Finally...

... I got my wish of owning a silk TaiChi suit. I'm wearing it now. It's white and has wicked (and very dangerous) dragons on it. I am the white ninja. Fear me. But trust me. 

Had to share in my new acquisition. More to come later in the week... from HARBIN! Yes, I'm heading back to the cold northern lands for New Years again. Keep your radios tuned in...

T

As another year fades

It's the twilight of 2010. Only about six days remain before another year rolls over and the arbitrary calendar date marks another trip around the sun. This weekend also marked the days when the nights become slightly shorter and the sunshine stretches on for a few more minutes every morning and evening. Time is a constant and continuous experiment in transition.

For this reason (I think), over the past few weeks, I've been thinking a lot about my chosen profession. I think I've done this every year around Christmas/New Years for a while now... a lot of reflection about whether I'm embracing my skills and passions and if I've found the job that I'm going to do for the next 25 years. It's a daunting idea: committing to a job for the next lifetime. And I keep thinking that I'm just not sure yet. It's in these times that I think about all the other professions that I could get involved with or find particularly attractive/sexy when I hear about them.

Yes, I would like a job being a Lonely Planet Travel Advisor. Is there a position for professional contestant on the Amazing Race? Yes, I would jump at a writing job if it came at me (even though my skills are quite hack-like most of the time). I've considered human resources. I once thought about being a lawyer. The idea of journalism leaves a longing taste in my mouth. But there's this teaching thing I'm into now. Hmmm.

The Christmas weekend, though, was great. It seems to get a bit easier every year to be away, even though I hate missing out on being with my family and friends back home over the holidays. This is year #3 of a non-Alberta Christmas... I had one in Victoria after I left Kelowna, then this is my second time around the block here in the far east. A friend/colleague here has been known to use the quote, "Leaving is my consummate and cursed talent" (Karen Connelly), and I'm starting to wonder if that's part of who I am or who I'm becoming. I wonder if I'll end up being that cousin/uncle/friend who everyone just refers to in passing periodically as the guy who's gone again. I love all my adventures and maybe I'm getting ahead of myself... just that time of year for reflection.

But I filled my belly with food and drinks and was surrounded by my best China friends. I exchanged and opened gifts with a few of the more select of said friends (it's an exclusive, invite-only sort of crowd). I did some house-hopping and story-swapping and now I'm just getting ready for another week of work in the land of people who let this holiday pass by in moderate silence (and when I say silence, I mean that the fireworks and techno music blasting from storefronts stayed the same).

So, from the land of dragons, donkeys and dust, g'night and a (possibly belated) Merry Christmas. Shèngdàn jié kuàilè. 圣诞节快乐.

T

Merry Merry Ho Ho

The clock just rolled past 8am here in Manjiatan, the town surrounding the school I teach and where my good friends the Seaths live. The sounds of percolating coffee and clicking mugs and a meowing jungle cat named Jojo and the movie Elf are doing a great job of making the morning of Christmas Day festive and just like home. You'd just have to substitute dogs for cats and the sounds of Garfield's Christmas for Elf and it's pretty much like home. In China.

The week seemed to fly by but, at the same time, last forever. And this year we got stuck working until about 1pm on Christmas Eve, so it took away from the feeling that it was actually Christmas. The chill in the cold, Northern China air sure made it seem like an Alberta Christmas... windy and about -15. Gross. :)

D and I just came back from the Manjiatan market where the normal Saturday business of getting the kiosks and stores ready for another day of non-holiday business. We talked about the fact that it's just another day here, when back home, Christmas Day is a massively important day of celebration. It's still funny that we can make such a holiday-esque atmosphere in an apartment when the world outside is oblivious to our feelings of merriment. I also just got a text from another friend who lives in D's building that she's got gingerbread baking downstairs. Guess where I'm going in about six minutes?!?!

I'll probably take some more time to write about the holiday tomorrow on Boxing Day, but for now, on Christmas Day, I'm going to just wish you all an excellent, wonderful and magical Christmas back home and wherever you find yourself around the world. If you send me your phone numbers I'll get some phone calls made via Skype as soon as possible. For now, and particularly because it's Christmas, lots of holiday love from China. Thinking about you guys back home.

T

And so.

Another week has nearly bit the dust. I can tell I'm ready for it to end... I was in a mad panic this morning when I realized that, instead of hitting my "snooze" on my cell's alarm, I seemed to have hit the "Alarm off" button and I only had about 15 mins to get ready to catch my car to school. This is pretty much a tragedy. I typically wake up at 5:20 to give myself LOTS of wake-up time. The pickup takes place at 6:45am. Anyone who's stayed with me or lived with me knows that I'm a slow mover in the morning. I'm not too cheerful. Really, I'm nearly comatose for the first hour. Which is why, if I want to be productive, I need to wake myself up big time before I see the students. Today, my alarm went off at 6:20am. This was not a good omen

Luckily I escaped the day unscathed. 

The week, though, had a lot of potential for tragedy. This past Tuesday, I was scheduled for my first professional observation as a real teacher with our school's principal. Now, I haven't been observed since my practicum. That was 4 years ago. This was followed by a semester of TOCing (substitute teaching, which I miss dearly and loved endlessly), followed by a 5 month contract in the Okanagan (2 different principals and I didn't get my job back!), followed by a whole year of changing and rearranging and relocating my life, while working at: a coffee cart, a publishing company, a pub, and a microbiology lab. Jack of all trades but king of none? That's me. And then China came last October, but that wasn't real teaching. So it's been what seems like a million years of poor/no teaching to get me ready for a professional observation that can be used as a reference in the future.

As I hope you can tell, I'm writing this as a still-employed teacher. And I even get to keep the same pay! Awesome! I managed to stealthily hide my typical sub-par teaching ability and my principal actually walked away saying that he enjoyed the lesson and there were lots of good things that he saw. As with all, let's say "super detailed-oriented people", there are things he has questions about and has some suggestions/comments to make, but the fact that he seems happy makes me happy. No pink slips, no plane tickets in my mailbox saying, "Get out of China now!". So I feel pretty good about that. And I live to teach another day. It's stuff like this that makes me wonder about other potential professions, though!

Otherwise, life is pretty splendid. Had a bit of yoga the other night (which is still causing me a bit of pain), some friends are in town visiting, our staff Christmas party is on Saturday, and tomorrow's lessons are PLANNED! IN ADVANCE! I didn't think I'd see the day!

So on this quite boring but delightfully content note, I'm abandoning ya'll. More interesting stories will arrive on the weekend (I hope)... maybe I'll get in a traffic altercation with a donkey cart or a rabid dongbei dog again. Who knows. As a treat, though, I'll add in a ridiculous picture of me (with moustache at the free Christmas party with the crazy powerpoint signs), Santa (he's not alive) and one of the cute Tibetan dancers who were wishing us a "Peach Life". :)

T

Arrivals with no invitation (Hello, Winter).

I guess that's how karma works: you complain one day, and then it doles out something much worse. I guess it's like the first day of discomfort after a hard workout or a big race... it's always worse the next day.

Well, winter if finally and resoundingly here. Currently, it's about -12 and the winds are gusting to about 30km/h. This probably drops the air temp to something more akin to -20. You prairie folk knows what this means: it's cold. For those of the more weather-weak on the west coast, you probably won't be able to fathom such nonsense. 

Yes, I understand the reality of you all being back home in Canada and it being even colder in some places. But what people take for granted is the fact that often, you're going from warm place to warm place with discomfort in between. But alas, this isn't so much the case here. In China, you travel from uncomfortably cold place to another uncomfortably cold place. As I was teaching PE today in the gym, I could see my breath and I had to wear a toque and gloves while writing down participation marks. The wind was whistling in the windows of my English classroom so badly that I had the entire south side of my class ask to move. This seems like an okay idea, until you realize that I teach in the smallest classroom on campus and unless I want to teach with all the boys sitting on each other's laps, this is simply impossible. And I wore a toque and gloves. Likewise, I've been engaged in a battle of wills with the cleaning staff to keep the doors and windows closed. Apparently, it's bad for your health to have warm air coursing through a school. I've taken it upon myself to battle this ignorance in stealth mode, by going around at every opportunity to close all open doors and windows. They may have sheer manpower, but I've got some stubbornness and an iron constitution to match it. Thus, it's on.

I don't like seeing my breath and wearing gloves while I teach English. Period.

In other news, I only have 8.5 more teaching days until Christmas, 12.5 teaching days until New Years, and only 17.5 teaching days left before my winter holiday can commence. I'm heading to Tianjin first before flying down to Kuala Lumpur, then onto Singapore, Chiang Mai and Laos and Cambodia after that. I'm pumped. I know I have to kinda buckle down in the meantime, but it's hard to focus. Not only is the apathy and laziness setting in amongst my students, but the weather is miserable and it's just a tough time of year to get motivated. I don't get any actual holidays for Christmas (well, we get off 2.5 hours early on Christmas Eve) so the push from our holiday in early October all the way through to winter break is a long one. It doesn't help that my principal is coming to do an observation with me tomorrow and I'm swamped with marking that I continue to avoid like the plague. It's all part of the job, but it just not what I look forward to after a long day.

Enough complaining, though. Time for work. One final shout-out before I hunker down... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Lots of China love!

T

Memories I don't miss (I hate you, wind, but I love Chinglish!)

I can feel the cold air dancing across my legs as I sit here typing. The draught coming in through my patio door is relentless and adamant about sticking around and harassing me. Much like last year, I'm in slippers and I'm wearing a scarf indoors.  Luckily, I don't have any frost building up on my floor like my apartment in Daheishi. Still, though, this wind just doesn't want to let up. And needless to say, my doors aren't exactly sealed or weather-proofed.

A random story from last weekend...

So, everywhere we go here in China, travellers/ex-pats encounter nonsense signs and Chinglish, both in speech and in print. Menus can provide hours of entertainment, advertisements can be thoroughly enjoyable nonsense, and parties feature no shortage of jibberish provided by local hosts. Last Friday, CG, me and a bunch of other teachers attended a free Christmas/holiday dinner for ex-pats at a local hotel and restaurant. They hosted us like we were kings with free wine, food and entertainment. Although the food and wine were delicious, the entertainment was even better... it was simply priceless. And even better, they had a powerpoint plastered on a screen describing each of the performances.

The top 5 titles on th e Powerpoint were as follows:

5) "Lady Gaga's, 'Porker Face'" (A new reinterpretation of "Poker Face"??)

4) "Drinking Song" (A Wagner piece, I think)

3) "Tibetan People Through Dancing to Wish a Happiness and Peach Life" (A traditional Tibetan-style dance)

2) "Folk Art Play & Throw Some Stuffs With Goth - Chinese Juggle" (It was a clown juggling stuff)

AND THE GRAND FINALE...

1) "Paper-cut Hands Girl! ( A Paper-cut Show in Form of Dancing Chinese People Use Paper-cut Art to Celebrate Festivals)"

This was a dance.

As usual, China, you find ways to make me smile. And as Christmas approaches, I hope everyone back home and around the world is having an enjoyable countdown to the holidays. Much China love, all...

T

Monday.

Teaching PE sucks.

Okay, I should qualify that statement.

I love teaching PE. Or, at least most days I enjoy teaching it. It's a nice break from academic English, and you get to know the students in a new way which is different from the English classroom. 

But it's terrible when it's -2, the wind from the North is gusting up to 37km/hr, and the windchill feels like it's -10. And you're forced to teach 75 minutes of soccer down at the soccer pitch OUTSIDE near the icy waters of the Yellow Sea. In December. And you left your toque at home. The last 10 minutes were spent huddled in the storage room... thank goodness I needed to hand out some worksheets!

Things around these parts have been good but, as usual, super busy. We're only about 6 weeks away from winter vacation which I can't stop thinking about it. It's gonna be amazing. Kuala Lumpur is booked, then it'll Singapore before heading north to Chiang Mai and onto Laos and Cambodia. I'm ready to get my sweat on and go on more adventures.

The weekend featured our Mo-down Hoedown to celebrate the end of Movember and the end of the Moustache. It was fun and a good chance to get pics with all the guys who participated in the Mo-grow. Now that Monday has arrived, there are a bunch of fresh and young-looking faces to be seen amongst the teaching staff. I feel like I'm about 10 years younger and it seems as though the ladies are quite pleased (and relieved, maybe?) that the month is finally over. Next year I hope to make it even bigger and raise more cash, so beware, all! I also attended a free Christmas/holiday dinner with a bunch of friends, teachers and ex-pats from the area at a KaiFaQu hotel... it was pretty amazing, with sushi, turkey, a million other dishes, wine and entertainment. I'll hopefully post a few of the more entertaining pictures in the next few days.

I don't have a huge amount to report otherwise... I've finally started using my gym pass and I'm planning to be a buff stud by the spring, I'm busy with badminton club and sponsoring some of the debate events with the kids right now, and am getting ready for Christmas by sprucing up my apartment with lights and stockings and filling my computer with Christmas movies. Since it's officially December, I've allowed myself to be pulled into the Christmas vibe. If only Starbucks had their Peppermint Mochas in China. Things might be perfect!

For now, lunch calls. Lots of China love, as always, and thanks again to all those who helped me raise more than $200 for Movember! My one team raised nearly $1800! 

T

It's not my favourite thing (maybe not a post for squeamish people)

I mean eating cow's stomach.

As you probably all know by now, I'm a sort of, "When in Rome..." sort of guy. Generally, I'll try out anything once and try to be as open-minded as possible, particularly when it comes to culinary adventures in a new place/city/country. I've tried 100 year old eggs, chicken feet, duck heads, baby octopus, frog, chicken neck, organ soup, pig face, silk worms, a million different types of unidentifiable fish and a host of other strange and exotic delicacies. Some things I couldn't identify and to this day I'm not upset about the lack of knowledge. 

Last night, though, I went out with the friends who own "The Shop" I mentioned in my lost wallet adventure. I buy a lot of my sundries there and will periodically just stop down for a soda and a chat while they're hanging out. But I thought it would be good to hit up some dinner as a group, so after they raved about a local Chinese place that served beef ribs and some other awesome dishes, we made a plan and went last night.

The restaurant was nice, the pijiu was cheap, and they were excellent hosts and company. Since they had been there before and since Sunshine is Chinese (The other half of the shop team, Andris, is a big white guy from Nebraska who teaches ESL at the local Korean school), I let them do the ordering and agreed to try a very Chinese dish: Spicy cow stomach with mushrooms and veggies.

Now, I've eaten a number of dishes featuring organs, and I know that there is a lot of mysterious stuff that goes into the sausages I've eaten in my past. And even though the flavour of the oily broth was good, the texture of the stomach was pretty hard to enjoy. It is, admittedly, a bit rubbery and has a bumpy side to it, like microscopic versions of an octopus' suction cup. I needed a lot of rice to help make the passage pleasant. But as with all new, strange and sometimes unknown dishes, I came, I ate, I succeeded. And I now know another dish on my, "No, thanks. I've tried that one already" list. What fun would life be without some adventure???

And regardless, the company and conversation was great and because I was a sport, they took care of the bill at the end of the night. Another successful eating adventure, all things considered. But the next time I'm offered the stomach dish, I'll politely respond, "Bou yao, xie xie".

On a completely unrelated note, I still owe shout-outs to those who've helped out with Movember donations. Some of you may have been mentioned before, but thanks to Verna, Catherine, Celia, Steve, Sean and Katie for donating so far. Because of you all, I'm at over $140 for my EduMoCators team! Awesome! There's still some time, so for the rest of you, stop by my OFFICIAL MOVEMBER WEBSITE to donate!

Much China love, all.

T

So, things happen to me...

... that don't seem to happen to other people. Sure, a lot of them are my fault. I'm a bit careless and pretty absent-minded. In the past, I've considered my life a sort of experiment in folly. Some would even say a "greatest hits" of how much seriously weird/unfortunate stuff can happen to a person in any given amount of time. My mom's made reference to me as a living version of Bad Luck Schleprock from the 1970's, The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm show. Read the article... you'll understand.

The most recent (and quite poignant) tale began yesterday morning. After breakfast, I needed to locate 10rmb for a cab so I could get out of the house. As I checked my pockets, I couldn't find it. This was strange, because I'm a bit of a creature of habit and always keep my wallet in the same pocket. Then I checked my bedroom... my living room... my kitchen, my bathroom, my clothes washer, my shoes, my patio, my fridge, my slippers, the kitchen cupboards and my apartment stairwell. As all of this was happening, it became apparent that my wallet was nowhere to be found. I freaked. I started having deja vu... my heart started racing, I began sweating profusely, my upper lip curled into a snarl (and not because of my moustache), and then it hit me: the GATE!

Friday night, my friend CG and I decided at a bit of a ridiculous hour to go for a massage. Luckily, in China, massage places stay open quite late as it's more of a recreational experience at many of these places compared to spas back home. People often go after dinner, especially after business meetings and other get-togethers. I do this pretty regularly after a night out with friends, so it seemed totally natural. There's a nice, clean, legit place just on the other side of the nearby BeoYouJiaRe (pronounced Bay-o Jah Ruh). DS and I used to go a lot of weekends. And it's cheap: can you really turn down a $10 massage at 10pm when you're not ready for bed? For me the answer is clear: NO WAY!

So, after our relaxing stop, I was on my way back to my place. However, at 11pm the gate leaving the BeiYou neighbourhood to get to my apartment complex (called SongYuLi) is locked. This isn't typically a problem, though, because it's easy to navigate either over or under. CG jumped overtop while I, being a bit more cautious (I tend to fall off things when it's late and dark and I'm being slightly foolish), opted to shimmy under the fence. The clearance is pretty significant so it's not so hard. The thing I realized the next morning, though, was that I must've lost my wallet there. At 11:15pm. It was now 10am the next day.

Jeans were thrown on, jacket was slung around my shoulders and I was out the door about 8 seconds later. In my rushed, frustrated, non-communicative power-walk, I was going through panicked flashbacks. For those who read these stories last year, you'll remember one of the worst days of my first China year.

I went down to the scene of the crime. Nothing. I asked a local worker/recycler guy in my broken Chinese if he saw my "qian bao". Nothing. I was taken to the BeiYo Properties office by the worker and explained again in my terrible Mandarin that I lost my wallet the night before. Nothing. The massage place. Nothing. The security shack. Nothing.

My only other option: call the police.

This scared me a bit, because, well... I haven't heard the best things about Chinese police. Mainly, I've heard that there's always a "fee" involved with any sort of "help" they provide. In other words, they are known to demand bribes. Our VP's husband got pulled over on his motorbike a few months ago and the cops demanded cash from him. Lucky for him he's a giant of a man and he refused, and the cop who was alone weighed in at about 135lbs. JW got off with a warning.

But, I felt like I needed my wallet more than my pride and few bucks, so I got a hold of an English-speaking dispatch woman who took down my information and sent 3 cops to my place. After meeting them and attempting to explain (poorly, because of my terrible Chinese), the cops just didn't really understand and none of them knew much English. So, I hopped in the back of the police car and went to the station. About 20 mins later, I was walking home. I'd filled out a form, gave them my phone number, explained that I no longer had any money or access to money (which is probably why there was no "fee" involved) and they told me to come back with a Chinese speaking friend in two hours. I was feeling pretty angry and broken still. But all in all, they were actually really friendly and accommodating and I felt a bit bad for assuming things. The fact remained, though, that I still didn't have my wallet: my Visa, my Canadian debit, my Bank of China Card, or really anything else. Deja vu.

Just as I walked up to "The Shop" (owned by some friends just below my place), the worker I spoke to that morning came running up to me. "Ni da qian bao! Ni da qian bao! Zou ba!" which translates to, "Your wallet! Your wallet! Let's go!". Being a sharp guy, I followed.

We ended up back at the BeiYou Property Office and as I walked in, I saw the girl at the desk with something in her hand. She kinda smiled at me, and asked me if I was the guy who lost his wallet. Admitting that it was me, she asked me how much cash I had in it. I explained at there was only a bit, maybe 200rmb (about $35) and told her I had a Visa and a Maple Leaf food card. She opened it up and all the money (220rmb to be exact) was still inside. Somebody had turned it in just after I left and hadn't taken a dime. They knew it was mine from the signature on the Bank of China card... it was an English signature. Thanking them profusely, I left with the worker. I tried to give him a finder's fee/reward, but he refused (the polite-fights over gift exchanges get really epic here). I still wanted to get him something, so I went up to The Shop and got him a carton of smokes (in China, a very common thank-you gift for men is cigarettes), took them down to give them to him, and after a few minutes of saying humble thank you's and telling that we're new friends ("Woda pengyou!"... "My friend!"), he graciously accepted and I was on my way.

After reflecting on the event, I felt like I'd managed to get over a big milestone: I'd navigated a linguistic barrier with cops, workers, office girls, security guards with my little Chinese AND managed to have the universe shine on me by helping me find something that I had no real hope in finding. I might've even made some new friends. Who knows.

Life is funny, sometimes.

Now it's Sunday night and work is sitting in front of me. No more slacking, so for now, I'm signing off from the coast of the Yellow Sea...

T

Western weekends

It's about 8pm on Monday night here and I've still got a bunch of work ahead of me tonight. We're in the middle of our Independent Schools inspection, which means that a group of Ministry of Ed people will be going through our policies, procedures and teaching practices for the next week to ensure that by providing the BC Programs, our school is living up to it's end of the deal. Officially speaking the teachers aren't responsible for the school getting re-certified, but we still have to jump through all the necessary hoops relating to the inspection, which means having materials that are far more detailed and organized than would ever be required back home. For the most part my stuff will be ready to go, but some things will not have the polish that some of my other colleagues will present. 

Part of the reason I'll be up for the next few hours doing this hoop jumping is related to my participation in a solidly western weekend.

This weekend involved a few particularly Canadian adventures with only the slightest tinge of being China. Saturday night, as many of you will know, saw the arrival of a long-awaited movie featuring a particularly resourceful wizard with the initials HP. Well, since I've seen all the other movies and since Dalian almost never gets English language movies, I thought I'd hop on board with a bunch of the FNS crew and take it in. It was definitely entertaining, and the crowd was like a meeting at the United Nations... pretty much all the non-Chinese expats in Dalian were there. We followed this up with a trip to Brooklyn Bar for some snacks afterward and then cabbed it back home to KFQ. 

The morning brought even more Canadian awesomeness. About 6 other people were at my place by about 10am for Hockey Morning in China. Typically it's just me and my buddy Jade, but this week 5 others joined us for the end of the Toronto-Montreal game and most of the Vancouver-Chicago game. Since I have a vpn that can route through a Canadian ISP address, I can stream CBC website feeds just like watching TV back home. And since I can hook my computer up to my big screen and add some make-shift surround sound, it's just like being at home. Only with a better TV. We cooked up scrambled eggs, bacon, mini-baguettes, and had all the fruit, coffee and juice we could stuff in our gills. Everything was amazing (other than the TERRIBLE Vancouver loss... 7-1 for Chicago!) and led to a pretty slow-moving afternoon.

So I'm now up to my ears in work and am thinking about how I'd love to be back there on Sunday, making breakfast and watching the game. Nothing good lasts for long, I guess.

Time for work. Lots of love, everyone. Keep donating to MOVEMBER!!! See the links in the last posts to donate. THANKS SEAN! The EduMoCators have now received $90 from my friends, so keep 'er going!

T

Reasons why I say I'm an old man

It's day 21 of Movember. On Thursday of this week, I had one of the boys I taught in Daheishi last year come up to me with a look of concern and surprise on his face. I said hello and he looked at me seriously and said, "Mrak! Why do you have... this!" He pointed straight at my Mo. He followed it up by saying, "You look so... like old man now!" I laughed it off and attempted to explain that I was growing it more for sport than for a fashion statement (although my self-confidence has skyrocketed in recent weeks), and that it's to raise money for cancer. He continued to look at me with a kind of quizzical look, half-smiling, half-confused, and after saying, "Oh. Okay", he walked away.

So, in the spirit of the season, here's a couple of Movember pictures so you can check out the growth as of today. One is with my buddy Daca who's also participating in the growth attempt (however, his Vietnamese lineage makes him a bit Mo-challenged) during our get together for Hockey Morning in China (I've been showing the games for about a month, but only today did I have more than 2 attendees). And before you judge, people, remember that "Everyone is beautiful in their own way." And by donating to this worthy cause, you'll encourage me to NEVER try this sort of facial hair experiment again!




Also, thanks to Katie and Celia for their donations. If you want to help out, you can donate to one of the following Mo Teams that I've joined...

The EduMoCators
The DMoLIS Team

It's now Sunday night and I'm attempting to motivate myself into doing the hoop-jumping related work that I need to accomplish for our school's certification process. We need to have tidy binders with a whole bunch of very detailed materials that I've never required in the past. I guess it's a good way to organize myself, but I'm just not so organized. And I'm not so good at getting stuff done ahead of schedule. So, lots of stuff to do tonight and tomorrow.

Yours in all the Mo glory I can muster...

T

Weeks that disappear

I can't believe it's Friday night already. I'm having a bit of a hard time trying to figure out where the days went and how I survived the week. At the same time, I'm wondering how I can still have a mountain of work that hasn't really been touched still sitting on my coffee table. Doesn't my Ayi grade my English papers for me as well? Guess not.

My adventure for Friday night is likely going to be non-existent. There's a chance I might venture into the big city to hang with CG and the FNS crew, as they're having a bit of a birthday bash for one of their teachers. But I'm spent. Last night, after going for sodas with my VP and some colleagues after work, I decided I didn't want to fuss and haggle with a cab driver (the LRT - the Qinggui - stops running at about 6:30pm from Jinshitan) so I bunked with the Seaths in nearby Manjiatan for the night. This, along with the busy schedule, 4 post-school meetings, changing offices and dealing with a particularly big number of embittered teenage boys, this whole "sitting" thing is feeling pretty good right now. Yup. A nice feeling on the heiney.

The week was also full of sunshine, running by the beach with my PE boys, and struggling to figure out how I'm gonna deal with our upcoming certification. We have to have a lot of ducks in a lot of rows and that's looming for Monday. And coffee. It was full of a lot of coffee.

In more interesting news, I'm hosting some Hockey Night in Canada games at my place on Sunday mornings now. I have a VPN which routes through an ISP in Canada, so I'm able to stream games from CBC's website right to my bigscreen in my China apartment! AMAZING! So far, though, the attendees have totalled exactly 2: me and my buddy Jade. Even with just the two of us, we've been making epic omlettes, getting stuffed full of OJ and coffee and having a riot watching games that few others in China get to see. This weekend, however, it looks like some of the Jinshitan inhabitants are trekking out to the big suburb of Kaifaqu to partake in the Vancouver-Chicago game which will start here at about 11am. Jade's gonna come by for part of the Toronto-Montreal game I think so we'll do a big breakky thing before all the Jinshi hosers make it here. Should be awesome. After that, though, it's gonna be work time. Too much to do and only a couple days to do it.

For now, mes amis, it's off I run to see if I have the gumption to dance the night away in Dalian or veg on my couch for the rest of the eve. The decision is TBA. So, from the land of lucky money, steamed pork dumplings, donkey carts and KTV, much love...

T

A couple "Mo" pictures, and some B&W/Sepia experiments

I was trying out the B&W and Sepia settings on my camera and took a couple of photos. I want to be a photographer when I grow up. I also wanted to update the Mo-gress (yes, that's Movember progress). Enjoy.

T

It's time to get serious.

As is becoming the trend, I'm sitting in XingBaKe (Starbucks) in KFQ having some coffee, typing away and attempting to find the focus to start getting my life (and lessons) together for the next few weeks. I'm also backtracking and reorganzing (and re-creating) my previous two months of teaching, since we have the Ministry of Education coming to assess our school and we have to have a crazy amount of documentation ready for them to go. We even are required to have day books ready for them, although I'm suspicious that this is more for my administration team than the ministry. But hoops must be jumped through, boxes must be checked, and if I want a good reference and play the game of school politics well, I've gotta get on it. I have a lot of what's needed, but there's definitely a need to supplement some more sparsely documented days. I've never been accused of being an organization freak.

The moustache is coming in brilliantly, and my applications for the Police Academy, the Bus Drivers Training Institute, the Air Force and for the position of a 1940 Boston newsboy have all been getting a lot of attention. I got some new pics taken yesterday so I'll upload them soon. 

The main reason I'm writing today is to say that I finally got signed up with the offical MOVEMBER website. So, I'm hoping that my loyal readers back home can get out their credit cards and maybe donate to help raise money for prostate cancer. And you should all support a cause that helps breed gentlemen worldwide! :)

To donate: CLICK HERE!

For now, I have a pile of work that I'm avoiding so I've gotta get back to it. More pics hopefully later today. For now, my friends, keep on Mo-in'.

T

Mo-rak.

Firstly, Happy Pepero Day to all the Korean folk or anyone who is part of the Korean community. November 11th is a day to celebrate the person you have a crush on by giving them delicious snacks seen above. "Pocky" is the big brand I've been known to chow down on from time to time. So, buy some chocolatey, wafery, stick goodness and give your favourite crush a squeeze on this day. Korean holidays are both awesome and hilarious.

Secondly, Happy 11-11 day. For anyone who hasn't gone screaming and running from my ramblings after a year, congratulations... you are truly dedicated friends. Or I'm paying you. Regardless, I wrote about the slightly-related Chinese holiday of 11-11 when I first arrived here and my students wished me a "Happy Lonely Person's Day". It's a funny story. Check it out. If you choose to not go back in time, the Chinese version is a day which is supposed to be good luck for single people, since the 1-1-1-1 resembles individuals, which means that it's a good day to be single and on your own. For all of those single folk, good luck!

Finally, it's time for a pic or two for Movember. As many of you know, November has become a month for men around the world to grow "Mo"s (or moustaches for the uninitiated) as an awareness campaign for Prostate Cancer fundraising. Although I am not registered on the Movember Canada website, I have friends who are and I'm hoping to sign up this weekend if it's not too late. For now, though, you can contribute to my buddy Kevin in Victoria or my buddy Curt in Edmonton. Kate, these are for you! For the timebeing, here's a couple pics of my growth after 11 days.




From your favourite, globe-trotting Mo-Bro,

T

Quick hits...

I couldn't figure out why my apartment seemed significantly colder last night than previous nights, especially since the heat is now on and working. As I was getting ready this morning, I walked into my "office" (which I mainly use for laundry), and the window was wide open. Ayi must've been airing out the place when she came in this morning and neglected to shut the window. It's winter. Sheesh.

Speaking of heat, the KFQ district is officially providing heat nearly 10 days earlier than last year! Hello, Inefficient Radiator Heat! Goodbye, Drafty Cold Rooms!" Or, maybe only, "So there, Drafty Cold Room! That will make you less potent!"

In China (or, at least in the cities), the government controls/approves the time at which apartments and houses can begin providing centralized heat to their apartments. It's much different than back home where everyone has their own little temp control. Much different. Since most of the heat comes from burning coal in the country, the country delays the access to coal-generated heat. This year, we got lucky... the heat kicked in last week already! Last year, it was November 15th, and it stopped on February 15th. I was not a happy camper when I came back from the tropics after my winter vacation. Of course, you can use electricity to heat your house through space heaters but they're generally not too efficient and can make your electric bill skyrocket. Whatever the case, thank you China for making me slightly less cold than last week.

In non-heat business, it's about 6:24am and fireworks have been firing nearby for about 20 minutes. I wonder if China will ever institute noise laws. Probably not... fireworks manufacturing is probably controlled by the state.

In animal news, I was at the Dirt Market in Beijing and guys were walking around trying to sell animal skins that were slung over their shoulders. Some of them looked eerily like domestic dogs. Not sure... just sayin'.

Off to school. Ciao.

T

It was a good effort, but poorly planned

It's 7 days into that thing called NaBloPoMo and I can officially say I didn't make it. Not having thought about the fact that I wasn't really going to be home on Friday night at all and forgetting about riding a train all night then playing volleyball all day, I totally missed the cutoff for Friday. I could've made something happen this morning to make it in time for the Saturday post, but I thought I'd just give it up. I'll keep trying to post a tonne this month, but I just won't win any awards. So here it is... Sunday.

It's about ten to four in the afternoon (China time, of course), and I'm sitting in the SanLiTun XingBaKe (Starbucks) wasting some time before we head to the amazing Element Fresh for dinner with the volleyball boys. The weekend has been a lot of fun, but hasn't exactly been full of success. And I say this with a lot of understatement. In at least 2 of the games, we got beat. Actually, throttled is a better word. Decimated might be even more apt. Regardless of how you want to look at it, although we were full of smiles and enthusiasm (at least through the first two losses), we didn't quite match up well against the big competition present. There are threats of starting with a whole new roster for the tournament in May but we'll see if it comes to fruition. My spot may even be on the line.

We rode in China-train luxury on Friday night, as we got the "soft sleeper" tickets. Before you jump to silly conclusions, I'll remind you that Chinese beds have, well, no cushion. The "soft" part of the title I think refers to the general nature of the people riding these trains, as there's only 4 people to a semi-private cabin and there's actually some temp control. In the "hard" sleepers, the beds have the same cushion, but people are stacked 3 high, there's no temp control (the top bunk is HOT), no closed-off cabins, and the beds are much more narrow. But just as cushioned. I've only ever ridden in the hard sleepers, but now that I've been in the soft sleeper cabin, I might convince myself that the extra 130rmb is worth it.

Last night was spent having some sodas and delicious food in the same SanLiTun area that I'm in right now. We met up with my friends the Hawkeys and their friend D for food and drinks. A few of us boys, feeling some muscle pain after enduring the challenging matches yesterday partook in a bit of a late-night massage after dinner. I lasted maybe about 3 minutes before falling asleep once we returned to our hostel. But the girl treated me like an inmate, and I think I'm more sore now than when I finished the games yesterday. I also have some strange bruises, which makes me wonder what kind of massage she was actually trained in.

For now, though, the call of food and the need for an ATM are paramount. More will come in the next day or two, but for now, much China love, all. Drop me a line to let me know you're all still out there in cyberland somewhere.

T

On the fourth day...

I've never been a Halloween kinda guy. I used to hate dressing up and going to themed parties. I used to hate the rigmarole of finding a costume, buying it, dressing in it and (often) being uncomfortable for hours on end. Part of it is just my general lack of planning and foresight, but it's also a question of sheer comfort. But since moving to China, it's been one of the things that has garnered greater and greater appeal as days have gone on. All western holidays here seem to have more impact, simply out of their tremendous novelty. So I embrace. I jump in. I participate. However, if you start playing Christmas music on November 1st, I will not speak to you. Too soon, friends. Too soon.

This year, I tagged along with a crew of the newbies and dressed up in the garb of Ryu, one of the old Street Fighter characters. Now, I have to get people to forgive my costume because it's not nearly as Ryu-esque as I wanted (a lack of planning contributed to this scenario), but it worked out in a pinch. Also, I apologize if the picture is grainy but you get the idea. The second pic is of me and the SF crew (with MJM jumping in). The best costumes of the night go to my friend AK (Poison Ivy), Cobra Kai (JM, KG, WS, and RS), Mugatu (CM's dude, Curt), Poison Ivy (MM), Freddy Mercury (LS) and the Crew of Dictators. You guys all inspire me. Next year, I'm on the ball!

Although it's almost time to sign off for the night, I'll hopefully share some funny stories stemming from the 60 or so narrative essays I'm marking tomorrow (along with another 60 over the weekend). For now, I'll leave you with the text from one of MJM's beauties. From the midterm exam we're currently grading...

"Drinking milk can grow us as strong as a beef.I like drink milk very much. The milk tast so wonderful. It's my favorite drink.When I was a little boy, I was very thin. I can't played b-ball. I can't played with other strong boys. I was very sad. I wanted to become stronger. My parents also worries about this question. One day, I had very serious fevers. I feeled so bad, I Didn't want to eat anything. Drink water is not very useful. I remember when I was born my mother always feed milk to me. Then my parents gave me a cup of hot milk. I had drank it, I feels more comfortable. After that, I always drink milk, twice a day. One day, I found that I had become stronger than before. I was very happy. I found a good way to achieved my dream. After two years I became stronger I can plan any thing with my classmates. If you have the same problem as me, please try this way.it will be very useful."

T

It's worked before, so it seemed like a good idea...

About 5 years ago, I embraced the sad realization that genetics were more powerful than sheer will when it comes to some things. One of those things is hairlines.

In an attempt to stop fearing change, I took some initiative and decided that it was time to face a grim reality of my life: I was losing my hair. And to ensure that I'd never be a comb-over guy, there was only one solution: buzz it off. All of it.

This was a traumatic day. Tears may have been shed. I may have stayed at home sick for a few days. But after some long, lonely hours spent sulking in the bathroom, screaming at the heavens, "WHY????", I came around to the fact that although oblong, my head had a relatively non-misshapen look to it and I'd survive to breathe another day with no skull dress. Since that time, I've been regularly buzzing it off every month or every few months. I get sick of the shaggy locks and typically make a somewhat snap decision to get rid of it. Most of the time I'm a DIY'er, and I take my trimmers out and take care of business on my own. Monday night was no different.

As I stood in my bathroom, letting my luscious coif fall quietly in the sink, I felt a distinct slip of the clipper guard. It was the first time I was using Team Seath's clippers that I'd borrowed earlier in the week, so they were a little finicky. But I felt like I caught the guard in time and just kept on rolling. I looked at myself in the mirror, impressed (as per usual) with the success that I had all ears in place and there was no blood running from my neck. Job well done, T. Well done.

The next day at school I got the usual, often exaggerated responses from both students and colleagues. Some mourned the new look while others embraced it. The kids all used it as a way to suck up and tell me I looked more handsome. One kid even said, "You actually look like a man!" Thanks, kid. Yes, that's an F on your report card.

However, as I was finishing up my afternoon block of English, one kid kinda sputtered out, "Did you do that on purpose?" Oblivious, I responded in the expected way: "Did I do WHAT on purpose?" "The spot on the back of your hair! So cool!" Laughter then rippled around the room.

Still confused, I asked them what they meant. A kid offered to take a picture on his iPhone, which I decided to reject, seeing as how I'm the cell phone nazi and all. But then one kid, who was at the whiteboard with a marker, said, "Mr. M! It looks like this!" He proceeded to draw a sort of neck-line picture of my hair with a MASSIVE short piece buzzed out of it. Like, the size of a cigarette package. I thought they were joking, so I asked one of my more trustworthy students. With a huge smile, he just nodded when I asked if it was true. Remember that "slip" of the guard? Ya. Not so much a slip. A BIG GASH.

So I'm currently walking around with what looks like a slot for a 3inch floppy disk drive in the back of my skull. In all the times I've buzzed 'er all off, never once have I had such a fiasco. I guess there's a first time for everything. Makes me think of a skunk-like buzz cut I got when I was a kid at the hands of my dear mother.

In other, less self-deprecating news, I saw a guy siphoning gas out a work truck using his MOUTH as a suction device. I'm also off to Blind Man Massage in about 5 minutes so I need to run. I love you China. I just hope you can love my awesome haircut in return. Until again, mes amis, much love...

T

Robbed (NaBloPoMo Day 2)

It was Halloween over the weekend. I know you all know this. Since a bunch of the ML teachers live in the same vicinity as I do in the Development Zone (Kaifaqu) suburb of the city, a bunch of the ML families gather every year to trick-or-treat at the other ML homes in town. This year nearly 40 kids participated, so it was pretty nutty. A result of Halloween and actually having kids come by trick-or-treating is that there is often candy left over. This was the case with me. I had this mondo bag of glucose and gelatin based delights that were saying to me, "Feed us to your poor, starving students Mr. M! They will love you forever!"

Of course, this is true already. But I thought, "It sure won't hurt!"

With good intentions (and knowing of my weakness for bite-sized snackerals which are easily consumed on the couch), I packed the gigantic sack of deliciousness to school with me this a.m. with high hopes of inspiring some excellent, pre-midterm review. Class number one seemed to respond with tonnes of vim and vigour as I attempted to round up some potential cavity-ridden clients for the local dentists. I taught that class right before lunch, so I stealthily stashed the remaining duffel of delcious in the podium for about 40 minutes over the break, knowing I'd be back in the class before the end of lunch for my second English block of the day.

When I returned from my lunch break, I reached into the podium drawer and... NO CANDY. I looked everywhere for it and nothing. I even decided to stalk the entire floor of the building, but had no luck. I knew that I'd been the victim of the old candy swipe. I was choked. I proceeded to send emails to the school office trying to find out names of kids who spend their time in that class at lunch, to find out the homeroom teachers' name, and decided to send an email to the staff explaining that I'd been a heist victim. 

No one stepped forward. No one gave it back.

Just when a guy wants to share some cheer amongst his morose, half-comatose kids, a sticky-fingered bandit decides to ruin all the fun. I'd be a lot less angry if it was my own candy. But it was for my kids. Ya know? It's just not right.

Anywho, midterms run the next 3 days so I'm out of the classroom and in various offices marking papers, posting grades, and helping stragglers squeak by. Tomorrow I'll share my story about my recent less-than-stellar homemade haircut attempt. Also had another vball practice, so I'll update a story about that too, somewhat soon. Gotta keep some fodder for future posts! NaBlo is a marathon, not a sprint.

T

NaBloPoMo? Should I even try?

It seems like a bad idea. You know...this who, "National Blog Posting Month" where you're supposed to submit one entry every day for the entire month of November. Like, a really bad idea. There are lots of reasons for this. First, my procrastination capabilities and general absent-mindedness are epically high, which make the potential for success really low. This also means that it's already easy for me to avoid work, and having a whole month of writing-related excuses to avoid marking papers isn't particularly helpful. Finally, I try to make this blog at least moderately interesting so people actually keep reading. But posting every day might get boring for all ya'll. So I'll have to think about it. I have another, more secret blogging home so maybe I'll split the burden between the two.

In other news, Halloween has officially been survived and "Mo"vember has officially begun. So, to start the new month, I'm not only participating fully in the moustache-growing adventure of Movember, but I also buzzed off all my hair again to get back to a more aerodynamic version of, well, me. Hopefully it'll help this weekend, as I'm off to Beijing for a volleyball tournament, the same organizers/location as the one I attended last spring. Sooo much fun.

For now, though, it's 6:21am and that means I'm gonna be late for school if I don't get my hustle on. Happy Movember, people. Tales of Halloween to follow.

T

Snapshots (sans-pictures)

I was perusing my latest posts and realized that they weren't as entertaining as others in the past. So I thought I'd share two quick things...

As I was approaching the produce shop below my apartment complex, I noticed a whole pen full of roosters in front of the restaurant next door. Knowing what was about to happen as the restaurant owner picked up his cleaver and a "collection" bowl, I turned to the shop owner and said, "I guess we know the chicken is fresh at least!". She responded by saying, "That's true... but those chickens haven't exactly been put through any health standard tests." Hmmm... maybe I won't order my kung pao chicken tonight. I think this as the restaurant owner crosses the street, drops the bowl, and "prepares" his chicken for the night's menu.

Also, I'm grading English quizzes on literary terms, and an absolute gem of an answer was written down. My question asked students to provide an example of a "stock character" and explain how you know it's that character type...

"Lady Gaga is a stock character because she is easy to know."

T

Hello, is that you, Alberta?

The wind is absolutely howling outside my window. It's miserable. It's aggressive. I feel like I'm getting a visit from the Ghost of Alberta's Wintery Past. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. And even worse, it's paired with moments of feeling like I have a cold coming on for the first time in, well months. I had a bit of a bug after Yunnan and when I went back to Canada. But otherwise I can't remember the last time. Like I said... I don't like it. Nope.

And it's crazy how quickly the weather has turned here! Just yesterday I was running in shorts and a t-shirt and was fully comfortable in a standard hoodie at nearly midnight as I was returning to Kaifaqu... I spent the night eating with some good friends and playing uber-nerdy games in Jinshi with the crew out there and had no sense that it was nippy, nor do I have any inkling that a cold was coming on. Not in my throat OR in the air.

Maybe it was the Oilers loss this morning, the full moon last night, or just being generally run down, but I'm definitely feeling the weight of oncoming illness and I worry about it settling in. Let's blame the wind though. I hate being sick. And wind. Like, they're the worst things ever. So hopefully I can just keep ploughing through my marking and get my stuff ready for tomorrow without falling victim to the plague. I think I have the black lung, Pop. *cough* Wind, wind, go away... come again, uhhhh, never.

As a side note, I feel like I have to come clean. Okay... I'll admit it. I haven't always been a diehard Edmonton Oilers fan. I've been mentioning my love for the Oil a tonne lately, and my family members are asking, "since when??". I tried to convince them that I've always been true to the blue. This isn't totally true. I've always cheered for them, but I have been and remain a loyal Pens fan first and foremost. However, over the past years of being surrounded by Canuck fans out in BC and listening to all the "loyal" Flames fans cheer on Iggy and the gang, I've embraced a love for the Blue and Orange from E-town. China has furthered this love, as I need to give a hard time to the 'Nucks fans AND I can actually watch the Oilers games on Sunday mornings on HNIC on CBC. Yes, Bootle, I know you are apparently loyal to those sparks they call hockey players in Cowtown. And my Great-Aunt May and the rest of my mom's family have been loyal for a long time, but Calgary's team wasn't so hot prior to Jerome's arrival and the red mile was nonexistent and I'm pretty sure they could've gone the way of Winnipeg. Just saying. I've been a Pens fan since, well, forever. Super Mario wasn't just a hero on my NES.

Okay. Off to a bit more work and bed. Much China love, all.

T

How to show your wares...

The sun's shining and I'm waiting for a couple of my cohort to arrive for a Saturday morning run. My foot's tapping away to the hip-hop in my IPod (a good Saturday morning starts with coffee, breakfast, and Kanye) and as I look up, a troop of about 15 Porsche Cayenne SUVs, along with a handful of Range Rovers, two video-camera filled vans and a stretch SUV roll by slowly as all the people on the street stop and stare, mouths agape. Red ribbons decorate each of the cars and people are hanging out of windows in a bunch of the vehicles, waving and trying to see the people in cars ahead of them. It's a common sight around here on weekends but always makes me laugh. I get a lot of stares and strange looks as I participate in the stare-fest, but the procession is much more interesting than some foreigner decked out in running gear. For most people, anyway.

The caravan of pricey autos is the result of a local Chinese wedding. Although big, elaborate weddings are super common here, the Chinese people use them as an opportunity to flex their wallet-filled muscles for the whole town to see. Typically these weddings proceed through a bunch of really visible areas of town (shopping districts, beach resort areas, etc.) to show off and celebrate. Maybe it's to develop more guanxi (connections and respect) or just to indulge in some material showboating once in a lifetime. Regardless, it's pretty fun to watch. It's even funnier when you see the two roosters about ten feet from me who are penned up in a "coop" on the sidewalk in front of a local restaurant. Strangely, the roosters were gone once KK and I returned from our run. Something delicious being sorted out in the restaurant kitchen, perhaps? Ummm... ya. Quite likely. It's also funny because I saw a guy with a mule-pulled cart go up the road about 5 minutes prior to this little procession. I love how China is all about the contrast. 

Like yesterday... some friends and I caught a cab from the Qinggui to our apartments with a local driver who I've caught rides with before. He generally goes on semi-intelligible rants about how Chinese men have dirty minds and there's too many people in China. He always assumes me and the rest of the fares know what he's saying in his broken Chinglish, but often there's just a lot of ignorant smiling and nodding. After being dropped off, I was greeted by the confusing and collective smell of rotting garbage, delicious street food, and a bucketload of Chinese cologne wafting from the blinged-out group of tight-jean-wearing guys hanging out by a local shop. The roosters are on the street still, as they hadn't yet met their maker. Or chef, as the case may have been. One of the shop owners cats is looking hungry.

For now I'm off for lunch and a power-session of grading student papers. My night is dedicated to geeking out with CG and some other friends playing Settlers of Catan and relaxing out in Jinshi, then possibly spending some time back out there tomorrow for some Sunday Fun-day Gun-day action with the FNS teachers if  I can swing it. Should be a riot. Much China love, all. Let me know that you're all still out there in Canada, America, and wherever else your adventures take you.

T

One year and 8 days (an unsent post from Thanksgiving weekend)

That's how long it's been since I first flew in to Dalian and my eyes first took in this place I'm calling home. Strange to think, but it actually feels pretty home-like now. 

I'm feeling a slight bit reminiscent, possibly because it's Thanksgiving Sunday (no, I don't get Monday off) and I've been talking to a bunch of my close friends back home this past week. The sun is streaming in my windows and although it's a bit hazy outside, I'm looking forward to a turkey-filled afternoon with the Seaths out in Manjiatan, near our school. Also, I realize that it's been just over a year since my first day in China, and the first weekend I was here last year was pretty much the Thanksgiving weekend. And I've had a bit of a quiet weekend, so it's given me some time to just chill out and relax after the craziness of busy teaching weeks and a nutty week in Shanghai.

The lives led by my friends and I are likely unfathomable to a huge chunk of the population around the world. These opportunities did not exist in the same way 30 years ago in Canada, and they still don't exist in so many parts of the world. I'm able to fill up a bag full of clothes and hop on a plane for a weekend trip of shopping, eating, and sightseeing to places like Beijing, Shanghai, or Seoul. I'm able to converse with and teach kids who come from every corner of China and attempt to help open doors for them to new lives of travel, education and work around the world. I'm able to go to a market and haggle with people who don't know a single word of my native language and sometimes even walk away with smiles on both faces. I can be shocked at behaviour and customs while still knowing that I just have to adjust my own attitudes and the lenses on my glasses might need to have a different tint added. I can laugh, smile, and make memories that I know are gonna last a lifetime.

Thankful doesn't quite do it justice.

Blessed. That might do it.

T

First of the low days

I guess I knew it was inevitable, but I've been riding a high of excitement since returning to China. And I guess that since it lasted pretty much two solid months (and even more, considering my summer adventures), it had to come to an end some time. But I am really reluctant to let it go when it has just felt so... good. I felt a small valley coming on last week (funny how it also landed on a Monday) but chalked it up to being tired from the weekend, but I think I'm actually fighting it off now. Such is the life of a teacher, and even though I know this, it doesn't help it disappear too easily.

In contrast to these more morose sentiments, the weekend was pretty solid. After spending a really relaxing night on Friday in Dalian, I filled my Saturday full of some running around, some relaxation and some fun in the evening playing volleyball with a few of my teaching buddies and a group of Japanese guys who rent out the gym at a university near my place. After the ball games, it was off to the ML Jam/Music night, Beatles-style where a bunch of teachers performed Beatles and other select tunes before turning the night into a dancefest down the road. I was definitely ready for bed when I pulled my Houdini act far too late into the evening.

As with all bad weeks, though, I've reached the peak of the hump and have two days left to tick off my calendar before Saturday. I'm going to try and focus on getting some rest and completing all the work I've neglected over the past 3 weeks. There's also some fun in the works, as it might be a geek-fest full of Settlers of Catan (an uber-nerdy board game) on Saturday night and some Sunday Gun-day Fun-day with CG and the other FNS teachers. We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

For now, bed calls as it does so early these days. More to come soon, I'm sure.

T

Weekends

It felt like this week disappeared more quickly than it arrived. And although I was exhausted and it was crazy busy, it was definitely of the manageable sort.

I had another good China moment this morning while at Metro (one of the big western-style supermarkets in Dalian). I was perusing my regular food aisles, looking for bargains on real OJ (most of the crappy "juice" here is of the "punch" variety) since you have to pay big bucks for the real deal. I also picked up my temporary supply of muesli and other hippy foods that are integral part of my daily diet (Chinese breakfasts are generally rice based, noodle soups or steamed buns called Baozi which are stuffed with an assortment of meats and salty veggies which can be delicious sometimes but not on a daily basis). As my grocery meandering took me to the produce and frozen foods section, I passed by the fresh seafood section which, by most accounts, is pretty enormous and highly varied. Usually you can find any type of eel-like or trout-style fish you could want, along with a plethora of shellfish any other oceanic delicacies. We live in a seaside town with a pretty big fishing industry so I guess it's only natural. 

As I looked over to my left, though, I did a complete double take. On the top of a heaping pile of bloodied, shaved ice sat... a shark. Yes. A SHARK. Like, a whole one. From snout to tail to all the fins in between. And yes, it was just as angry looking as anything on Shark Week. At about four feet long, it wasn't the biggest shark around I'm sure. But to be perusing the supermarket for grainy breakfast delights and looking up to see a big, bloody and available shark corpse was a bit of a shock to the system. The most interesting thing, though???? Someone was ASKING about prices for it! At, like, 9am! I thought that it couldn't possibly be happening but yes, yes it was. So random. It was like a morbid scene from a Tim Burton-esque petshop.

Anyways...

It's been a solid weekend so far. I was in metro Dalian for one of the first times ever last night with CG getting some food and exploring Peace Square and Xinghai Square on the ocean. It's a crazy and neon-filled part of town with cool condo buildings on the outside of a park and a huge, open area that has a sort of Olympic theme throughout it. Pretty cool to check out after dark. I spent this morning lounging after my little shopping excursion and then had lunch with some friends from work. Now I'm off to enjoy a bit of the sunset on my patio as the sun sinks over the Bohai Sea. It's been so clear and sunny this week and although the crisp bite of fall is in the air, it's been amazing during the day. I'm also off in a couple hours to play some volleyball with some of the teachers from school and a group of Japanese guys/gals from a local university, so it should be a lot of fun. And after a quick post-volleyball shower, it's our first jam/music night of the year with the teachers at the school. Last year, a group of the musically inclined Mapleleafers started getting together to have a fun pub/music night. So, it's been rekindled this year and it's the Beatles-themed kickoff tonight in Hongmei (the Korean district). Should be a blast! Until again, amigos and amigas, much China love...

T

New looks

Just thought I'd update the look of the site a bit to something more funky. Let me know what you think...

T

The more quiet moments from the trip

The light fixtures at Pho Real, one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in the world. AMAZING food.

The lighting of traditional Chinese lanterns on the Huangpu riverfront, near the Science and Tech Museum. Although techno music was pumping from a bike-mounted sales kiosk of sorts, this is one of those beautiful China moments that often get missed. People write messages on the outside of the lantern, sometimes to family members or friends who have passed, or they jot down wishes and messages hoping for good luck.

An outdoor, vine-filled window from The Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou, outside of Shanghai.

A sort of gremlin-like lion mounted on the post of a stone/cement bridge at West Lake in Hangzhou, outside of Shanghai.

The Bund walkway at night on the Huangpu River, downtown Shanghai.


I know I wrote a bit about my Shanghai experience, but I often neglect to share the more quiet side of my travels... the moments that seem to provide some of my most beautiful pictures and some of my favourite memories. Throughout my travels, I often spend a lot of time wandering... often to nowhere in particular, but it makes me feel like I'm a part of the city instead of just some tourist that came to see the sights. I'm definitely not a pro photographer, but maybe it's in the cards as a hobby down the road. There's moments where I feel like I can appreciate much of the better side in life, but I contribute little to those good things... music, art, etc. Jack of all trades but King of none? Who knows. All I can hope is that I'm living a life big enough to counter balance that.

T

Hiatus, and a return

I'm not exactly sure where I should begin, since it's hard to think that there's been a clear beginning or end in the midst of this start to this new school year. It seems more like a melding of a million moments that are crammed together in one big collective experience. Maybe it's because I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife (awesome read, by the way), a book all about how malleable and changeable time is when looking at is from afar. So maybe it's best to start from now and work my way backwards...

The past few days have been spent recovering from a solid but tiring trip to the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai. I missed out on a trip here last year due to a lack of time and money (a guy can only see so many Chinese cities on a fixed budget), but it remained at the top of my list this year. Seoul is still tops for my next week-long vacay (probably in May). But being back home is nice, too. I spent last night out for dinner with out with a bunch of teachers at a local noodle house and have tried to tackle the daunting mountain of marking I have from before the holidays. I cooked a massive and delicious pasta meal the other night for myself which was accompanied by some amazing roasted potatoes and squash. It was like the anti-Atkins plan. And man, I was in the biggest food coma you could possibly imagine.

Shanghai is pretty much the perfect city if you're into food, shopping and cultural activities. From strolling The Bund area near the Huangpu River which bisects the central area of the city, to taking in 6 stories of market shopping and haggling with some of the funniest shopkeepers imaginable, to eating food from anyplace in the world (in the span of a week, I ate amazing Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Canadian and Texan-style foods), to taking short day trips to Suzhou and Huangzhou (pronounced something similar to SooJoe and HungJoe resepectively) and strolling around one of the busiest pedestrian streets in the world. I hung out with my buddy Mr. Samland (who's teaching there this year) along with some both new and old friends from the Maple Leaf family. Got some hockey jerseys, some new shoes, a few new 15rmb ($2.40) silk ties and a multiple bellies full of amazing cuisine you can imagine. Am I talking about food a lot? I guess so. Must be the end of the school day. Anywho, I had a blast and can't wait to go back. 

My brain wants to stop thinking, so for the timebeing, here are a couple entries from my iPod notepad that I "jot" things down when my real journal is nowhere to be found. The first and last ones indulge a bit more of my poetic side, but hopefully it won't make anyone run for the hills...

Sept. 23 (Dalian)

The invasive but refreshing tingle of raindrops on my neck makes my body convulse in a shiver as I suck the cool, wet air deep into my lungs. It's like the rain pulls all the haze from the sky and smears it in a brown paste over the land, just as the windows are muddled into an opaque blur of fog and condensation. It's like the steam on a shower door but smeared with the dust of rural China which sticks to everything it touches.

Sept. 25 (Dalian)

Such a strange couple of days in Jinshitan. First, a free ride to the Qinggui (LRT) from a local worker who picked me up as a sort of good luck deed for the celebration of China's Mid-Autumn Festival. Then, got my picture taken with two girls on the train home after school yesterday. Ahh... China.

Sept. 28 (Shanghai)

In the past 5 minutes I've almost been run over by two bicycles, saw a child free-peeing in the street, got my picture taken by at least 3 strangers, and saw a dog happily walking down the street in a sweater... a "Hello, Kitty" sweater.

This morning (Dalian)

I can't see more than 20 feet in front of the car. The fog is like cement and makes for an ominous start to my Thursday. I keep thinking that it's a perfect day for ghosts or men in dark hoods, lurking in alleyways and doing secret business unbeknownst to the general populace. Our driver seems perfectly content to bomb through this mess like it's any other day, even though we have little warning of what will suddenly spring out of the dark mist ahead. The fog is sticking to the windows like paint, and I attempt to focus my brain on the soundwaves moving into my ears... if I keep looking out the front windshield, I think of myself hurtling through it when we crash and burn in some sketchy wreckage. I search out my seatbelt in vain... these taxis don't provide access to rear-seat belts. So I lean my head back and let the beat take me to a different place... one that doesn't include my life flashing before my eyes.

Much China love, all...

T

Adjustments

10 things that I had to re-adjust to since coming back to China:

1) Chinese men smoking in urinal stalls beside me INSIDE a mall.

2) Chinese men smoking pretty much everywhere and, in an oblivious way, blowing smoke nearly into your mouth.

3) Watching parents hold their children over garbage cans, bushes or gutters so the kids can evacuate themselves, well, anywhere.

4) Realizing that the man driving my motorcycle "taxi" might not have a driver's license and might not be sober. These are harrowing 6 minute stints, my friends.

5) Realizing that taking a normal taxi into Dalian to go dancing at 10:30pm on a Saturday means I'm taking my life into my hands as the driver's speedometer nears 140kms and is winding through traffic like it's the F1 circuit.
6) Remembering that there's often 2 possible products you can receive when you ask: the legal and legit product, and a knockoff. The difference can be as simple as a holographic decal versus a photocopied decal that, to the uninitiated eye, would be totally unnoticeable. As long as you're dealing with reasonably honest people, though, the difference exists in the price.

7) Knowing that the foreigner population here is often negatively labelled because of idiotic (and sometimes really young) Russian tourists who assault women and assume that China has no rules or standards.

8) Understanding the foreigner community I live with/in is a VERY small place sometimes and is, in itself, a massive rumour mill and gossip factory. Word travels fast.

9) The idea the world at large can be an insanely small place when, in one day, you get a facebook message from an old schoolmate who knows two of your new coworkers and you learn that a current coworker happens to be close friends with a past teaching friend/acquaintance from the Okanagan. So weird.

10) That even with the small community around me, I'm with some of the most fantastic people in the world. And I live a charmed life amongst them.

Did I mention that I'm off to Shanghai for a week of holidays as of Sunday? Yup. Charmed. Life.

T

Brevity (just an idea to share)

Something that came up via a Facebook post last week... sayings by me...

"Karma is a Venn diagram. Moreso than a T-Chart."

T

I am currently...

... eating 1/4 of a watermelon. Yes. 25%. In one sitting. For a snack.

You may ask, "WHY?" You may also ask, "Where will he put it all??" (Actually, you shouldn't probably ask this if we've met. One of my favourite sports is eating).

Answer:

It was nearly 30 degrees today and humid as all get-out. I had both my PE blocks at the end of the day, and between organizing and participating in both dodgeball and ultimate frisbee in the smoggy sunshine, I think I nearly sweated off about 10 pounds. I've already sucked down 2 litres of water and I'm pretty sure (WARNING: TOO MUCH INFORMATION COMING) my urine still looks more like paint than water. I also played nearly an hour of basketball against the boys high school team (only 5 teachers showed up, no substitutions, a total of 2-2 minute breaks, full court, 12 minute quarters, after teaching 2 PE blocks), a game I haven't played competitively since I quit my high school team in... GRADE 10! Still, I managed to drop two fantastic jump shots and was Steve Nash-esque with about 6 assists in our VICTORY over the young bucks, who had 20 GUYS and changed lines EVERY 4 MINUTES! Not bad for a group of old dudes who nearly caused a monsoon of sweat after the game finished (I was wringing out my shirt).

Yes, I noticed the overuse of the CAPS lock. I felt like this entry needed some emphasis.

Life has been tiring, and I'm already behind on my work because of my post-work fatigue. But the kids are all coming around and there's no shortage of fun... only a shortage of money. At least, for the first couple of months, anyway. One difficult-to-swallow fact about China (or, at least, the suburb of Dalian I live in) is that the landlords require you to pay for at least 6 months, but most often an entire year... up front. As you can imagine, when you're required to pay more than $4000 up front for a year for rent and you're making less than that a month (which doesn't include any extra costs of living or loan costs back home, of which I have... many), it causes some stress. I've been keeping it on the cheap lately and will continue to do so as much as possible. However, when November comes, fun will be plentiful as will the money, since I'll pay all my costs (including my utilities) over two months and be paid by then. Or, most of it at least. There might be some lingering $$ to pay in November. But I'm not too worried. Then the more aggressive attempts to pay off loans/credit cards will commence.

Anywho, I'm off to dinner with a sort of Wednesday night supper group (which I may have mentioned... just a group of friends who live in town) in about an hour and want to polish off both my marking and my watermelon before that. So, until again friends, keep livin' your big dreams, wherever these rants find you. Much love from the east side of the Liaoning Peninsula and the coast of the Yellow Sea....

T

Too funny to not share

Last year, I did a small writing assignment with my grade 9 classes where they had to come up with environmentally-conscious superheros and write a story about it. As a joke, as we were brainstorming traits and listing examples of superheroes, I jokingly put "SuperMrak" on the board, and drew a guy on the board with a big "M" on his shirt. Having a pretty good relationship with my kids, a bunch of them thought this was funny and called me "SuperMrak" the rest of the year.

In my English classes recently, one of my old grade 9s who is now one of my English 10 students brought up my old moniker of SuperMrak as I polled the class on their favourite superheroes. Laughing, I thought I'd test out my relationship with my PE 11 boys. 

At the end of yesterday's class, after demonstrating my Ultimate Frisbee prowess and after showing up some of the basketball players earlier in the week (one lucky streak in shooting is all I needed), I brought the boys in to end the class like a team by putting their hands together in a circle. I said to them, "On three, we need to cheer something because this was an excellent class!" A few of the boys threw out lame ideas, so I said, "Okay! On three, we're gonna say 'SuperMrak!'" They laughed at this, I smiled and laughed along, and some groaned. But when I yelled, "1! 2! 3!", every one of my PE 11 boys shouted, "Super Mrak!!"

These are the priceless moments that make teaching worthwhile. We even did it again today! :) Maybe this is cocky or arrogant or over the top, but I don't care. Life is good.

T

Wednesdays sometimes feel endless...

... but can still remain satisfying.

As I walked through the courtyard of my apartment complex, I could hear the plucking of some sort of Chinese zither wafting down from the windows of a 5th floor apartment near mine. Finally a breeze finds my oily face, rescuing me from the discomfort of a day full of teaching PE and battling the Dongbei humidity that seems to be filling the sky right now. My mind's empty of all the stress and anxiety from my teaching day after filling myself with spicy hotpot and assaulting the restaurant air with conversation with friends. It's Wednesday night and I was invited the past few weeks to participate in the Wednesday night "dinner club", which isn't so much a club as 6 or 7 people getting together at different restaurants all over town to celebrate hump day in the best fashion possible: around food. If you know me at all, you know this adds up to near perfection for me. I'm so happy with food in my gut.

For those of you who have never had Chinese hotpot, it's a really popular style of eating that is similar to the idea of fondu: you have a boiling pot of spiced and flavoured water in front of you, order a whole assortment of thinly sliced/shaved raw meats and tofus and vegetables, and cook them communally to share amongst the hotpot goers around the table. Added to this is generally a self-made sauce usually consisting of sesame or peanut sauce garnished with an assortment of chili pastes, fish sauces, oils and fresh things like cilantro, garlic, ginger and baby chilis which the diners mix together to make, well, one of the most delicious things in China. Sooo good. I ate this often with my friends last year, the girls from the ESL office who kept me sane while trying to inhabit this terribly foreign country.

Nights like these make life worth living. My favourite way to spend social time is around food and drink. I haven't found a better way to share burdens and get to know people. And it seems like every culture around the world has their own version of this communal dining and eating, often with families. Here in China, it's the same... people don't go to hotpot on their own. They go with friends and families and for celebrations. And what better thing to celebrate than to surviving spending a whole day with hundreds of teenagers?

It's also nice to have these more quiet, contented nights, especially after having the crazy fun of this past Saturday night's "Newbie Bash". You'll have to message me personally if you want the rundown on the crazy stories that may have involved some swimming in the Yellow Sea, some bad karaoke, and a lot of amazingly "Chinafied" outfits put together by the ladies of our teaching staff. I'll just say that crimped hair made more than one appearance... that should give ya'll a hint!

My night is already winding down at 8pm... my 5:20am alarm comes quite quickly in the morning, so I'm trying to discipline myself into hitting the hay early after a bit of reading. I still have some preparation to do for tomorrow, but I'll manage. Until another night, mes amis. From six stories above the Yellow Sea...

T