Life is Beautiful

My trip lasted exactly 48 hours - I arrived in Qingdao on Wednesday at 2 P.M. and took the 2 P.M. bus back to Linyi on Friday.

I'll try to condense 48 hours into just a few short paragraphs. I hope that in these few words my boundless joy can be conveyed to those of you who have taken the time to read them. Here goes:

Day 1 -

I left my apartment at 9 a.m. and headed to the bus station. I directed the taxi driver, bought my bus ticket and got on the correct bus all speaking in Chinese and without the aid of another human. My first victory. :-)

It's winter. I'm in North China. It follows that everything would be either dead or a depressing shade of brown so there was nothing to look at on the bus ride except for the Chinese movies that were playing.

I arrived at the Qingdao bus terminal at 2 p.m. and there to meet me was Kitty who was to be my guide for the next 48 hours. I had never met Kitty but she was a childhood friend of my friend Karaku so that automatically made her my friend too. I didn't describe myself to Kitty and she didn't describe herself to me but her smile made her stand out and everything about me made me stand out so we easily found each other.

Kitty brought me from the bus station to Karaku's childhood home and there waiting were five more new friends including Karaku's parents and some Japanese buddies. Karaku's parents fed us and fed us and fed us. In fact, once, after asking what my favourite Chinese meal was (Ji Dan Bing) she came back to the table with some piping hot from the kitchen. Now that's hospitality.

After the meal with Karaku's parents we were off for a little site-seeing. I saw my first Wal-Mart in China located in Qingdao's old downtown. That was it for site-seeing. We were off again for some more people-meeting.

We arrived at the home of my hostesses for the first night. Two more friends of friends of friends that had moved over from Japan. These friends had invited more friends and there were quite a few people that were over for snacks and conversation. There was so much joy in that little room where I sat. Oftentimes I would be close to breaking down into tears because I was so happy to be there. I had never before met any of the aforementioned people but each and everyone of them were like family to me and to be with them felt like coming home.

Day 2 -

The next morning after a very European breakfast of French toast with a light apple dressing my hostesses and I parted ways. They had work to do and I had more site-seeing and people meeting to do with Kitty. Kitty and I linked up and headed to see many sites eventually working our way towards the site of the 2008 Olympics boating events, the beach, and the new downtown shopping sites. Kitty and I also met up with some more of her friends, there were two beautiful and lovely girls from France with whom we ate lunch. After lunch we linked up with two more girls from Japan with whom we had dessert. There were more smile and laughter and more stories to swap. After dessert we headed to meet some more friends for Badminton. After a few swings we headed to the home of our host and hostess for the night - a couple from Japan. We ate and drank, danced and played the guitar. Told stories and struggled through translating.

Day 3 -

I and my host and hostess went out to do some work together. It was really their work but they let me tag along. That was a lot of fun and I was able to meet some more lovely people. After work we had lunch and then they dropped me off at the bus station. They waited with me until it was time for the bus to depart. At 1:54 (6 minutes before the bus was to leave) Kitty came running up to the terminal. She had come to see me off! We all exchanged good-byes and promised to see each other again. And off I was again. Back to Linyi. Back to my work and back to what at times feels like isolation.

I can't really describe how happy I am though. How very excited I am and how much I needed this trip.

There is an expression we often read "scrolls could not contain". I think that my feelings are to that extent. I couldn't ever write down how I feel for you to understand. Just suffice it to say that I'm very happy. Very very very very happy.

What Did I Just Say?

My trip to Qingdao won't be until tomorrow morning and my roommates left last Friday so for the past few days I've been left alone to read, study, and watch all ten seasons of the television show Friends on DVD. Have I ever mentioned that I don't like the television show Friends?

I began to suffer from cabin fever after two days of not leaving the apartment and decided to do like Frank and Mandy and go out to practice my Chinese with the Linyi人. The first day was not so good but I did get into a very short conversation with a postal clerk to inquire about my mail. Then later with the Baker at the supermarket when I asked her where in the world were the ji dan bing (the only food that I know how to order at the supermarket). No ji dan bing but she sold me her kidney or a steamed bun. Who knows what I bought?

Today I decided to try again. I got all dolled up, make-up and all (well really it was just mascara) because if I'm going to be the only black person some ever see then I'm going to represent, represent (fist bumps, head waving). Okay just kidding. No really. Just kidding.

Anyways, I decided that I was going to set a goal for myself and try to have a conversation with at least one person on the street in Chinese only. There are only a few things that have stopped me from doing this before. I am actually shy, proud, and can't speak Chinese. I called my father long distance and spoke to him about it. He of course listened as he so lovingly does and gave me the wisdom and the boldness to make it happen.

I set out for a walk down "??? Feng Lu" towards the River. I did get into a short tete-a-tete with a woman by the riverside but that was in English so no dice. On the way back though I struck gold. I met an older woman walking with her grandson. She stopped and began talking to me. I had absolutely no idea what she was saying "Ting bu dong, ting bu dong" but did that stop her? Nope. She continued and so did I. I think she was talking about my hair or the sea or fishing in Arkansas. Who knows? She smiled and said good-bye after she realized I was ignorant and continued along her merry way. This trainwreck of a conversation rather than discourage me instead emboldened me to try one more time.

I passed a chaguan (tea house) on the first leg of my walk and it looked kind of fancy with a guard posted outside. I approached the guard and began to wax poetic. We talked about the state of world affairs and the possibility of scientific advancement improving conditions on earth. LOL! Just kidding. I asked him what the building was - restaurant or teahouse? He told me. I asked him if it was expensive. He said not at all. I asked him if I could kan yi kan (take a look). He said dangran keyi (of course you can)! I said Woo hoo. You understand me sir! You understand me and I understand you!

It doesn't take much to make me happy or make me smile with glee!

Heading Out

In my class today I was asked to talk about American holidays and festivals. I saw no problem with doing so even though I personally don’t advocate celebrating any of them. ☺ Some students asked about Christmas so I spoke matter of factly the oft told tale of the fat man in the red suit and the gifts under the tree. I didn’t fail to mention however that many people no longer celebrate this holiday due to their different religious and personal beliefs. I was also asked about customs surrounding Easter and Groundhog Day. My favorite topic centered around Thanksgiving. The story of the native Americans bringing food to the Europeans was enhanced by the information about the subsequent slaughter of the native Americans.

When I asked the students about the origin of many of their holidays they couldn’t tell me. I believe that in this way our cultures are the same. Sometimes people don't know why but they still do. No matter, by the end of the lesson my students had way more than a superficial knowledge of many American customs.

Pictured Below from left to right: Sandy - Chinese Teacher; Want – the Dancer; Tina – the Prodigy; Daisy – the Actress; Kirsty – the Thinker and moi

In observance of the Spring Festival my school will be shutting down for a week starting tomorrow and ending January 30th. That means that I may not be able to log on to the Internet as often as I have become reliant on my school’s stable network connection.

On the upside I will be traveling! Yay! I will take a short (4 hour) bus ride to the supposedly beautiful seaside city of Qingdao. I want to see what all the hype is about. :-) I’m actually really looking forward to this mini-vacation and all the new faces I hope to see. Maybe I’ll see some people that I have lots in common with.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I am finally caught up with my reading! You don't know how happy I am about that. It's amazing how you can read this one book over and over again and each time come up with something new and relevant. It all depends on where you are in life. I suppose.

Sick in China

This morning I woke up with a stomach ache and a case of "The Traveler's Complaint". What made me sick? Probably something I ate. Yesterday I had a piece of cake, gong bao ji ding gai fan (Kung Pao Chicken over rice), tangerine slices that came out of the pocket of a student, some water, half a loaf of bread, and peachate (whatever that is). Maybe a combination of all of those things is what did me in. Nevermind the cause right now, being sick led me to realize just how different life is here than what I was accustomed to in the West. I will spare you the gory details but suffice it to say that it wasn't pretty.

Anyways, feeling better now and getting ready to go to class. After class, I'll go shopping so that I can stock uup on food before Spring Festival. Thanks for the reminder Mandy!

I'm A Teacher!（我是一个老师）

Okay, I haven't posted as much because I was able to call my mother on Skype three days in a row last week and that satisfied my need for contact with the outside world. Now it's been another three days since my mother has answered her phone (Yes, I can take a hint) so I guess it's time to start posting again.

I've been teaching a lot these past few weeks. As previously stated, I teach English language classes to individuals of varying ages and varying degrees of language proficiency. The youngest student is 7 years old and speaks better English than I do Chinese. The oldest is a woman who has a 30-year-old son. The latter's vocabulary is extensive, to say the least. She uses terms like "geothermal" and "subterranean heat". However her pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired. If she could communicate in English by writing and never opening her mouth she would be nearly unstoppable.

For most of my classes there are books that are provided by the school and we are asked to follow the "scripts" so to speak with only minor deviations for short activities a.k.a games. In addition there is usually a Chinese speaking English teacher that accompanies me in the classroom to serve as a translator when necessary. The only real purpose I serve in those types of classes is to have an American accent for the students to imitate. In addition I'm here to clarify when there's a tricky word that the students and other teachers are having a problem pronouncing.

Things will be a little different for the next two weeks as I have been asked to teach what's called Winter Intensive Spoken English courses for both Higher Level and Lower Level students. This is the time when I'm able to actually use some of the techniques that I learned in the Canadian Institute of English's TESOL class. I love music so I'm concentrating a lot on using that element in my teaching and so far that's been a hit with the students. Today we played Musical Bingo and sang a song. I'm ashamed to say the song was taken from Disney's "The High School Musical". Oh well.

Linyi is not a materially poor city. Many people have a lot of money, drive nice fancy cars, and shop for expensive toys and gadgets. In fact, when speaking to some of my students and colleagues about the economic downturn in the States they said that they weren't seeing any of that here in Linyi. I don't see it either. What I do see though are people looking for happiness. I gathered this from what one of my students said in my Do It Yourself (DIY) Class.

The DIY class is self-explanatory. I have a class of 3-4 adult students whose English language skills are exceptional. There's no Chinese-speaking teacher, there's no script. I have to do everything myself. Basically they, the students, pay money to come and speak to a native English speaker for an hour a week about any topic of their or my choosing.

Earlier this week in the DIY class we watched a YouTube movie called "Validation". We talked about the benefits of optimism and positivity. One student commented on how hard it is to be optimistic and positive and that happiness has eluded her despite her success in life. Another student unexpectedly said that she wants to imitate the good people that I’m MOST familiar with and that she delights in conversation about these types of people. Dude, are you kidding me? :-) I was wondering before how to get topics for this class but now I know from where exactly I can take them.

I feel like my job is satisfying and I can help people as much as my Boss will allow me. In fact, I’m happy I have this job and am able to listen to my students. I'm learning so much. Isn't that what I came here for anyways? To teach and to learn. Lots of work to do and I’m loving it.

我有很多工作要做!

Day to Day Living

I am beginning to work myself into a bit of a routine. I finally have a steady work and study schedule neither of which have been fully implemented yet.

Almost every day I walk 15 minutes to my school. The walk to work is always either entertaining or frustrating. It all depends on my mood that morning. I'll explain why.

Linyi and it's surrounding counties boasts a population of 10,000,000 people. At last count there are 50 foreigners living in Linyi. Of those 50 foreigners I believe I am the only Black person. Now I did meet a young woman from South Africa my first night here but she could easily "pass" as she was of some sort of mixed descent so I'm not counting her.

I have caused near accidents simply by walkng down the street. People stop and stare. Drivers oogle and smile. Bike riders too nearly run into pedestrians or cars trying to get a glimpse at me. I am so different and don't look like anything that has been seen by many of the residents in real life. This is so shocking to me, a girl who hails from from Miami where EVERYBODY looks different and diversity is so prevalent.

In many ways I am alone here but I still don't feel lonely. Maybe because it's been such a short time or maybe because I make sure to call my mother often or maybe it's because I try to keep up a constant schedule of feeding my mind with important things that remind me of my family, my love for them and their love for me. Maybe it's a combination of all things.

Though not always at the same time every day I do get in all of my studying and I am learning quite a bit. In fact, this morning I got in some studying and realized that I can't wait until I meet some of my friends so that I can share with them all that I've learned. I have a fire in my belly and it's not "la duzi". ;-) I can't wait until I can get to work!

My Apartment

I am living in a modern apartment building. Here are some specs:
My apartment is shared with two other co-workers; both are the managers at the English language school. One is the Chinese manager and the other is the English manager. The English manager hails from Ireland and the Chinese manager is from Xi’an in Shaanxi province. We have separate bedrooms but share the bathroom and shower room.
The apartment bathroom has a Western toilet but we still have to put the used toilet paper in a basket rather than flush it down the toilet. The bathroom has a smell to it that I don’t think words can accurately describe but my roommates attribute it to a broken pipe that the building manager will have to fix.
The kitchen doesn’t have a fridge, oven, or a range but there is an induction stove that the managers purchased prior to my arrival. I don’t know what to do with it and I haven’t observed them using it so I’ll continue to eat out everyday until I can figure it out.
The living room has a fridge, TV, DVD player and a couch. The first day I sat on the couch and watched a movie but I haven’t been back since. My room is much warmer and I’m bootlegging someone’s Internet connection in my bedroom so I haven’t really felt a need to go out there.
The shower room is a room with a shower in it. It’s a huge room and could probably fit a small family of four if need be. This is my second favorite room because there is hot water here. When temperatures outside are in the teen’s it’s nice to be able to come home and take a hot shower pile on layers of clothing and then lie down on top of the electric blanket in front of the oscillating space heater.
My bedroom is next to the laundry room. It’s a room with a view. Since I live on the 25th floor I have a nearly unobstructed view of the entire city of Linyi (that is, when the pollution clouds aren’t too thick). At night the view is really very pretty. The city is obviously not concerned with their electric bill because the entire city gets lit it. Perhaps there are more lights now due to the nearing of China’s Spring Festival. Whatever the case, everything is lit up and it’s quite a sight to see from my bedroom every night.