add more goodies to the soup throughout the meal - a perpetually hot pot. It's great for the winter months because it warms you all the way down to your bones. But there are those that swear by it in the summer as well - a sort of reverse phychology for the body.

Sometimes you get a huge pot for the whole table; other times each person gets their own pot. As a vegetarian, I like the individual hot pot better because then it doesn't matter what the rest of the people at the table are eating. But with either a big pot or a small pot, there is almost always a copious amount of beer involved.

Photo of the Week: Solitary

2011-04-16T00:01:00.002-07:00

Lost & Found

2011-04-13T23:59:00.000-07:00

a disheveled vagabond
smelling of oil
black dirt under his fingernails

& in the cracks of his hand
approached me in the subway station

i was leery at first

he was stoic, unsure yet determined
i cautiously took a step back
he revealed his phrase book

russian, chinese - no english

i’m sorry – i can’t help
he turned to a chinese girl in front of me
he pointed at a phrase in the book: 出口, exit

two fingers pointed him in the right direction
he climbed the stairs out of the subway station

giving a tentative glance back at me

i offered a friendly smile & got on the train.

Peach Blossoms

2011-04-11T23:59:00.001-07:00

Photo of the Week: Chinese Dragon

2011-04-09T00:01:00.001-07:00

Organic Produce in Shanghai!

2011-04-07T06:56:00.002-07:00

My lifestyle has changed quite a bit since I left the US almost two years ago. When I lived in Arizona, I was pretty active. I used to go hiking, camping & rock climbing on a regular basis. I went to yoga classes three times a week & stopped at Whole Foods for my daily dose of organic goodness. I grew my own vegetables in my backyard & I rode my bicycle everywhere. I even recycled.

But my life here in China looks nothing like that. I do walk around the city a lot, but I don't get nearly as much exercise as I used to. Rock climbing & yoga are figments of a distant memory. & I have dramatically lowered my standards for what I will eat - these days I'm just happy if I can get something that resembles a vegetarian meal. I just don't know how to be healthy in Shanghai.

But I'm making headway. One of my little successes came last week when I discovered an organic grocery delivery service here in Shanghai. I was so excited! I clicked through the offerings on their website, trying to choose what to order - I wanted one of everything. I finally decided to order their Seasonal Veggie Pack, which included 2.5 kilograms of mixed organic produce for 150 RMB (about US $23).

The delivery came this evening after work. I rushed home to see what the Organics Fairy had brought me.

The box was huge - 2.5 kilograms is a lot of veggies. I got a massive daikon radish, the biggest bunch of celery I've ever seen, a buldging bag of string beans, a head of cauliflower, a head of cabbage, & five or six bags of various other leafy greens - all organic! All for me to eat!

Monastic Weekend

2011-04-05T23:59:00.013-07:00

This past weekend, I had four days off in honor of Qing Ming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day, so I decided to take a trip out to the countryside to relax at a Buddhist monastery. I was looking forward to escaping the city & doing a whole bunch of nothing for a few days.

The monastery is about four hours by bus to the west of Shanghai, near the small town of Zaoxi. A representative from the monastery picked me up at the bus station & took me through the town & up the hill, where the complex sits among clusters of bamboo.

An Australian man who was volunteering there gave me a tour of the complex, which included three temples, the monks' quarters and a dining hall, as well as guest housing. The room I stayed in was not heated, but the blankets on the bed were nice & cozy warm, making it all too easy to spend the day in bed reading.

Upon arrival, I was informed of the daily schedule - each activity was to be announced with the sounding of a huge gong in the temple.

04:30 Morning chanting

06:00 Breakfast

08:00 Morning meditation

10:30 Lunch

16:30 Dinner

19:00 Evening meditaion

Initially I thought that maybe I'd make it in time for lunch. But I soon realized that nothing happens at the monastery after 8:00pm so you just wind up going to bed, which makes it quite easy to get up for breakfast the next morning. I even made it to the 4:30am chanting session one day.

There were other guests there at the monastery as well - a Canadian author who was at the end of a three-month tour of Asia; a British kindergarten teacher living in Shanghai; an Italian film producer between projects; the Australian volunteer, a psychologist interested in following the Buddhist life. We all shared our life stories around the dinner table - each one of us having taken a different path to wind up in the same place.

In the afternoons, I took walks among the bamboo or down the road past the local farms. I saw a man bent over nearly in half beneath heavy bags of grain as he trudged to town to sell his goods. I saw a woman beating laundry against a rock as children in split pants chased after chickens in the yard. I saw a group of men tirelessly carrying stone after heavy stone to build a retaining wall at the edge of a stream.

On one of my walks, I came across a make-shift shrine - just incense stuck in the dirt, really - evidence that our ancestors are watching over us.

It was a nice, relaxing weekend - I did absolutely nothing for three days & had a great time doing it. I got a small glimpse of monastic life in the Chinese countryside, & met some pretty amazing people while I was there. It was just what I needed to recharge my inner battery.

Tomb Sweeping Day

2011-04-03T00:01:00.001-07:00

Last year, I got all excited about Tomb Sweeping Day, a holiday that is similar in essence to the Latin American Day of the Dead. I wanted to visit a cemetery to see people sprucing up the tombs in anticipation of a visit from their ancestors, to smell the incense & paper money burning, to hear the quiet prayers of the devoted.

But my students looked at me like I was nuts. I soon realized that, at least in Shanghai, the most popular way to spend a holiday - any holiday - is shopping at the mall. To heck with all that traditional old-school stuff. China is modern! Shopping & movies & karaoke!

So this year I've got another plan. Since it's a four-day weekend, I'm going to spend the holiday at a monastery a couple of hours from Shanghai. I'm looking forward to relaxing in a peaceful place, away from the bustle & hustle of the city, eating lots of good vegetarian food, & watching butterflies flutter by. It'll be nice to see nature again, & I may even see a tomb or two swept.

Band Concert Do-Over

2011-04-01T00:01:00.010-07:00

I may have been denied the pure awesomeness of Hanggai last Saturday, but this band did a pretty good job of being second best.

Last weekend, I went to Yuyintang, one of my favorite music venues here in Shanghai, to see a band called The Black Atlantic, a foursome from The Netherlands. Their music is mesmerizing, their harmonies are tight, & their hair is unruly. Quite frankly, any band that uses an accordion & a ukulele in the same song successfully demands applause.

For your listening pleasure, the band plays their song Ella on the Great Wall of China. Notice that there is no one - NO ONE - on the wall that day. Utterly astounding.

All this great music is part of the Jue Music + Art Festival, which continues through April 3rd.

Concert Cancelled

2011-03-28T00:01:00.003-07:00

The Jue Music + Art Festival is going on this month in Shanghai with lots of really cool art & music events on the schedule. Artists from all over the world have come to town to participate.

Last year during the music fest I saw a really cool band from Mongolia called Hanggai. When I saw that they were on the bill this year as well I was stoked.

One of my Shanghai friends is also from Mongolia. He's in with the band, so he had a pre-party for them at his art gallery before the concert. I was hoping they would play a little for us there, but I guess they were tired from their flight in, so we just hung around drinking Mongolian whiskey & munching on Mongolian snacks.

The concert was to start at 9:00 at one of the few dedicated music venues in town. We got there early to get a good spot at the front. We waited & waited for the band to come on. The audience started getting restless around 10:00. Finally at 10:30 a guy came on stage saying that the authorities had cancelled the concert. In the English version, they didn't give any reason for the cancellation - they just said that we should line up at the box office for a refund.

I can't imagine why the concert would be cancelled. All of the band members were there. I had seen them all earlier in the day, & after the announcement they all came on stage to thank everyone for coming. It couldn't have been the content of their songs either. Although I don't speak Mongolian, I'm pretty sure their songs are all about the grasslands & horses & drinking.

But anyway, the concert was cancelled & I was super bummed. As a consolation, I spent about an hour on YouTube watching their videos. These guys are absolutely amazing.

Take a listen:

Wuji
Borulai's Lullaby
Throat singing

Spanish Language Book Club

2011-03-26T00:01:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago I discovered a Spanish language book group here in Shanghai. I contacted them & they told me where to pick up the book, which I did with astounding success.

I spent the time between then & now engrossed in a travel memoir written by a Spanish man who traveled to China in the early 1990's - when China had just opened its borders to foreign tourists. I finished reading the book the day before the book club meeting.

I was excited to join the club, not only because I loved the book & wanted to talk about it with the group, but also because I haven't had much opportunity to speak Spanish since I left Arizona, & I'm feeling a bit rusty.

When I got to the cafe, everyone was warm & welcoming. Siéntate y placticar con nosotros. We had a great discussion about the book & shared some yummy Yunnan food together. It was delightful.

At one point someone asked me where I was from. The US - Arizona. "But have you lived in a Spanish-speaking country?" they asked. No - well, unless you consider the US a Spanish-speaking country. They were surprised & told me I have a Mexican accent. Ha! Of course, right?

But that means that all is not lost as far as my Spanish-speaking abilities. They say that one way to know that you speak a language fluently is when people stop complimenting you on your ability to speak it. No one at this book club meeting said anything about how well I spoke.

On the other hand, every time I utter anything in Chinese, people all around ooh & ah: "Your Chinese is soooo good!" It's great to have the encouragement, but it looks like I have a long way to go before I can say I'm fluent in Chinese.

Settled

2011-03-24T00:01:00.001-07:00

MaryAnne over at A Totally Impractical Guide to Shanghai is surveying the masses about the need for travel, & I got the chance to put in my two cents.

She asked me to break it down into four categories: Leaving, Staying, Maintaining Stability and The Future. Here's a tidbit from each section.

Leaving

Motivation? Economics, adventure, a need to be unsettled for a while. I had lived in Phoenix for 13 years & was bored with the sameness of daily life. I wanted to shake things up a bit.

Staying

Most people seem to want to settle, even if they moved to China to do it. They don’t understand my nomadic cravings – nor do I really, but there you have it.

Maintaining Stability

I’m restless. Not sure why, but I’m not trying to figure that out any more – or change it. I’m starting to understand that I should just go with it – who else has the opportunities that I do? It would be a shame to waste it on settling.

The Future

Can I stick it out? Do I have the guts to stay? I’m not sure.

Want to read the rest? Click here!

Miss Communication

2011-03-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

It's been an interesting internet week in China. My connection is super slow & I'm having problems accessing my blog & a few other websites. Today is the first day in several that I got it to work. I hope this doesn't last too long...

I really miss the internet on the outside.

What's That You Say?

2011-03-19T07:25:00.013-07:00

When I was living in Arizona, one of the most frequent comments that people would make when they found out that I speak Spanish was "It must be nice to be able to understand what they're saying about you".

However, in all my comings & goings around Spanish speakers, I never once heard anyone I didn't know talk about me in Spanish as I waited in the line at the grocery store - or anywhere else for that matter.

Of course, I did my fair share of eavesdropping, but the conversations that I heard were almost always about mundane things - "Did you get the avocados?", "How much were the tortillas?", "Papa called & said to hurry up with the piñata." They were in their own worlds, talking about what was important to them - I didn't figure into their chit-chat.

I've been in China for a little over a year now, & I've been earnestly trying to add Chinese to my foreign-language repertoire. My current language studies include eavesdropping on other people's conversations to see how much I can understand. I spend my days surrounded by a cacophany of unintelligible language, but each day I understand just a little bit more.

The other day I noticed that I can now get the gist of what people are saying - for the most part. Even though I don't understand the details, I can tell if someone is talking about their plans for the weekend or what they had for lunch. & surprisingly, I've started to hear other people talking about me.

I often notice people noticing me. I'm a foreigner here & people are amazed by that. When I step on the subway, people often do a double-take then quickly look away, trying not to stare. Some people take photos of me with their cell phones, trying to make it look like they're checking their email. Children point at me & tell their parents they see a laowai, a foreigner.

All of this I've been experiencing from the start. But now that my Chinese is kind of decent, I'm also starting to hear people say things like, "Hey Zhou, look at the foreigner!" or "That foreigner sure is tall" or "I bet she's from England." Often I pretend that I don't understand, allowing myself to be the object of speculation, the mysterious white alien. It's kind of fun. My next language learning challenge will be to actually respond to their comments - in a nice way, of course.

Learning another language opens lots of doors for us. We can learn about another culture, speak to people from other countries, & get a much better understanding of the world around us. It also takes away the mystery & makes what was once alien & exotic seem terrestrial. Our fantasy version of a culture is tranformed into reality - a reality where we're not so different from each other after all.

Barbie Shanghai Closes

2011-03-17T23:59:00.002-07:00

Well that didn't last long, did it?

I guess Barbie doesn't appeal much to the Chinese market, where Hello Kitty reigns & women wear contact lenses that make them look like a deer in headlights. Cute & round is much more popular here than tall & sexy.

Perhaps a whole store dedicated to Skipper would have been more successful.

Spring! (Almost)

2011-03-14T06:33:00.003-07:00

You may remember that I recently joined the circus. Well, not really. But my new apartment is right next to it. In the photo below, the golden dome is the circus arena, & the cluster of white high rises down the street is my apartment complex.

I walk by the circus at least once a week to go to the shopping center that's down the street the other way, so I was shocked to hear the other day that behind the circus is one of Shanghai's largest parks. You would never know it from the street, but I took a look on Google maps & there it was - a sprawling park filled with lakes & trees & bridges & people, tucked away right behind the acrobats.

Sunday was a particularly beautiful spring day - the sun was shining & the air was just warm enough. I filled my backpack with park-going paraphernalia (my camera, my Kindle, water, snacks), & went to check it out.

I paid 2 RMB (about US 30 cents) at the gate to get in, & spent a couple of hours walking around (it's a really big park). Then I found a nice spot by the lake where I could sit back & read my book.

On such a nice day - being that I'm in China - I expected hordes of people all bumping into each other as they tried to claim a small patch of nature. Instead, even though there were a lot of people there, I didn't feel the least bit crowded. We all had plenty of room to enjoy the park.

The day I was there, the trees & flowers were on the verge of bursting into action. I can't wait to see what it looks like a couple of weeks from now when everything is in full bloom.

I'm so glad to have found this park so close to my apartment. It was a great place to spend my weekend.

Photo of the Week: Anticipation

2011-03-12T23:59:00.001-07:00

Room

2011-03-09T23:59:00.009-07:00

The Shanghai Dolls Book Club is reading two selections represented at the Shanghai Literary Festival for April (Emma Donoghue's Room) & May (Chris Tsiolkas's The Slap). This week, we went together to listen to see Emma Donoghue speak.

Donoghue's latest novel Room is about a woman who is kidnapped & held prisoner in a backyard shed for seven years. The story is told from the perspective of her five-year-old son, born of the continuous rapes that she endures while she is imprisoned. It sounds frightfully heavy, but because the story is told through the eyes of a naive child, it is actually quite digestible.

The author started her talk at the Literary Festival by reading a short passage from her book & then took questions from the audience. She was warm & engaging with a great sense of humor. It made me want to start reading the book right away, so after the talk, I downloaded the e-book on my Kindle (zap!). Once I got home I spent the rest of the evening engrossed in the story.

The boy who narrates the novel describes everything that's inside the Room as real, & everything that's outside the Room as TV, fantasy. As I flipped the pages (clicked?), I started thinking about my life here in China. I often feel like life here is not altogether real, like I'm watching it happen through a lense. I live in a kind of bubble - or room - of my own, moving through Outside but still separated from it.

When I'm at home, I'm alone in my 10-foot by 10-foot bedroom, reading or studying or chatting with friends on Skype. When I'm at work, I'm surrounded by Westerners - people like me. (Since we're writing English language learning materials, we're all native speakers of English.)

My contact with Chinese life is short & intermittent - the morning commute on the subway, a 10-second conversation with a shop keeper, giving directions to the taxi driver. Often I feel I'm invisible - life happens around me & I'm only an unseen observer. Other times I feel I'm on display as people stare & point & snap photos of me, the foreigner - for many Chinese people, I'm not entirely real. But either way I'm mentally separated from it all.

Every once in a while, I have to remind myself that I live in China. China! CHINA?! How did that happen? It's not an altogether real part of my life. My job is real, my room is real, my Western friends are real. But China? China is just TV. Fantasy.

Tutelage

2011-03-07T23:59:00.010-07:00

I've spent the last several evenings with a new private student. He's the owner of a petro-chemical company here in Shanghai & wants to improve his English so that he can talk with his American clients, as well as negotiate prices with his American vendors. He was adamant that he should have an American tutor so that he can learn to understand the accent.

We started off our lessons by practicing the TH sound, which lots of people have problems with. He haltingly spurts out sentences like, "Thelma & Ethel withheld their wrath until both of them were withered," & I stick my tongue out between my teeth & point to it for him to model. I imagine that if you're sitting at the next table, it's pretty funny stuff.

We're also working on de-Chinglish-izing his English. He says things like, "I'm heartily pleased to make your acquaintance," & I help him change it to, "Nice to meet you." He giggles at the difference, happy to finally have someone to set him straight.

I'm happy as well - he pays me 300 RMB (US $45) per hour - eight hours with him has paid my rent for next month. & the best part is that it's not like work to me at all. I've really missed teaching since I got my nine-to-five, & with this new student, I get to have my cake & eat it too. Thanks, I'll have seconds. Nom nom nom.