Next Step: Shanghai

As part of a business article that I was writing, I made a trip to Shanghai on one of my days off. I would be sitting down to interview a Polish business professional, to better understand her experience of working in China. Hanna welcomed me into her office and introduced me to her boss, Alex, originally from Michigan. Alex began his own management consulting firm after many years of successfully guiding Fortune 500 firms and private equity companies in their Asian divisions. We had a great conversation and I really connected with both of them.

Shortly after returning to Nanjing, I sent one of my past business articles to Alex for his review. He read through and called me the next day.

"Listen, Sean, I don't know if you are looking for anything, but my wife's school is hiring for a marketing position that involves a lot of writing, and you are a great writer!"

As it happens, I was not looking to make a change at this particular moment in time. My contract in Nanjing had just come to an end, but I had no plans to make any big changes. However, I won't say "no" to new opportunities. I sent my resume to his wife, Hilary, and accepted the offer to interview the following week in Shanghai. Several days after the interview, I accepted the job offer.

My new company is an international school with a long history and a well-respected reputation in education. The school provides K-12 education for international families that have relocated to Shanghai for work.

My position involves a lot of writing and networking with the various English media outlets in Shanghai. I also help out at occasional events and have a role in other marketing activities throughout the week. There are around 250,000 foreigners living in Shanghai, so my team must work very hard to reach this audience. So far I really enjoy my work and my new team!

I have moved into the top floor apartment of a 29-story complex. I have a French and an American roommate- both young men like me. Our apartment has its own, large rooftop patio that will be great for summer bbq parties. I have a decent bedroom and my own bathroom, the shared kitchen has an oven and a dishwasher, and we even have a clothes dryer in our laundry room (most families in Shanghai must hang-dry clothes). At the time of writing, all those fancy appliances don't actually work, but we have been told that a repairman will arrive to fix those.

My new apartment is in one of the major downtown centers of Shanghai, just a ten ten minute walk from the Jing'an Temple. This is a really great area to be!Here is a picture of the temple with some buildings in the background (not my apartment complex).

When I get back from my brief stop at home for the holidays, I'm looking forward to exploring more international food options and finding a gym in my new city! I hope to also have more time to post updates on my blog!

Happy Holidays everyone, and Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving in Tianjin

I was fortunate to be able to spend the holiday with my very good friend, Anthony. We all call him 'Panda.' I lived with him for about seven months in Nanjing before he received an offer to manage a classy foreign restaurant in Tianjin, a large city near Beijing. He has been there and doing well ever since.

His Thanksgiving menu included: turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries, and a very non-traditional pumpkin pie! Everything was delicious and guests were allowed 3 refills on each item! I could only eat two platefuls, but I also ordered a quesadilla before the feast began.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

All treats, no tricks

I had to ask the cashier two times if what I was looking at was some kind of trick of the eyes, but she assured me that it was real, a real American treat: Ben and Jerry's in China!

I stopped by my favorite foreign goods store to buy ingredients for Muddy Buddies. I left with so much more! They have started stocking my favorite ice cream, an ice cream that I've only been able to enjoy outside of America when in Hong Kong or on my visit to Shannon's cruise ship last spring.

So my Halloween was plenty sweet with ice cream and homemade Muddy Buddies!

Happy Halloween!

China National Holiday, take two

My second National Holiday in China! Celebrating 63 years since the founding of the People's Republic!

Last year, I spent this holiday in Shanghai with my roommates at the time. Since them, I have been to Shanghai at least a half dozen times, so I needed to explore a new destination this time around. I decided on a place called Gulangyu.

Small. Island. Beach. Seafood. Green trees. No skyscrapers. No cars. All the positives that drew me to the island.

Now for the negatives: Trash on the beach. Expensive seafood. Too small for so many people. Crowded, crowded, crowded. Such is the downside of traveling during the national holiday. The amount of people traveling across China during this week is equal to the population of the U.S. That's a lot of people! Both the flight to and from were delayed somewhat, though as to why and if this correlates to the amount of people traveling that week, I am not sure. Truth be told, most of my flights within China have been delayed.

Despite the crowds and the dirty beach, the vacation was still very enjoyable, even peaceful. The seafood was quite good and the tourist attractions were interesting. There was a piano museum, a large statue, a high point overlooking the island and the bay- that was probably my favorite. I really liked to look about the island and contrast the small buildings with the tall skyscrapers across the bay, those of the city Xiamen.

I did some swimming in the ocean water but I, being one of the only white boys there, stood out like a shark sighting. Especially since the Chinese are won't to absorb sunshine and everyone else remained in their normal clothes on the beach, not changing into swimwear...When the locals went down to the water, it was mostly just with rolled up pant legs to kick at the waves, so it was amusing for them to see me get in and swim! But we all had fun :-) 

Xi’an with the Fords

Terracotta Warriors

Arrival: We arrived in the afternoon and were picked up by our guide, George, and the driver. We’d already ate on the airplane and were not feeling entirely hungry, but when we learned the Shangri-La Hotel would be serving Happy Hour from 5-7pm, we managed to find our appetites. The club lounge featured an impressive happy hour indeed, including a throw back to my days in Thailand with a homemade, refreshing and spicy Papaya Salad. We dined happily and looked out upon the city. From the 19^th floor, we could spy a Brothers (printer company) factory across the street. The staff was friendly and seemed to enjoy our company, as we were the only guests partaking in the happy hour. I asked the chef to bring out a dragonfruit so my family could see the whole fruit (they’d only seen the pieces at the breakfast buffets). We marveled at the pink peel and then the chef was nice enough to demonstrate how to cut up the pretty fruit.

After stuffing ourselves with the hors d-oeuvre, we went for a stroll out behind the hotel, to the nearby park and pond. The park was full of activity for the local people and this makes perfect sense. The daily reality for most people in China is a life inside a small apartment unit, surrounded by tall buildings and millions of people. Parks are the perfect place to spread out a bit and enjoy a small slice of nature. Parents and grandparents walked along with their child, while old men gathered for games or to bend the strings of their old, traditional Chinese instruments. In other places, small groups assembled for some evening tai chi. And in the center area of the park, a large group of women (and one tall, uncoordinated man) gathered for some dancing. Miranda was courageous enough to join the dancing! But I think I better not post that video… J

Day One: Terracotta Warriors. Our first stop was to the ceramics factory where the clay souvenirs are manufactured. We learned about the process of forming the mold, etching detail into the clay, and then placing the clay into the kiln. We also purchased some souvenirs, and I teamed up with Miranda to haggle a lower price on some beautiful wall hangings for her new home (to be found) as well as Celeste to buy some great warrior magnets.

Next stop was the actual site of the Terracotta Warriors, exactly where they were found by some famers digging for a well in 1974. Several long hangars has been built over the three different pit-sites. Since the warriors were by-and-large destroyed by enemies of the emperor, and then buried and forgotten over the generations, few statues are ever unearthed intact. So a team of dedicated scientists have been working to carefully dig them up and piece them back together, like the most complex of puzzles. Many more pieces of the statue are still buried and no one expects the entire project to finish anytime soon. Our tour began in the museum where we saw a short video to provide the background history.

We had lunch at a nice buffet restaurant featuring “noodle entertainment” from the chefs. One chef cut large slices of noodles with a large cleaver to send into a bowling pot of water, while the other chef continuously stretched and twisted the noodles in the air before slamming them against the prep table. Once we had eaten our share, it was time to explore the pits and see the soldiers.

                                 

The statues were impressive and the stories that George regaled us with were entertaining. Equally impressive and entertaining was the sheer mass of people pushing past one another to get the best view into the different pits of warriors. Unfortunately, no one is allowed into the pit for side-by-side photos.

The agenda for the night: dinner and a show. We enjoyed a sumptuous dumplings (my favorite Chinese food!) feast with a wide variety of different types, almost 20 types in all.

The show was a feast for the senses: dancing, colors, and beautiful traditional Chinese music on instruments that might be long since forgotten if not for their classic sounds. The peaceful show was interrupted, on more than one occasion, by a drunk local who insisted on taking calls throughout and was not shy about noise volume. This is quite commonplace for the Chinese guests in attendance, but the drunkard received several glares from the various tables of foreigners.

Day Two: We did further damage to the great breakfast buffet; I think everyone had two cups of yogurt plus large servings from the rest of the spread! George greeted us after we checked out of the hotel and our merry band went into the inner city. This part of Xi’an is a large remnant of ancient China, surrounded by the 600-year old wall. The weather cooperated, so we were able to see the entire length of the wall, looking down at the city, from bicycles! It took about 80 minutes, but we were able to bike the full 25km distance around the top of the wall, with plenty of breaks allowed for water, photos, and reading about the history.

                                   

The bike ride was followed by a short visit to the Drum Tower. This is a tall, traditional-style tower that is the display place for the drums of old. These were no small, snare drums, but drums the size of grown men!

We left the drum tower and headed to the airport.

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye. We watched the checked-bags go down the chute then I gave long hugs to the Fords, not knowing when I’d get to travel with them again, let alone see them. Having lived abroad for almost 17 months now, I really appreciate those hugs from family when I can get them!

My flight returned safely, albeit delayed 30 minutes to Nanjing. The Fords arrived safely to Chengdu (home of the pandas), but only after completing the flight two times! Shortly after they left Xi’an and were approaching Chengdu, the pilot was forced to turn around and return to Xi’an due to bad weather. They waited patiently, like pandas in a tree, for a while before the plane was authorized to make the flight-again!

Doherty Travels

My brother checks in on my blog from time to time, but doesn't maintain a blog of his own. That is a shame because he just had a wonderful 3 year anniversary celebration with his wife, Jill. He sent me a play-by-play of the trip as well as some pictures, so I figured that was his permission to post them! Enjoy!

From Ryan:

Our flight left Denver at midnight, direct to San Jose, Costa Rica. Five hour flight. We didn't rest well on the flight so our first day was spent sleeping. We did get up for lunch and dinner, which we got at the steak house next door to our hotel.

Day 2: Our guide, Paulo, picked us up and we drove to our new hotel, which is where we would be staying for the next five days. (pic attached) We went on a one hour horse ride, it was so the horse owner, Stanley, could see how well we rode and plan our future rides accordingly. Dinner and breakfast are provided at our hotel for our stay. Fresh fruits, coffee, pancakes, toast, fresh sea bass, fresh chicken. Our breakfast eggs were hatched by hens that the hotel kept in a coop on the property.

Day 3: A hike through a "National Forest nature walk" it was basically a gravel path laid through part of the jungle. We saw cool animals and bugs there. Then we took a longer horse ride. Our average ride time was 2.5 to 3 hours each day. Most of our rides involved a portion of through the jungle trails. Since we were there in the rainy season, the vegetation was growing so fast it overgrew the normal trails. Stanley was hacking away with his machete. On this particular ride, the preferred trail was too over grown to ride. So we went down a river bed that is normally so low it  barely gets the horses hooves wet, but this time it was full. I had to pull my legs up like a jockey to keep my feet out of the water. The horses were in past their bellies. Jillian was riding the Stanley's 5 year old stallion. I guess we are good enough riders that he offered us the opportunity to ride his stallion. Unfortunately, the stallion has not the same experience as the older horses the rest of us were on. We had to climb out of the river bed, up a muddy slope, into thick vegetation. Paulo's horse fell getting up the slope. We went riding down along a barbed fence, in between thick vegetation. It got so bad we had to turn back. Jillian's horse fell getting back down the slope and Jilllian jumped off the horse. She was fine, but she got soaked and had mud all over her. Her shoes never dried for the rest of the trip. Too much humidity near the ocean.

Day 4: We rode to the beach today. I was on the stallion for most of this ride. That horse has speed and always wants to go faster. But he was very well trained and easy to handle. We galloped on the beach, and stopped at a small local restaurant. This place was so out of the way that you would only know about it if someone told you about it. There are no signs for it or advertising. That was cool. The riding today was over 5 hours.

Day 5: Our guide, Paulo, and the horse owner, Stanley, are buddies and set up an extra day of riding that Jillian and I didn't know about. Our schedule said today was no riding, but we were to go snorkeling and kayaking. We did that early in the morning which was fun. After that we met up at Stanley's and rode to his favorite local bar. He has a couple tequilas, and was all about running the horses back home. He is normally shy, but tequila breaks his shell. Back at his house, his wife made us a sweet tortilla snack and some coffee. We sat on his porch and enjoyed our snack.

Day 6: Went on a boat on the river and saw crocodiles. The boat guide got out of the boat on the shore and hand fed chicken bits to the crocs! Crazy dude, but good photo ops. More horse riding after the boat.

Day 7: Took an arial tram up a small mountain, then zip lined back down along 10 different cables. That was fun. After that, more horses. Rode to a river where we had a picnic. Traditional lunch for ranchers on the road moving cattle or what have you. It was a burrito... go figure. Plus something that tasted a lot like brown sugar in water, but they claim it is some traditional drink. Paulo took us back to our first hotel, which is central in the country, in San Jose.

Day 8: We went on a tour group up an active volcano. Also toured a coffee plantation and walked through an animal rescue that displayed large cats, small cats, sloths, lots of birds, butterflies, and monkeys. The end of this tour took us on a hike to a water fall.

Day 9: Wake up at 330AM for our trip back to the airport to head back home.

Moment in Peking

This blog post is named after a book I read last year, shortly after I arrived in China. The book was written entirely in English by a native Chinese author and was a tremendous read. I recommend it entirely.

Beijing used to be known to us in the West as Peking, and thus the title is appropriate for my recent travel to Beijing. I spent three awesome days with my relatives, but looking back it all seems like but a short moment…

Arrival: My flight was delayed from South Korea to Beijing, but that turned out to be a happy coincidence because I walked into baggage claim at the Beijing airport just in time to spot my aunt Celeste, Uncle Kevin, and cousin Miranda’s boyfriend Russ collecting their bags. We met our tour guide, Vicky, and the driver, Mr. Zhang, who then drove us to the Sheraton Hotel downtown. For dinner we went out to Hot Pot and I really enjoyed introducing this experience to my relatives. Hot Pot is a popular dining out tradition for Chinese people. Think fondue dining where you cook the food at your table but in spicy soup instead of cheese and different Chinese foods instead of Western foods.

Day One: After a good power breakfast at the Sheraton, we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We had a nice lunch at a traditional restaurant along the water. This was the group’s first experience of a Chinese feast: we must have had 12 or 15 different dishes presented for us on the “lazy susan” and spun around for everyone to share. The waiter asked if we also wanted some rice and we accepted, though we all wondered where we could find room for the rice on the table and in our bellies!

 

That night we went for some Peking duck. The duck was not just food, it was an experience: a chef came out to our table to cut the full duck into tender slices of meat. Then a waitress showed us a few ways to wrap/stuff the duck inside two types of Chinese bread then to add vegetables and sauces, etc.

Day Two: The Great Wall! But before we got there, we did visit the Summer Palace. A historical figure that kept surfacing in the stories from Vicky was the Dragon Lady, who was operating behind the throne, pulling the puppet strings of the Last Emperor. She suggested watching the movie: The Last Emperor.

The Wall was as big and as impressive as we'd all imagined and been told to expect.  The section we were on was well-maintained for the purpose of tourism, but other stretches were wildly overrun with plants and trees that had grown into the rock. The long stretch of wall running through the forested hillside was a sight to behold.

Going up and coming down wasn't bad either: we took a chairlift up to the wall and rode the alpine slide back down!

 Beijing Opera for the show that night. Interesting. We had a taste of this earlier in the day so we were prepared for the out-of-tune, high pitched sounds, but not prepared for how long those sounds would last! The tea was served by a kung-fu master who poured from a three-foot long spout and made twists and turns in between pours. We were joined by two Colombian women at our table so Kevin and Celeste got to show off their Spanish skills!

After dinner, we caught up with Miranda at a posh bar downtown for her class party. I showed up under-dressed, so the bouncer required me to rent some yoga slippers and leave my sandals outside. My dear family bugged me about those slippers that night and for the rest of the trip, never letting me live it down J Pictures? Oh no, I did not even think to take pictures of my rental yoga slippers!

Day Three, morning:

We finished another good breakfast meal at the hotel then loaded into the van and were taken straight to the airport. Our guide, Vicky made sure we checked in OK and had no issues with baggage weight limits, and then we made our way to the gate bound for Xi’an.

Seoul, South Korea

My former roommate here in China, Anthony (Panda), and I had purchased a ticket to South Korea last year but never had a chance to use them, but an opportunity finally presented itself. After eating dinner at his new restaurant in Tianjin, China, we flew to Seoul. We called our other former roommate, Paul, who is Korean-American and has returned home to Texas to finish college.

Three different factors influenced our Korea itinerary: 1) Panda has been there several times and has seen most of the major attractions 2) I was tired of doing the touristy “take photos” routine and was expecting to put a lot of miles on my camera with a trip to Beijing and Xi’an later in the week and 3) my brother and his wife were taking an adventure vacation to Costa Rica complete with horseback riding and kayaking. So I got back in touch with my Colorado “adventure” roots and decided on wakeboarding in the river!

The food in Seoul was great: I am an even bigger fan of Korean cuisine now! And the people were very nice and seemed to enjoy having foreigners explore their city.

Saw Batman: Dark Knight Rises, while in Korea since the film will not be released in China until September. 

There was definitely a chill that came over both me and Panda, since the news of the tragic shooting in Colorado was still fresh. I know this feeling must be even worse for those watching movies in theaters back in Colorado and the other states.

HongShan Zoo

The animals, sadly, were not the highlight of this visit. The beautiful mountain (more like a hill) setting was. The zoo is built into the side of a hill on the far end of the city, but is conveniently reached by the subway. Trees cover the hillside and there are a few nice lakes that provide a relaxing atmosphere. Despite being surrounded by natural scenery, the animals are kept in small cages with concrete floors, in most cases, rather than grass or dirt.

The layout was a bit similar to the Wildlife Sanctuary in Colorado, but the Sanctuary actually provides much more comfortable cages for the animals and room to roam. The wolf area had a walk-over bridge for guests to look down at the animals and their cage was one of the few with a more or less dirt/grass floor and some trees and bushes. But the tigers, leopards, and lions were all kept in dreary prison cells. The giraffes, at least, did have a larger grassy area.

The Chinese operate by a very different culture and this shows in their treatment/respect of animals. I had to bear in mind that cultural differences should not be judged because we really do grow up and live worlds apart. Their view of animal husbandry is different from mine and most Americans and I will leave it at that. There were small fences designed to keep the visitors back away from the cages, with signs posted in English and Chinese to stay behind those fences. Well, some of the locals didn't think twice about jumping over the fence to go right along the cage for a closer picture. What's worse, many felt that it was OK to throw small things like sticks or paper into the cage to get the animal's attention. I even saw one guy throw his cigarette butt into a tiger cage. They were also very noisy and made calling or barking noises sometimes to try and get the animal to look at them.

I was reminded of the tiger in CA who escaped, tracked down, and attacked the specific tourist who was harassing it at his compound. 1 point tiger, 0 points humans, and a major rallying call sounded to caged animals everywhere!

These looked like fun: parents get to lock their kid up in a clear orb, then float them out on a small pool of water. When the kid starts to stand up, the parents can jerk on a rope connected to the ball to unsettle the contents!

Hong Kong part 2

One of my favorite professors, Darrin Duber-Smith, informed me that he would be giving a presentation in Hong Kong, on April 22nd. Being close to HK (relative to the flight he had to take) I decided to make an appearance at the conference.

The conference was for Global Sources and Darrin was asked to speak about his area of expertise: Green Marketing. Altogether, he spoke for an hour. The presentation was very interesting and informative. The bulk of the attendees were English speakers (some foreigners, others from Hong Kong where English is one of their main languages anyhow) but the powerpoint slideshow had Chinese translations added for clarity.

For dinner we had exquisite food at a very nice restaurant. The pasta was better than anything I've had back home, and the desserts were great! Darrin's wife made the trip as well. They both liked what they had seen of the city in the previous day when they arrived. I was expecting to have to play tour guide (my 2nd time to HK) but these two are professional travelers and they actually did most of the leading!

Also got to see my real good friend here, Panda, who was in HK for his visa. He is my former roommate who recently moved closer to Beijing to run an upscale foreign restaurant. He is very happy now! I got out of the subway after dinner, called his phone, got in a taxi, only to drive around the block. He told the driver my location in Cantonese (the main language in HK that he speaks) but the driver didn't say I was so close! I walked into the restaurant and there was Panda doing his thing: ordering too much food and instructing the wait staff about their business. It didn't matter that I had already ate great food for dinner, he always has to see to it that the people he cares about are taken care of and well-fed!

The next day was full of sight-seeing with the professor and his wife, but the weather was not cooperating. The fog was so thick! We went up to a temple and giant Buddha statue but could hardly see. Darrin is in the red/black shirt.

The trip to this temple was exciting: a cable car over the hills and across the channel!

The hilly nature of HK, surrounded by ocean water, makes it a scenic place. But there are lots of crowded skyscrapers that you have to ignore!

Special treat in HK: two servings of Ben and Jerry's ice cream! I can't get that on the mainland but its quiet popular on the island!

I stayed one more day after my professor's flight left. That day was fairly casual: good local food with Panda and a workout in the park!

Then back to Nanjing the next morning.

胜利 Victory!

Since arriving in China, I have been very fortunate to have made great friends and training partners with the coach, Fred Greenall, and athletes at Frontier Asia http://kunaifightwear.com/frontierasiabjj/
I've been having a lot of fun with it, but I know it makes my mother worry :-(

So when I learned that the 2012 BJJ China Open was to be held in Shanghai on May 19, of course I signed up!

I competed in the blue belt 65kg division. Three matches and done: winner! I won each match by submission (my opponent's gave up) rather than points.

I also competed in the blue belt open weight category, in which I won two matches. The first was by a technicality because my opponent did an illegal technique. The referee disqualified him, but I didn't want to win that way. So I teamed up with my opponent and we both argued with the ref to let the match continue for the remaining minute to determine the winner. But the ref did not capitulate.
I won the next match by a submission, but I lost my next match by points to a man who outweighed me by maybe 15kg. I hate losing by points, but I wasn't able to submit him.

I was really proud of the Frontier Asia BJJ team. Some were competing for the first time, like Sarah, who fought admirably! Overall, we won the team prize for the most individual first-place finishes and medals. Fred has done a great job training us and helping to develop these champions!

The majority of competitors were Chinese people, which is great to see as this sport is still growing in the country. And with such a large population, there is huge potential for the sport to do big things here! I know Frontier Asia BJJ will be at the forefront of any such movement!

Also gotta give respect and thanks to Michael Sullivan and the coaches at FusBoxe where I received the bulk of my training. http://www.fusboxe.com/

Suzhou

The Chinese have a saying: “above us, there is paradise. On earth, there is Suzhou and Hangzhou.” With the celebration of Labor Day on May 1^st here, I decided to put that saying to the test and made a trip to Suzhou with my roommate, Paul. You may be wondering: “what did Sean do to end up behind bars in paradise?” Don’t worry- that’s just me in a taxi!

Suzhou is about an hour away from Nanjing on the bullet train. The two cities are similar in many ways: big, Chinese city with big buildings, and a development focus on including trees and a nature mix within the city. 

Because of the big city feel, I never felt like I was really, “getting away from it all” to explore a wonderful, natural, and secluded paradise. Granted, I’m a bit spoiled coming from Colorado and having just visited home but three weeks prior to this trip.

Despite the Colorado-nature-snob in me, Suzhou did prove to be quite pleasant. We took a tour bus to four different spots and enjoyed a variety of different sights. The first stop was something of a palace or estate of old with nice flowers.

Another stop was a large rock garden, and I mean large. The paths were made of rocks and you climbed up some of the big ones to walk along rock bridges to other parts of the garden. In the center was a nice lake surrounded by some traditional pagodas. Some of the rocks formed together to make small caves that were big enough to walk inside.

We took a river boat along the canals of Suzhou and saw some traditional houses and traditional lifestyle living. Another stop took us up a twelve story (or taller) temple for a 360 view of the city, as well as a large Buddha statue.

After lunch consisting of some yummy Suzhou local food (every region in China has its own variety of Chinese food), we were taken to a silk store and pitched by many different sales agents to buy the silk.

The last stop featured another, larger part of the canal and some more pagodas. The canal was spanned by a large bridge where many of the tourists went to take pictures. By this time, I was pretty burned out from standing in front of canals, bridges, or pagodas, and didn’t really take any more photos.

The trip was fun and well-worth the time and money. Even though the city was similar to my big city, Nanjing, it was nice to go somewhere different and the various tour stops were a small relief from city life. Next stop: Hangzhou!

China Part Two

Arrived back in Nanjing earlier this month, after a wonderful three week vacation back home in sunny Colorado. I never really understood Colorado’s high-altitude until returning after living near sea level for the past year; I did some light working out and was sweating much more than usual and breathing much harder!

Back in China required some adjusting. For example: I sat on my trusty, old (very old), bike and thought it was broken. It’s fine, but I was so used to my better quality bike at home and the smooth ride thereupon that my Chinese antique bike seemed so strange! My Canadian roommate accepted a head chef job in another Chinese city, so he moved out while I was gone and will be missed. I can still email/call him when I need cooking trouble-shooting!

This trip home was so much fun, so worthwhile, and so needed! I really loved spending time with family. Some of the highlights:

+ Dinner with mom at Texas Roadhouse

+Working out with brother Ryan

+ Talking wrestling with my dad on the drive to Montrose

+ Camping with the men and doing MAN things in Moab

+ Shopping and lunch with Grandma

+ Road trip to Colorado Springs with sister Shannon, and rescue trip with sister Mel

+ Teaming up with my good friend Tim

+ Walking my dog, Ozzy

+ Easter with mom’s relatives (silliest group of people I know and love!)

+ Talking with dad’s relatives on Skype

+ Hunger Games movie with the family

+ Cooking Thai curry for the family

I’m excited to be back in China again, though I will miss my family. The weeks back were not long enough or full enough of family time, but I will be warmed with the memories until I can return again for more! And I hope that day comes soon!

Spring is in the Air

I snapped this picture to share as an image that, to me, conjures up the feeling of Nanjing today. In the background we see the tall, modern skyscrapers and interesting architecture. In the front, we see sets of bedding hanging to dry. And in between this, notice the neatly stacked piles or orange-ish bricks and an orange Caterpillar machine on site for a brand new building under construction.

It seems Nanjing is constantly undergoing facelifts and never-ending construction. The city is galloping into the future at a quick pace, but there are still elements that are lagging behind what Westerners consider modern: clothes dryers, etc.

Today was markedly sunny, which is why the swarm of blankets showed up on the outdoor exercise equipment. The exercise equipment is also quite commonplace in Nanjing neighborhoods and parks.

Lastly, notice the tree along the right edge of this picture: Nanjing has a healthy respect for nature and has many trees (contrary to this picture) and those trees usually have pretty leaves (when it's not winter!).

Bumping Around the City

A funny thing happened mid-bike ride yesterday. After riding at a quick pace, I paused at the entrance to a subway station to meet a friend. While waiting, I caught sight of a Chinese girl staring at me as she rode up on her bike. She dismounted and walked her bike towards the subway entrance, straight up to me. This was our conversation, mixed Chinese and English:

Her (Chinese): Where are you going?

Me (Chinese): I’m going to exercise.

Her (English): Why are you here?

Me (Chinese): I am a teacher.

Her (Chinese) Where do you live?

Me (Chinese): I live over there (pointing) near Nanjing University.

Her (English): Oh…you ride so fast!

This random happening inspired me to write a bit more about China bikes, something of a trademark of this country.

Most Chinese two-wheel drivers ride along at a leisurely pace, but I move to burn those calories and make the heart pump! But the locals don’t seem to be in a hurry and I think they don’t want to get sweaty before they arrive where they are destined. Even mopeds don’t usually go along at a fast pace, even though they easily could with the motor power. I often pass moped and scooter drivers just pedaling on my bike!

Number-wise, I think I see more mopeds that good ol’ human powered bicycles. This is, of course, in a wealthier part of the city in a wealthier city to begin with. I’m sure mopeds aren’t as popular further away from the big city centers.

Something else here that I did not see in Thailand or Vietnam: adult tricycles. These are quite popular here, not as a mode of transport of people, but of materials and supplies. Many workers cart around on tricycles with a storage cart built in, and they load those carts up heavy!

I have an excellent, theft-proof bike. It is red, fast, has a basket for carrying small items, and was the most popular bike in China (10 or 15 years ago!). Since it is so old and rusted, and fairly ugly, no one will ever steal my bike! That’s important, because I know several people who have had their bikes disappear from the street-side parking, even though the bikes were locked.

I really enjoy the convenience and freedom of whipping around town on my bike, and I like the different viewpoint it gives me other than what I see just riding along in buses or taxis. But that’s a further conversation or blog-post for another day!

Interesting People Doing Interesting Things

My good friend and fellow martial arts athlete, Sarah, has been living in Nanjing for about a year now, performing research as guided by her receiving a Fullbright scholarship. On one of my Monday days off, I was able to catch up with her and shadow her around for a “day in the life of Sarah.” What a life it is!

Sarah is living in a part of Nanjing that has become rare in the city: a neighborhood with houses. These are not houses by American standards, but they are one or two story dwellings, unlike the large apartment structures that are so commonplace to the rest of the city. The homes here are about to become something more commonplace to the city: construction sites. 

Here you can see the rooftops of small houses against the backdrop of some apartment buildings and a large school.

Sarah is researching a neighborhood that is considered historical Nanjing: houses that were part of the city before the mass-migration from countryside to cities began about thirty years ago. Now, as is the case with developing societies, some of the old is slated to be replaced by the new. Enter Sarah.

Her research is qualitatively focused on those families that have lived here, sometimes in the same home, for generations. Some of her research participants have already been re-located, some are waiting for that day to come. For many, the moving day is uncertain. She told me that the people feel a bit in flux, not knowing when they’ll move or where they’ll end up. The government provides apartments in the suburbs of Nanjing for them when they do leave.

Here is a picture of some houses at ground level.

Her research was interesting, but I did not get to take in much during my short visit, and part also because of my limited Chinese conversation ability. Sarah is fluent in Chinese, her research being otherwise impossible.

She wakes up, happy she promised me, and immerses herself in the neighborhood community. She feels very welcome and eats dinner with her neighbors on a regular basis. Since she is a very nice person and a foreigner—an attractive girl at that!—the locals really do like to talk to her. She gave me a tour of the neighborhood, which is visibly poorer than what I am familiar with in my downtown area.

The homes are old and in disrepair, the decorations and furnishings, minimal. Many homes and shops did not have floors per se, just the concrete that the house was built on. Sarah pointed out one street where the majority of the shops, about twenty, were second hand clothing stores. Some of the stores serve a double purpose as the home for the shop-keepers, who sleep on a small bed hidden by a curtain in the back of the store. Some of the shop-keepers are local Nanjing people attached by a long family history to the city; others are migrant workers from the country.

Even here, in one of the oldest neighborhoods of Nanjing, there is no short supply of workers who come looking for opportunity. Yet even those living/working here have, in most cases, been doing so for several years, some as many as 10 or 15 years, and returning home during Chinese New Year to visit their children who are being raised by the grandparents.

In addition to the incredible research and language experience Sarah is producing, I absolutely admire her strong, indomitable spirit and her compassion for the people of China. By contrast to my living situation downtown, her apartment makes mine really look American! In fact, she told me she felt lie she was “camping” for the part of her research that involves living and sleeping in one of the homes. She does not have a toilet in her house, and must walk a few hundred steps to the community bathroom. Her shower is not ice cold, but it ain’t warm either. She sleeps in the same bed as her roommate, a Chinese college girl whose parents live in a different part of Nanjing. Yet when I told her that she could easily find comfortable, affordable accommodations more familiar to westerners, she said that she really did enjoy being a part, truly a part, of the community. She used to live in a nice apartment but felt that it was dishonest to her research since she wasn’t immersed, and that despite the “camping” nature, she felt she was more happy living there this way. I really admire her work and dedication to her project!

Here is a picture taken from the Nanjing Wall, looking back at the city.

Birthday in China

Since I also share my birthday with my twin, and our time zones being separated by 15 hours, I actually celebrated over the course of two days: February 17^th in China (16^th in Colorado) and then February 17^th in Colorado (18^th in China).

It’s a long-running family tradition to have something special and sweet for breakfast on your special day. So for the first of my birthday days, I made some delicious chocolate chip banana bread for breakfast. Always the experimental-chef, I made this in my rice cooker, trying a recipe I found online. Conclusion: it’s better to bake the bread in the oven. The taste was fantastic, but the look and texture was sub-par.

For the second day I put together some pancakes using my dad’s recipe from his cook book at home (thanks dad!) and topped them with strawberries and honey. There is maple syrup here, in very limited supply, and far more pricey than I am willing to pay. So honey will have to do. The pancakes were delicious!

One of my roommates gave me a nice pot of fake flowers. It was funny because he placed them on my desk while I was away, then he asked me to go bring him different stationery items from my desk: paper, pen, etc., and every time I went in and returned with the item, I did not notice the flower pot or his birthday note! Finally, he told me and made fun of my “powers of observation.”

Unfortunately, the rest of my two days were pretty absorbed with work. Fortunately, I like work so I did not mind. Some of my students gave me chocolate J

On my official birthday according to the China time zone, a good Chinese friend of mine treated me to some long noodles which the Chinese believe will provide “long life” when eaten on a birthday. I’ve made it this far—to 25—so I trust that these noodles will continue to work!

Happy birthday to my twin and best buddy, Ryan!

Lantern Festival

Chinese New Year is closely followed by the Lantern Festival. This year, the festival falls on Monday, February 5^th. The biggest celebration, in my town, is held at the Confucius Temple. Remember: “big” means something very different in China. The turnout was expected to be 500,000 people, based on last year’s attendance, with 5000 police officers on hand for crowd control! That is just too big a crowd for me, so I went the night before with my friend and native of Nanjing, Ray.

In ancient times, Chinese scholars would visit Confucius Temple to pray before taking the National Exam, the qualifying exam to work as part of the government. Today, many students can be seen following the same ritual: praying at the temple before a big exam at school. Ray advised that I do the same before I take exams when I start to study Chinese at Nanjing University this fall. This lantern display shows students in prayer:

I saw my first Chinese puppet show: a narration and act of the story of the Monkey King.

 The night ended with watching some fireworks light the sky. The Chinese really, really love fireworks! Case in point: the next morning began by hearing more fireworks, since Monday was the official Lantern Festival holiday. The fireworks started at 7am and continued for a full hour! Fortunately, I was already well adjusted to 7am wake up calls from the construction that has been regularly beginning at that time, right outside my window. And fortunately, I am a morning person anyway!

Fireworks continued in random intervals throughout the day, and then went on "full blast" for most of the evening. A good end to my first Lantern Festival!

Chinese New Year

Central to this week long holiday is the mass migration piece, the largest movement of humans every year: around three hundred million (300,000,000) people trains and buses from the city centers to the surrounding countryside to visit relatives. The families gather together for feasts, fireworks, and celebrations, before returning in a flood of humanity back to the cities.

This means that the cities are, for the most part, shut down with very little in the way of shops, restaurants, offices, etc., open. For an American living in the city and a holiday week from work, there’s not much to do. And with plans to travel to South Korea hitting several snags, the perfect ingredients began to fall into place for a surprise trip home to Colorado.

Ingredient #1: My mother’s birthday was on January 20^th, and my holiday would last from the 22^nd to the 30^th, just barely missing the holiday. However, a family celebration was planned for January 28^th.

Ingredient #2: My little sister (mei mei in Chinese) Shannon was moving back home from Chicago, but this was to be kept a surprise until my mother’s birthday party.

Ingredient #3: My twin bro (di di means little bro in Chinese) agreed to meet me at the airport Sunday evening and to keep my arrival a secret.

Ingredient #4: The element of surprise! No one was expecting me home until March. As I dreamed about the many surprises I could arrange for family (family is jia ting) and friends, the long trip home and the high ticket price began to pale in comparison to the value of seeing those close to me, and the memory of their reactions. I am but an amateur cameraman, but on my trip home I captured some award-winning, heart-felt moments with the moving actors and actresses that are my family J

Ryan “hinted” that I might be home-sick on Sunday, the 22^nd, before he snuck away to the airport to pick me up. I haven’t felt too home-sick in my time away, but ever since I booked my flight to come back for Easter in March/April, I have admittedly been counting the days. My excitement grew every day! I think this was further accelerated when, in Hong Kong, I saw a nice American family at a gift shop. The mother was calling to her two sons and they joked about a gift item, then the dad and sister came to join them. I was immediately jealous of the family travelling and laughing together, and yearned for the days of our dance family vacations throughout the states, our trips to Pueblo, bachelor parties in L.A., etc.

Now I sit in DIA, writing the next portion of my blog. My heart is warmed by the memories and time spent with family. Time well spent! It is hard to leave so soon, but it will only be a short while away, at least this time. I can’t wait to see everyone again in March, and to be able to visit with some of my relatives on my dad's side as well. His siblings are a little more spread out outside of Denver and Colorado, but my next trip will be able to involve some of his family in Montrose!

Happy New Year!

Hong Kong

It’s officially a new year- the Year of the Dragon! With a ticket booked for Korea at the end of January, and a flight home for three weeks this spring, 2012 should be another well-travelled, adventurous run for yours truly. The travels began with a trip to Hong Kong.

My visa needed “changed over” to working status, which is made easier by a trip to this Special Administrative Region of China.

This city is noticeably different from everywhere I have been in China. Everyone—well almost everyone—can speak English! I asked several taxi drivers for directions and they provided English answers. Besides the language, the city has a strong British influence throughout. The way people dress, their patient mannerisms in the public realm, the whole place felt a little more comfortable than the “hurry up” style of mainland China.

Here are the highlights of my short trip:

Most of my time was spent on a “hop on, hop off” tour of the city, historical sites, markets, and the nearby beaches.

Best part: taking the tram to the top of the mountain (ok, hill) for a view of the surrounding buildings nestled along the shoreline.

For dinner, I took a ferry to a different island where I met a friend (this was previously arranged) and fellow alumni from the Independence Institute intern program I completed while in college. Steve has been working in Hong Kong as an educational director for a large international schools network. We enjoyed some German food along the beach and talked politics.

That night: took time to update my blog! I’m just sorry I could not do more, but I was tired from a long day.

Best food: Hong Kong French Toast, which is cited as one of  the top 50 food of the world, according to CNN at this website I love to share: http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/eat/worlds-50-most-delicious-foods-067535?page=0,0

Strangest food or drink: Field Mouse Wine. Saw this in a traditional medicine shop. No joke, there are small, hairless field mice floating in the bottle of wine. Looks like a science experiment! I don’t know if they drink this stuff or just have it for display…

Foreign Food: Miss Field’s Cookies, Morton Steakhouse, Outback Steakhouse. I had the cookies, but didn’t make it to the steak houses.

Interesting to See: Advertisements for Hong Kong Disney Land were all over the place!