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