Another first week

It's coming to the end of week one, and about 10 of the new teachers just left my apartment about an hour ago. I hosted a sort of no-fee garage sale after acquiring a room full of unwanted stuff from some teachers who jumped ship and swam for Canada at the end of last year. I wouldn't call it a roaring success, but it was the first event I've actually hosted since being in China. After sleeping on Team Seath's couch all last year and being invited/included in nearly every social event of the year last year, I figured I'd attempt to start repaying the karmic debt and help out those teachers who are brand new to China.

It's been interesting coming back and being a full-fledged member of the community this year. I've interacted with more of the teachers I didn't know or barely knew last year, and have been able to reconnect with some of the awesome people I hadn't talked to since the spring. And now that I'm living in the city and have my place set up (although more needs to be done), I'm really excited about the prospects of what's to come.

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A journal note from the other day...

As I see what looks like a parade coming down the road, my ignorance is informed (as it so often is) by a friend who explains to me that waving and clapping isn't so much the appropriate response. (Luckily at this point I had not yet begun). It turns out that the large, kite-like banners being carried up the road by a line of Chinese men were for a sort of funeral procession that is common during this time of year. This week was the celebration/remembrance day called "Ghost Day", where people from all over China recall/mourn/celebrate the lives of those ancestors/family members/friends who have passed on, and the sky fills with fireworks and the smoke from fake money being burned in the streets (much like the coins on the eyes of the dead in Roman times to pay Charon, the ferrryman who took the dead across the River Styx in Greek mythos). Although I've experienced the fireworks for the past year at all hours of the day, it seems like since I've been back they've been going on at a crazy rate in response to this day of remembrance.

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Other than being attacked by mosquitos as I sleep, along with the typical battle of adjusting to a new sleep schedule, life feels like it's settling. I feel a bit lost at school because our department leadership seems to be in shambles, but the result is that I may have just volunteered for department head of English at our school. Now, for you teacher geeks, don't be too impressed (okay... you can be, but it's maybe a bit of a false sense of the reality). The experienced teachers are more or less abandoning the post and there's a serious void. And knowing that I'm a bit of a people-organizer, I'm tentatively stepping up to the plate. More on this later.

For now, the rain is falling quietly outside my window and I'm well past my normal bedtime (it's after 10pm already!). I hope everyone back home is well, and I want to thank you all again for the company and fun this summer. Please visit. Please write. And keep dreaming big... you can put money on the fact that I am. Much love from the Far East...

T

New beginnings start with a plane ride

It's Sunday night and as I'm crawling into bed at about 8:30pm, the cracks and flashes of pyrotechnics rock my ears and brain and suddenly I'm wide awake again. It's a noise I haven't heard in weeks, but I quickly remember my location and laugh a little bit. Trying to indulge my more adolescent tendencies, I assume that all the noise and ruckus is for me as a sort of welcoming gift. I realize the absurdity, but it's fun to pretend. Luckily, this feeling of wakefulness passes about 6 seconds after the fireworks are done, and I'm out like a light.

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I arrived back in China yesterday morning on my 3 hour flight from Tokyo. I've had a summer of madness and fun (and sleep deprivation). The past 6 weeks have been spent gallavanting through western Canada, from Victoria to Vancouver to Kelowna to Lethbridge, even to Montana and then back the same route. I've been doing my best to see all the friends and family that I could fit in and have as much fun as possible while seeing those people. I've been spending much of that time eating, and I'm starting to get the waistline to prove it. Hopefully having a bit of a routine is enough to get back to some sense of normalcy and maintain the running I tried to keep up over the summer.

Any of the China friends could read the opening of this post and know exactly what I'm talking about. At any random hour on any random day, fireworks could be blasting off across the city. Before, this experience used to be limited to my weekend trips to visit D&M, but now that I'm living in Kaifaqu (the Development Zone suburb of Dalian, and about 25 mins from my new job location), it will become more of a regular occurrence. Last night the lights and noise were only a building away, and even this morning at 6:15am I began to hear the snapping and banging of more fireworks about 2 blocks away. The Chinese really like blowing stuff up... or at least they do up here in Dongbei.

Since hopping on my plane from Vancouver to Tokyo then to Dalian, I've been thinking a lot about the summer as well as the year to come. I probably had the most silly, irresponsible summer of my life, spending money on food and drink and friends and festivities. And although having this new job will require quite a bit of focus, I keep thinking about the potential for all the adventure I'll have on my holidays and weekends. Plans are starting to be thrown around for my first week of holidays at the end of September (I know... ridiculously early!) and for weekend trips to visit friends in Shanghai, Beijing, and even Thailand and Singapore. Maybe Thailand and Singapore are a little far for weekend excursions, but the temptation remains!

I have to start getting ready for my first day of work (not REALLY work... just moving things into my new office at the high school and a bit of a meet and greet with some of the new teachers), but I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who made time this summer to hang out and have a ridiculously fun time with me. I miss you all and I hope you know that although I feel like I'm living a pretty sweet life right now, I can't wait to see you all next summer. In the meantime, I've got a lot of adventures in front of me. And this summer, I took the final steps of leaving my past behind me and beginning this life anew. For all the support, emails, and love sent from every part of the world, thanks. I'll try to eat something really ridiculous soon so you can all laugh at me! :) And SOMEONE, PLEASE come visit me! I have an extra bedroom!!! Take care, and dream big.

T

Sometimes I feel pretty ignorant

This happened a few weeks ago, but I feel like I had to share one of my more ignorant moments as a human beings.

When I was coming through Vancouver and staying with/visiting some of my absolute favourite people (JLG, DMcV, and Chenders!), I finally indulged my impulse to get a cheap, pay-as-you-go phone. I tried a couple of 7-Elevens around downtown after I had lunch with JLG, but was having trouble. They had phones, but I was looking for the bottom of the barrel, cheap as can be, sort of phone. Luckily, a Fido place was nearby, so I strolled in. (I think I'm bordering on punctuation abuse right now with all the commas.)

I approached the counter and explaining my predicament with my currently useless Chinese phone, the delightful girl behind the counter got me sorted out with a cheap Nokia that was within my admittedly brutal price range. After sorting out a few of the details, she asked me if I spoke Chinese. As I do with most people who ask the question, I responded in Chinese saying "I don't speak well". I thought it was kinda appropriate, considering both the customer next to me and the other customer service person there were both speaking Mandarin. The girl helping me was also Asian, and just thought I'd throw it out there...

"Do you speak [Mandarin]?"

Her response was polite and simple: "Ummm... no. I'm Japanese."

Crap.

Well, I tried my best to take my foot out of my mouth and place it in some sort of sturdy fashion back on the ground. This was a pretty mortifying moment, since I consider myself particularly PC. Oh well... no harm, no foul, right? And I think I learned a lesson, so I guess we can chalk that one up to the positive.

I hope you all enjoyed indulging in my foot-in-mouth disease that seems to be all too common. For now, though, I'm in the land of the non-PC: Montana. Soaking up the sun, golfing like a total hack, and getting some spanking good deals on some clothes is the name of the game for now. More to come when I pursue some more alone time. For now, wuda pengyous... ciao.

T