Christmas in China, Happy New Year from Hangzhou!

Merry Christmas, happy belated Hanukkah, happy New Year, joyous Kwanzaa, etc!





Two months can fly by amazingly. So much has happened, it's hard to know where to start. But, there are definitely some things that can't be forgotten, or go unmentioned.





To start, since the last update (around Halloween, can't believe it) we have been trying to adjust to a completely different life and environment than would even have been fathomable at summer's end when we began the TESOL courses in Zhuhai. We have been teaching students of all ages in a learning center in Xiaoshan (meaning "small,desolate(?) mountain"), a part of Hangzhou that is a small city in its own right. It has a population of "only" just over a million (small for Chinese standards) and was only incorporated/swallowed up by Hangzhou about 6 years ago. The residents are very proud to be from Xiaoshan, and do not say they live in Hangzhou, but Xiaoshan. The irony is that, though only 20-30 minutes drive away from us, downtown Hangzhou seems almost like a different world. The red light districts and tightly packed buildings, parks, monuments and structures of Xiaoshan are not seen in the wide avenues and open spaces of the West Lake area of Hangzhou. There are almost no foreigners in Xiaoshan, compared to Hangzhou, where they are a much more common sight. To be fair, though, we have only seen mostly the touristy area of Hangzhou, and not the seedier sides of the city. As well, Xiaoshan is growing rapidly and may rival Hangzhou's modernity in the next few years. The constant building and sounds of construction at all hours right outside of our apartment can attest to the "progress" being made. Even a new building with multiple stores, condos and restaurants opened today on New Year's Day right next to us. It was being worked on, literally all the time, including 3 AM, for the last month in order to be completed by today. In fact, it is almost frightening how quickly things are built around here with countless people working all hours at breakneck speed. For example, the huge apartment/shopping complex was mostly a shell when we arrived just over two months ago. We are not looking forward to the nonstop fireworks at all hours that are sure to accompany the opening of this mega-structure. Just as quickly as things go up here, though, things disappear literally overnight as well. It is as if everything is expedited here, including the natural cycle of business.


For all of the strangeness of the ubiquitous building, what is even more odd and scary is the complete lack (though now unsurprising) of any safety standards employed by the construction and its workers. There are large holes in the ground made, and gigantic piles of rubble that will almost spontaneously generate to block walkways all over the city. As if walking the streets was not hazardous enough because of the total dearth of traffic lights or rules, there will also be exposed electric cables pulled from the ground or above that are strewn all over. And, perhaps most surrealistically, those working on the wires do not climb up poles to work on them, but up independent and unsteady bamboo ladders that rise to and rest upon none other than the loosely stretched cables that are being worked upon. As well, there might be a half-mile of sloppily strewn and piled PVC piping underneath of this, also blocking the sidewalk or even road. It is almost laughable how everyone else walks by, under, over and around these kinds of scenes without a second thought! We are concerned about whether these structures will hold up long term.......


It has grown quite cold this past month, and buildings here, for the most part, are not heated (most aren't, south of Shanghai, in China). That means, even at freezing temperatures, only the nicer hotels, offices and restaurants will be heated. This unfortunately does not include our school. So, most of our students, as well as us, are wearing coats and even hats/gloves inside the classroom. It is very odd to see one's own breath inside a building! One positive of the extreme cold is that the large rats, that are commonly seen outside, and in buildings (including in our own office!) seem to have taken refuge and are not showing themselves. This may also be because the windows, that are always open by the superstitious Chinese workers, including during the winter, have been closed by us while there to prevent bad air and other things from getting in from outside. Apparently, many people here believe that closed windows are unhealthy, and that "fresh" air should be let in to allow for optimal airflow. Sadly, the air is neither fresh, nor a pleasant temperature. But, luckily, the single pane windows don't block much out, including sound, when closed, so it makes almost no difference.


The heater inside our apartment bedroom is far too comparably expensive to continue to use all winter; besides, our building, like most, has almost no insulation to keep in heat. So, we will need to buy some space heaters that are sold cheaply in grocery stores here, as is customary. It has been a long time since we have seen or used them.


There are, beside the lack of hygienic awareness and germ prevention, many habits to which we still try to acclimate ourselves. Waiting your turn in line, and respect for personal space here are not big. There is also no repercussion or consequence for smoking anywhere, including in the places where it has been prohibited like elevators. With no fear of legal ramifications or fines, it is not uncommon to see people smoking anywhere here. What bothers us is that it is done in the presence of children without an afterthought. It is like the pre-1970's-80's in America.


Another unique phenomenon is that noise levels seem to know no limits. We've mentioned the construction and general noise from people at all hours. But, there are also apparently fireworks going off at all hours of the day because it has been preordained. Many people will, for any important event in their lives (i.e., marriage, funerals, moving to new apartments, etc.) go to a fortune teller/soothsayer to ask when they should have their event. The fortune teller will roll dice, and the dice will determine at what date, and time the event should occur. Even it if is literally the middle of the night, there will still be an event then if the dice deem it so. In fact, we were told that the parents of people we know moved out of their apartment at 1:30 which we thought was a late start for moving. But, we found out it had actually occurred at 1:30 AM because that is when the spiritual advisor commanded it to be so. Of course, just like all events, these happenings must be accompanied by fireworks being set off to ward off evil spirits from intervening in these events. Apparently, many people continue to live like this, not because of an actual belief in the superstitious/religious, but because it is tradition so it must be.


In fact, leaving a colleague's apartment after a several hours long Texas hold 'em game, Jon stumbled upon a funeral occurring before sun up. Many people were in the middle of the street, wearing some sort of head wear that looked like a cross between a bandanna and a diaper. They were setting off fireworks. and playing strange sounding gongs and horn-like instruments. They were carrying a casket which they loaded in to the back of a van. Several women were screaming in anguish that seemed to be almost melodramatic, even for a funeral. Apparently, it is encouraged to wail as loudly as one can, almost for effect. The instrument players nonchalantly continued to play while about ten of them sat in the back of a small pickup together, and one woman continued to lament wildly by the van until finally pulled away by some others. Then, the van with the casket, the pickup full of the musicians, and several other cars took off following them while more fireworks were lit as they were driving away. It, again, was quite surreal.


All of these things we try to adjust to, as the onus is literally on us. We are the visitors and so must abide. Yet, even the things that we have a hard time adjusting to, such as the noise and certain aforementioned behaviors (including loudly answering cellphones everywhere, including in classes) strike an odd balance with the amazing kindness, beauty and generosity of both our surroundings, and the people we meet and interact with....


Near the beginning of December, we took a taxi to Hangzhou for the day. We have been to Hangzhou, now, about a half dozen times to stroll around the beautiful West Lake, take a ferryman's boat to an island in the center of the lake, walk around the local caves and parks, and shop at the local markets. We have enjoyed fantastic Indian food at authentic restaurants by the Lake, as well as even tried Subway and Papa John's! The subway was a bit disappointing with a very limited menu (only a couple of subs, real subs and good sandwiches/deli being nonexistent here), whereas Papa John's was actually a nice place. Just like Pizza Hut here is much nicer than back home, it is the same with Papa John's, and the pizza was fairly good. Of course, Marie loves the fact that there are several Starbucks as it is the only place we have found to have coffee that even slightly resembles that from home.



The taxi we were taking, like most of the taxis here, is to be split between four people. Each person pays the equivalent of $1.30 to go from Xiaoshan to Hangzhou (about 20-30 minute ride). Like all driving in China, it is quite an experience to even be a passenger. The drivers do not obey any rules, fly through lights, and go around 80 mph through residential zones. So, while waiting to enter a cab, a nice woman walked up and began speaking to us in very good English to explain what the cab cost. We told her we knew, but thanked her and were impressed with her proficiency. In fact, almost no one in Xiaoshan speaks English well, or at all, outside of foreigners. This is not the case with Hangzhou, where there are many foreigners and multinationals. So, we split a cab with her and spoke with her during the ride to Hangzhou.



She, like most English speaking Chinese people that we meet in China, introduced herself not by her actual name, but by her English name. Most people here, especially of the younger generations, began learning English reading, writing and grammar in Middle School. They take English names to use when speaking to foreigners. Unfortunately, there is almost no English spoken when they "learn" English in school, though, as most of the Chinese "English teachers" can not speak much themselves. At any rate, her name is Judy, and she lives in Xiaoshan. She teaches English in Hangzhou at the Hangzhou Radio and TV University. Just like the schools that are called "Normal" Universities here, the school is not what one would expect. "Normal" schools are more upper-echelon, or actually not normal/average schools. As well, the Radio and TV University actually is mostly online classes that have nothing to do with Radio or TV. Things are definitely often lost in translation......



Judy teaches in Hangzhou, and tutors privately. She teaches children and adults. She is married to a man who works for the government in Xiaoshan, and they have one daughter who is just over a year old named Bao Mei. They live a few miles from our apartment in Southern Xiaoshan. Judy talked to us about many things, and then gave us her info. and got our contact before saying good bye. We thought that she was very sweet, and were flattered by her mention of inviting us over to her family's for dinner. Chinese society considers family to be of penultimate importance, and it is common to want to have one's family introduced to friends, guests and visitors. As well, even with one child, most family's consist of the parents, child, and grandparents who are the primary caretakers for the child while the parents work. These families mostly live in modestly sized apartments.

We actually could not meet Judy the first few weeks after being invited to her house because of our demanding teaching schedule. When we finally could make it a couple weeks ago, we went on a Monday night because the school is always closed on Tuesday. Since she had invited us originally on a Saturday night, we thought that the dinner might be very informal. She had even told us that it would be a very casual affair. But, when we arrived by taxi and she led us to her apartment complex, she mentioned that it would not only be her, her husband and their baby. There were also going to be her husband's parents, his aunt, his sister and her daughter, as well as three young students of hers. So, this was no small affair in our eyes.

When we arrived at the apartment, we were almost overwhelmed. It was a very nice and sizable apartment, but also not heated. It was very nicely decorated, and we immediately removed our shoes and put on slippers provided, as is customary when entering Chinese homes. We were introduced to all of the others and they were beaming with excitement and curiosity. Judy is the only one that can really speak English; the others could only say a few words. Actually, the young students (two girls and a boy) were the next best speakers. They immediately sat us, and served us traditional Chinese tea and some exotic fruits and nuts. They turned on the TV to the only English station around, CCTV 9, to make us feel comfortable. We were introduced to Bao Mei, the baby. She is very cute (18 months old), and can even respond physically to some English words, like smile. When asked to smile/be happy, she crinkles up her nose. She does not have much hair, which seems to concern her mother, but she is quite adorable, regardless.

The mother and aunt (both the husband's parents live there, too) were preparing all the food in the kitchen when we were sat at the table. We were given Chinese wine/spirits that were very strong and pungent. Jon enjoyed them more than Marie did. When the food was brought out, it was amazing how much had been made. There were countless dishes of all types of meat, seafood, noodles, soups, eggs, and vegetables. They even made home-made potato fries with ketchup for our benefit. Some of the dishes that particularly stood out were a rice-noodle dish that is supposed to bring good health/luck, a type of fatty pork dish served with wine named after the famous Chinese poet who was from the West Lake named Su Dongpo. There were also very good soup dumplings and even calamari. Marie, not wanting to offend our hosts, even tried the freshly killed fish that stared at us as it was picked apart. There was tender meat, chicken wings and again great vegetables. By the time we had been served all this food, and everyone shared the dishes family style (as is customary) we were quite full. It was then that we were brought our bowls of rice. It is considered offensive to finish these bowls as that would indicate that the enormous quantity of food that had been previously served was insufficient and not satiating. We did not have a problem with not finishing them. The meals were so good and filling, that when we were offered dessert we had to decline. The grandfather asked if I wanted a smoke, and I declined as it was before we had finished our meals. I hope that this was not offensive to him. Smoking seems to be ingrained in all culture here; even wedding ceremonies customarily have brides light their father and new father-in-laws cigarettes together!

After the meal, we viewed several amazing photo albums that Judy had from her wedding. It is customary for people here to have very professional photos taken of them wearing traditional Chinese clothing at beautiful locations. Both Judy and her husband looked quite impressive. Judy was a beautiful bride, and the red Qipao, or traditional Chinese gown she wore, was quite stunning on her. Her husband even looked dashing in his Mandarin collar. Marie wants to take photos like this of us before we leave. People take these photos, often, even without a special occasion. They are comparably inexpensive to Western professional photos. Judy said that she would help arrange this when we want. The professional pix of the baby were great, as well.

A bit after dinner, Judy's husband drove us home as it was raining. We thanked them emphatically for a wonderful time. Apparently Judy's sister-in-law's husband works in Shanghai, so we were given an open offer to go with him there whenever we want to. We just started our six day work weeks at school, so will probably not be able to do so until at earliest the Chinese New Year. They are extremely generous to offer this, and they continue to leave an open invitation for us to return to visit them. They are our "Chinese family", and it is not extraordinary to see this kind of generosity towards visitors.

We are reminded of another generous offer from one of our students. His name is Cameron. We helped him prepare for his entrance interview to begin at Asia Pacific University in Japan next Fall. He was so grateful, that he has offered to have us stay with his extended family in Shanghai over the Chinese New Year. He is a great kid/young man and we are flattered by his generosity. He lives in Hangzhou, and also wants to show us around the locals tour.

We did go to Hangzhou, West Lake over Christmas, and saw all of the Christmas decorations up. The Chinese have all the commercial Christmas decor, with no idea about Christianity or that the original/basic reason for the holiday is to celebrate Christ. It is not all that different, in some ways, from the secularization of Christmas in the West, though. While there, we enjoyed the beautiful lights and trees around the lake, though it is only getting more and more bitter cold!

Last night, for New Year's Eve, which is not very important here, we did see some amazing fireworks going off. They were even more impressive than the usual. Apparently, the Chinese New Year, which will fall in February, will last a week and make our Western New Year's look tame. There will be a whole week of nonstop fireworks and celebrations!

We ate some food last night at a place called "City Life" that serves very good milk/bubble tea and noodles. We then treated ourselves to massages at a place called Eastern Nights that we recently discovered. The hour massages cost us each the equivalent of about $4 USD. This is the cheapest we have found in this area, and is only marginally more than in Zhuhai. The massages are amazingly thorough, and it is quite strange to us, still, how comparably cheap/almost free they are when considering what they would cost in America.

Afterwards, we went to a hotel bar where Marie got fresh pear juice, and Jon ordered a drink that combined many different liquors that were set on fire. When the bartender tried to set up the elaborate pyramid of glasses, they first fell. We told them not to worry and to forget the drink. But, they insisted and did it again. It did not turn out as it should have with a huge inferno, but we were almost relieved. Jon spoke in his very basic Mandarin with the bartenders for a while, and decided to cap the evening with a White Russian (almost never seen anywhere here) and a Chinese beer. The bar/restaurant has many birds in cages that peep loudly, and the setup of the place is very retro. You must walk over stepping stones, as the whole place is above a man-made pond, and has 1960's looking decor.

As far as the school, the best part is still the students. We have students of all ages, and though many are quite spoiled, it is still rewarding in many ways. They are intrigued by us, but unfortunately try to push the boundaries to see what they can get away with. We are trying to strike a good balance of discipline and fun. The Kindergarten and younger kids are bratty (again, only children who are very spoiled), but extremely cute. The Elementary school kids are a bit better behaved, but also push the envelope a bit. The hardest to deal with are the Middle and young High schoolers, as is universal. They aren't interested in much, and are very awkward. The adults can be great to deal with, but some are frustrating because they only show-up intermittently at times. They mostly don't understand that they need to put in outside work in order to learn. They will not learn just by going to class only, either. We are well aware of this as we only have one Chinese lesson a week at school, ourselves. We try to speak with people outside the school to improve our beginner Chinese, and will continue to try to find the time to study more as is needed to improve the language skills. In fact, we may get tutors to help us in the near future.

So now, as we face a new year, we wish for the best and will enjoy the beauty that is around us. The Chinese sunsets are breathtaking, though like L.A., may be partly because of pollution. But, the lakes, streams and ponds, set against the weeping willows and huge Chinese moons are equally awesome sights. We will continue to try to improve our Chinese, and enjoy our Chinese students and friends.

Until we next speak with everyone, all the best and lots of luck for the new year to all!

Zaijian (see you later),

Jon and Marie

Pix in Zhuhai and Haibin Park!

Our friend Perry in front of the water park in Haibin Park. A Chinese sunset at the Pearl River Delta.

Perry and Marie with a 'Mother and Daughter" in Haibin Park.

Jon and Marie in front of impressive trees in Haibin Park.

Jon and Marie after having Yum Cha/Dim Sum in Zhuhai.

Celebration dinner with class after TESOL course ended!

Part of the menu at the restaurant the class ate at - restaurant was on a huge floating boat!

Marie in front of her dream "Hello Kitty" car!

Another serene shot of Haibin Park....

Jon and Marie in front of Zhuhai Fisher Girl in background; she is holding the 'Pearl of the Sea'.

A very healthy, round-faced Chinese baby boy - look under the penguin balloon for his head!

Jon and Marie on a 'Tiger" in Haibin Park with a Chinese woman that wanted to be photographed with 'exotic' Americans!

Marie with wedding couple in background being photographed in Haibin Park.

Goodbye Zhuhai, Hello Hangzhou!

Wow! We can't believe that it has been almost a month since our last update, and that is because this is the first time we have had a bit of a chance to stop to reminisce!

Very briefly, after our TESOL courses were completed, we were in what is called a "Golden Week" in China, where basically everything stops. The Chinese National Day, October 1st (Anniversary of the Founding of Modern China) coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival where everyone leaves for a week to travel to visit family and celebrate by eating moon cakes (pastries filled with various things). We could not contact many employers, or anyone for that matter for the whole first week of October as most schools were closed. We took some time to relax, but mostly to try to track down employers.

After the end of the Golden Week, we received multiple responses and tried to decide where to relocate to. We had thought about a Language Center in Shenyang, but it was quite remote and cold in Northeast China. We decided not to go, for that and some other reasons as well; a major miscommunication led us to Zhuhai airport where we were told that we had only a flight pre-booked to Shanghai and no further! Not wanting to be stranded in a huge city of 20 million people without further arrangements, we opted not to fly. It turns out that poor communication (not uncommon) was responsible for the lack of information that would have had us transferring to another airline and then on to Shenyang. But, with no way of knowing this, and no one available to address this huge concern, we had no choice but to not go. It may have been a blessing in disguise as we had several more days to compare places. We opted by the end of the next week to fly to a language school in Hangzhou, about 75 miles SW of Shanghai. It is here that we have been for almost 2 weeks!

Before we left, we had some very light travel around Zhuhai. We went to see the Fisher Girl and Haibin Park again, but this time walked up a very steep hill/mountain where we could see almost all of Zhuhai, and way out to the Sea towards Hong Kong. It was beautiful, and we'll post pictures soon. We also saw many other interesting things, like a wedding in the park, and Hello Kitty themed everything (much to Marie's delight)....

So, again, we have been in Hangzhou, where we flew from Zhuhai directly to almost two weeks ago. As soon as we arrived, we were taken to our apartment. The apartment and the school are in Xiaoshan, an area that used to be a different city from Hangzhou, but was incorporated in to it about 6 years ago, and is growing rapidly. Hangzhou is at the mouth of Hangzhou Bay, a water body that juts pretty far inland South of Shanghai. The major downtown is about 30 minutes by taxi away from here. It is based around a huge lake called, aptly enough, West Lake. It was dredged and beautified over 400 years ago, and is a major tourist attraction. There are a couple Starbucks in that area (also much to Marie's delight) as well as a Dairy Queen, a Papa John's and a Subway! We have not had much time to explore the West Lake area, but will do so soon.

As far as our apartment, it is pretty spacious (3 bedrooms) but oddly furnished. It is on the fifth floor (6 up from the ground) with no elevator. The six flights will definitely be enough motivation for us never to buy too much or be able to get too fat! We are about 10 minutes walk from the school. In order to get there, we have to fight all sorts of foot traffic from ridiculous drivers that pay no attention to crosswalks, to scooter motorists and bike taxis that hog the sidewalks. There are around 6.5 million people in this area (Zhuhai had only 2 million!) so it is obviously much more crowded.

At the school, we immediately started teaching the next morning after arrival. There are classes with kids as young as 3-4, Kindergarten classes, Elementary and Middle School students, as well as adults! We have gotten trial by fire which has made settling in and getting all the necessary ducks in a row quite challenging. In fact, we are still working on many things which is why we have not had a chance to write as we've been trying to get settled. Right now, we are teaching 5 days a week, with the weekends the busiest days. Monday and Tuesday, we both have off for now. We will have the usual Chinese "Golden Weeks" off - the Mid-Autumn Festival just past (first week of October), Chinese New Year (January or Feb. - depending on the Lunar calendar) and the Spring Festival (first week of May). We also will have off two days for Xmas, and one for New Year. There are several peak times where we will bump up to six day weeks, but no more than the max number of teaching hours per week (unless OT is desired). So, it will be busy, but we will try to adjust. As well, we will again have more pix soon, and hope to get a better camera in the not too distant future for both pix and vids of the area and our travels.

In the meantime, our apartment is next to a very nice park with several pagoda type buildings. It backs up to a canal and river walk. There are a ton of overpriced Western stores with faux-designer items. The square where all the stores are is affectionately referred to in Chinese as "Stupid Rich Tourist Shopping Plaza". We will not be buying many things there. Though, the weather is getting in to the 50's here now (much colder than the South in Zhuhai) so warmer clothes will be necessary. When we flew here, even though we had relieved ourselves of enough things to be able to drop an entire suitcase, we still had to pay quite a bit for overage for our luggage. China Southern Airlines' domestic carriage allowance is quite small. In fact, we are lucky that we even caught our flight. It left 15 minutes early; apparently, this is not uncommon.

We are trying to find good places to eat, and our favorite so far is a small place with a few tables owned by a Chinese Muslim family. It appears to be much cleaner than most places, with no pork served. They have all the raw goods to choose from - meats, veggies, tofu, spices and noodles. One simply puts what they want in a basket, and they cook it in a huge pot up front. A huge pot of soup/dinner costs the equivalent of about USD $1.50. Next door, there is a place called Jack Hut that serves very good smoothies, shakes and Chinese Bubble Tea, as the restaurant is BYOB. Many places in China are, as there are no rules against drinking anywhere, or smoking anywhere! Again, we are trying to figure out the neighborhood.

One very good thing is that, even though this is a much larger city, there are places of refuge outside of the West Lake area. There are little areas for public exercise in the parks that we try to use that have Chinese-style Nordic Track sort of machines. Also, there are as usual many people in the park in the early morning doing Tai Chi. To do this at some point would be nice, as well as taking Chinese lessons. We are still looking in to this through the school.

Again, though, we are still trying to catch up on sleep and get over colds. There is no real insulation in most buildings, so it is pretty cold even with the heat. As well, there is constant noise starting as early as before 6 AM! There are construction noises, street vendors shouting their sales pitches, people loudly running around greeting each other, music from exercising, and even fireworks going off at all hours. As could be expected since they were invented here, Chinese fireworks are ubiquitous. But, not only does everyone have and use fireworks (real huge and impressive professional style fireworks - firecrackers as they call them) but they are set off for all occasions. So, births, weddings, promotions, reunions, birthdays, anniversaries, everything! Since there are millions of people here, there are almost always fireworks, and they are very large, bright and LOUD! Sometimes, it is hard to hear during class because of this. It would seem that their constant use would diminish their meaning and importance, but this does not seem to occur to anyone but us. Though, just like Eastern toilets, and the general lack of much hygiene/manners it is something to get used to....

What we find here is that we are stared at much more than in Zhuhai. Even though this area is much bigger, we are in a section of the city where there are not many non-Asians. So, we definitely stick out. Not only that, but we are trying to get used to things that shock us. There are, all over, what were politely once referred to as Houses of Ill Repute. Not only are these not hidden, but apparently tolerated and possibly encouraged. We can not say for sure, but things are indeed very different on many levels. Even the fact that there are no traffic lights at some huge intersections, with constant beeping from everyone and no real rules of traffic being followed seems not so strange in comparison.

We now have intermittent access to email/Net use. But, this will change in the near future. In the meantime, we will update when we can and add more pix. For now, we'll add a couple that we took before leaving Zhuhai, and again will add the mountain views soon.

Until we update again, please take care and be in touch!

-Jon and Marie

Xiangzhou Experimental School

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJQfcgM4r1s

A guy named Vance in our class made this video (link above) of a charter school that we visited a few times during our teaching practices. This was the first time we visited. The kids mobbed us, and wanted autographs the second time we showed up. It was a bit staged by the school we think, but the kids were mostly genuine in their fascination with us. They would run around and scream "hello" like this, and then run away again. But, as soon as the teachers blew whistles, they would all line up in unison and do Tai Chi Boxing to a version of Queen's "We Will Rock You" sung by a young English kid. Then, they would sing Christmas songs, and the P.A. would play the music to "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" between classes. Very surreal!

Out and about in Zhuhai Pix...

Pix of Schools Visited in Zhuhai

Hongda Garden Apartment in Zhuhai Pix, 16th Floor!

Back and front pix of our TESOL Certs!

HALLELUJAH!

Free at last, we are free at last! ; )

We finished our TESOL certification courses on Friday 9/28, and the end couldn't have come soon enough. The course, originally designed as a two month course, crammed everything in to one month and back-loaded the most work in to the last week. On top of this, we were still trying to settle what jobs we take. We are not complaining entirely, as we are very happy to have finished and gotten our certifications and should know what jobs that we will start (and when) this week!

Unfortunately, so much has happened that it will not be possible to tell everything. This is greatly because we can not view our own blog (it's on one of the sites blocked here) and can't exactly remember what we last talked about! But, we'll tell what we can...

Again, the last couple of weeks of the course were quite intensive. We went to several schools, and did get a chance to shoot some photos of the urchins that were mobbing us and demanding autographs with out pens and paper! When we get a chance (we swear it will be soon now), we'll put some of these pictures on this blog. We also spent our 2nd anniversary on 9/25 without the chance to actually celebrate as a couple. Our classmates were extremely kind and generous, though and treated us to an improptue dinner nearby. It really was unfortunate that many things had to be put on hold in September for this, but it was a necessity for our future job prospects.

Marie was wise enough to get a couple of what equates to $3/hour USD deep tissue massages at the nearby salon. The blind women are apparently very good as their tactile senses are much better. Marie was experiencing sever migrane headaches, and we were nervous that it would be hard for her to finish the course as the pain lasted the entire last week of the program. But, luckily when she went to get her massage, she was told that this pain was being caused by her sleep position. After the massage, and a better pillow being used, she was much better off.

Jon went on the last day of the course for a bushwhacking of his "Fro" that was out of control. Luckily, our friend Jen from the course speaks Chinese, and was able to direct how this cut would occur. Marie and Jon each had an almost hour-long scalp and basic body massage, shampooing, Marie's hairdrying, and Jon's haircut at this nice salon for the equivalent of around $6.50. As usual, tipping is not allowed. It is so strange to see the custom of tipping be absent. While at the salon, there was a ridiculously inappropriate song from the 80's, redone by a Chinese group, by 2 Live Crew playing in the background. As is the case with all of the nonsensical English signs and t-shirts that everyone wears, people do not understand what they are hearing. In fact, ironically, for all those familiar with the "Numa-Numa" song that is danced to by a fat kid on the popular Web video, we saw a huge group of Chinese kids performing a dance for a large crowd to this song done in Chinese. Between this, and the huge impromptu dancers and Tai-Chi participants in the cultural plaza in front of this school, we are always surrealistically entertained!

At the end of the course, there was a group dinner at a gigantic floating restaurant at the end of a pier on the sea next to the city. We had all sorts of exotic (Jon is still getting a little more used to eating chicken feet, though still not his favorite) food, and drink while in the middle of the restaurant expensive art was being auctioned off, by a couple of Asian "Vanna Whites" and a "Pat Sajack" to anyone eating there who wanted it. The paintings started from around $75 USD to $3000. Marie was intrigued by a gigantic couple of cod fish at the front in a tank. their mouths, when open, exposed their ribs. They looked ancient. Jon was concerned that they would be dinner, but apparently (hopefully) they are only for show.

After the course ended, Jon and Marie celebrated with friends, and Jon of course stayed out too late while Marie wisely rested. A local said that Haizhu beer (local brew -Zhuhai reversed) was the best, but it is quite similar to Tsingtao in many ways. All Chinese beers seem to be lighter ales, rather than dark lagers.

It was sad to say goodbye to the new friends that we have made on this course. We really do hope to be able to see many of them in the future, though we will all be scattered across the China. We really hope to see Jen again; not only is she one of the greatest people we have met, but it'd be nice to visit her as she's moving back to Fiji! : P

On Saturday night, we took a cruise with a couple hundred Chinese students from GLV (our school where TEFL is housed) on the water between Macao and Zhuhai to watch an International Fireworks competition. It was the last day of a several day contest, and the US and Japan were competing that day. We have no idea who won, but the fireworks were amazing! There was cabin entertainment by a Chinese girl singing English pop songs, another girl doing amazing hula hoop tricks, and a man showing the kids how to do card tricks. Macao, with its huge casinos, lights, and impressive skyline was something to behold. Unfortunately, most of the Chinese, or at least most that don't hold high positions with the government, have a very hard time obtaining Visas to visit Macao. This is a shame, but also may not be the worst thing for them as many think that they can go to casinos and become rich. Their naivite would cost them a fortune. The government seems to recognize this, but those pouring money in to Macao's gambling infrastructure are working hard to change this.

Macao is a former Portuguese colony. It was handed back to China by Portugal in 1999, like Hong Kong was by the British in 1997. It is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) like Hong Kong, and therefore, though it belongs to China, has a border and customs that must be crossed when going between Macao and the mainland. It is a chain of 3 islands, where the Northermost one is entered from the Zhuhai-Macao border, and there are casinos and beaches on parts of the Southern sides. It is small compared to Hong Kong, but still has a unique flare because of the Portuguese influence.

We went early Sunday morning to Macao, knowing that we would possibly not have another chance to do so before leaving for our jobs very soon. So, without planning, and not much of a guide (and no translator) we were taken to the border (20 minutes away by bus) by a Chinese kid from a Vocational school nearby. He has become a friend of our friend Perry, who is Cantonese himself, and he actually had his brother take us. We told him that this was not necessary, but the Chinese here that we have met will not let us pay for meals when with them, nor refuse favors. This is actually insulting if refused too much. He actually wants us to meet his parents because he has told them of us all. We hope to be able to do this before we leave.

When we got to the border before 9 AM, we had a short form to fill out to leave the mainland, and another brief form before arriving in Macao. It was very easy, though the border can easily be crossed by between .5 to almost 1 million people daily, so it is of course crowded. Once there, we exchanged our Chinese Yuan currency for Macao Patacas. The currencies are almost equivalent in value. We wandered the immediate area looking fro breakfast, and only saw dim sum places that sold fish and dumpling breakfasts. We were not, at the time, in the mood for that, so were told that we should go to McDonald's for breakfast. Not having gone there in a very long time, we decided to get breakfast there. It was the same as what we would get in the States (McMuffin, has browns, etc) and as always, more expensive than most local places. They do sell a "Shogun Burger" that is a pork bbq sandwich, and KFC does too with different kinds of desserts like Tarot Pie, but otherwise the menu is pretty similar to the West. There was a Birthday Party going on upstairs, and kids were playing all around in the little tyke jungle gym area. They were quite loud and animated, and very cute. It was unique to see a Western style bathroom, but we soon realized that this is standard in Macao.

We took a bus to the Sands Casino, where Marie won a free keychain with her complimentary spin of the roulette wheel. That was the extent of the "gambling" that we would do during our day. We then took a bus from Sands to the Venetian, the $3 billion casino being built by the owne of the Bellagion in Vegas. The Venetian is still being built, and many stores and restaurants have not yet opened. But, even still it is enormous, with a gigantic indoor Venetian replica canal that when filled will feature gondola rides for about $20 a person around the entire casino. It has all of the designer stores, multinational restaurants, and to Marie's delight expensive jewelry and Starbucks. The size of the casino is overwhelming. Even the facade is amazing, as it greatly resembles a Venetian temple.

When we left, we took a bus back to the border, and then another to an area called Sao Maolom or the Seaside. On the way, there was some sort of huge contingent of thousands of people blocking traffic on scooters. Traffic stopped for over a half hour, so the sardine packed bus we were on cleared out. We stayed on until we got to our destination.

The place was authentic Macao, as it looked just like Lison, with a tiled square, churches, ruins, hills, many steps and a battery fort at the top of the hill with cannon. We ate at a Portuguese cafe, and quite enjoyed having real bread. This was the best part of the day, and showed what real Macao is like. There were Portuguese people, and mixed people who spoke Portuguese.

The gambling industry is trying to push Macao to become the Vegas of Asia. It has not so far cleaned up the rest of the city, and we hope that it does not completely kill off the old Portuguese parts and feel to the place. When we left, we were glad to be across the border before it closed at midnight!

Today is National Day, October 1st. People are eating moon cakes and visiting family. It is 58 years since Mao and the Communists prevailed and sent the Nationalists packing to Taiwan. We will see what is still open to visit. We will be updating again soon with job news and pix. Until then, take care!

-Jon and Marie

Saturday in Zhuhai & Gong Bei

We had lunch at a restaurant today, with our friend Perry from the TEFL class, called "Cornfield Coffee". There are several of these in Zhuhai. They are "Western" style restaurants. They are fairly upscale, and expensive for this area. They serve everything on the menu from steak and chicken, to frog, ham, egg and intestine sandwiches. They also have waffles, all sorts of sweet and milk drinks, beers and ice wines. The servers, the two times that we ate there, really try to speak English, which is not that common around here. The place is obviously fancy because even though it still has squat toilets in the bathrooms, it actually has soap and paper towels!

Perry, who grew up in Australia, but is of Chinese descent, helped us get on the right bus and we went to Gong Bei, Southern Zhuhai. We had to go, literally, through a 2 mile long tunnel through a large mountain to get to this part of the city. It is right on the Macau border, only about 20 minutes from where we are staying. We could see Macau, but did not have our passports with us to cross over the border there. We will probably not have a chance to do so until our course ends.

Once in Gong Bei, the large buildings and snarled traffic, teeming with people, had us visibly observing plenty of smog and pollution. Being that we are on the water, and surrounded by mountains, as well as there being much haze, causes an oppressive amount of humidity!
We went to a literal underground market that crowded about a thousand stalls and stores in to a not very large area. There, one can negotiate and haggle prices for everything. We bought Marie two pair of very nice shoes for about $12 USD total. I was going to buy rip-off Nikes and Adidas for a total of $20-30 USD for both pairs that would have been around $120 in the US, but the largest sizes they came in were 9.5! So, the shoes literally did not fit....

While walking around, we were reminded more of a China that we expected to see. It was very crowded and almost overwhelming. Zhuhai has a "mere" 1.5 million residents, and this was the crowded downtown. We can't even imagine Shanghai, which boasts well over 20 million!

It began to downpour when we left, which caused the humidity to subside a bit. We caught a cab back to Zhuhai. There, we ran in to a market near our apartment to escape the rain. There were hundreds of people killing, skinning, slicing, gutting, and doing all sorts of other lovely things to fish, chicken and other animals that people picked out on the spot. We did not want to get too close, as parts fly all over. It would be like a Gallagher concert, without the rain coats!

We then dropped our stuff off at our rooms, and proceeded back to this Net Cafe. We are seated next to two Chinese boys that have been chain smoking and spitting intermittently on the floor. It is hard to get over this disgusting habit. Jon tries to brace himself for the first time he may be spit on directly, and will need to try to restrain himself from punching someone very hard!

We bought a 35mm camera on Friday. We will try to take pics to download to a CD after the course, and upload, after we get settled, to this blog. We will definitely try to buy a good digital as soon as we can find it, too.

Until then, take care, be well, and watch out for spit and fish parts!

What another week!

We just finished a very intensive week, without much sleep, at the course. We did get to teach twice this week. Both were good schools, but the second was great. It was an expensive private school with thousands of little kids running up to us, screaming "hello" and running away when we spoke back to them. They were all in uniforms, and were out in the yard exercising at the whistles and shouted prompts of the teachers. They treated us like celebrities, and seemed to be fascinated with us. They were very good students, and very quick to pick up the lessons. They are taught to read aloud, or choral, in unison when asked to read from the board. So, it was very loud but enjoyable. We were fed breakfast before the classes, which was nice. It was extremely hot and humid (no AC) and we still can't get over the fact that there are only squat toilets in the bathrooms, and no toilet paper, soap, nor paper towels! We have no idea why they wouldn't have this to prevent germ spread, but we hope they have better immune systems. Luckily, they have clean drinking water!

At the end of the lesson, the kids swarmed around us and were fascinated. A little pudgy kid kicked my water bottle away, and then ran. It was a surreal scene with so many there playing freely one minute, then having to line up and drill upon command the next. They definitely win in the group control Department!

We will be buying a camera as soon as we can, as well as posting more. In the meantime, here is posted a picture of our class.

We can't see your comments for whatever reason, so please be in touch.

Stay well!

-Jon and Marie

Hello from China!

What a week!



We left BWI on Weds. 8/29 around 10AM to JFK/NYC. We then flew direct at around 4 PM from NYC to Hong Kong International. When we arrived at the local time of 8 PM on Thursday 8/30, we were quite sleep deprived and disoriented (no pun intended). We were very happy to be off the plane, though the flight was on a huge Cathy Pacific jumbo jetliner. It is a subsidiary of British Air, and is very nice. There was very good food, high tech accommodations (TV, radio, and a GPS system on the seat backs that showed exactly where we were, how much time we had left, the temp. outside, etc.) and even free drinks (alc. incl.) and snacks the whole time!



When we got to the airport, Marie was ecstatic to see Hello Kitty everywhere. Hong Kong International Airport is almost a city itself! We had thought about staying at a hotel attached to the airport, but it would have been way too expensive for very basic accommodations. So, we took a bus to our hotel, the Novotel City Gate Hong Kong (2 miles away), checked in, noticed how beautiful the hotel was, and were amazed by the view from our room. There were mountains surrounding us, and the water a few blocks away. There was a large pool and fountain out back, a huge outlet mall connected to the hotel, and even many nice restaurants. Unfortunately, we were so tired that we could only try to sleep just before midnight when settled and could not enjoy many of the hotel's amenities.




The next day, after a very nice Western style breakfast at the hotel, we then had to rush off again to take a train, to a bus, to the Ferry Port at Hong Kong's Harbor. The Ferry Port was also very impressive. There were many stores, and a Starbucks that of course Marie loved. Jon bought waters knowing that they would be needed for the Ferry Ride.



The "First Class Tix" we bought got us seats on the upper deck of the Ferry. The ride was very
bumpy, with a Jackie Chan movie to amuse passengers. It took about 1.25 hours to get to Zhuhai's Port. When we arrive, we lugged our several bags through Immigration and went outside to catch a cab to the school that we'll be spending September getting our TEFL certs in. The cab ride was crazy; our bags nearly fell out of the trunk as the car was so small and could not fit them (they were tied in with a rope)!

When we got to the school, we met with a woman named Mei Ling. She helped us get to our hotel across the street, where we spend 2 nights. It was not a bad hotel, but during our second night, we were locked out of our room due to a misunderstanding regarding payment. Luckily, it was resolved, but the language barrier almost proved an impasse!

When we checked out of our hotel on Sunday 9/2, we went to our new home for the month, the Hongda Garden Apartment building. We have our own apartment, with a living room, a TV (that I can't work), a kitchen, a bathroom, two bed rooms, and cages out of the windows to hang our things to dry from. Our bathroom luckily has a Western style toilet (meaning not a hole in the ground like most bathrooms here do), but the "shower" is nothing but a shower head that sits in the corner of the room. When we shower, everything gets soaked in the bathroom! We of course have not drank the water, but still need to shower with it. It is understood by all in China that tap water should not be drank. It smells pretty awful when it sits stagnant for a time (like in the toilet). Another oddity is that there are no paper towels anywhere, only TP used for hand wiping. Most public bathrooms, and even restaurants have "squat toilets" and no TP or soap, so one must bring their own if going out for the day. The water we drink is called "Mr Wang's", but the scary name is still better than drinking from the tap!

We met our class on Sunday 9/2, and had dinner at a local place with them. There was a large lazy susan in the middle of the table, so if we were quick, we could grab food as it went by! There were many good things, but we were too tired and hot from the humidity to eat much!

Our classes started Monday 9/3, and the whole week was very intensive. We did not expect to have so much work immediately thrown at us, but have done what was needed. We did not get to tour all week because of the class, but need to make it our priority as it will help us get to where we want to be with teaching once we finish. Our classmates are all "unique", but so are most people that choose this path.


We actually really went out and saw a few more things today (Saturday) then we had all week. We had spent the week eating in the cafeteria to save time and money, and needed to speak with the students in English in exchange. It has been very exciting as they are quite eager to learn. They get to choose their own English names, but I don't know if these names are really explained to them. There have been boys with names like Eric, but also "Army" and girls named Doris and Crystal, but also "Apple" and "Rubber". We would hate to know what Chinese names they would give us! ; )

We did get to speak with one on one with locals as teaching practice. That was very enlightening, as they have definitely not been afraid to speak their minds! Their English seemed to improve with only a few days practice.

Again, we have been in class almost all the time we have been here, but today we ventured over to the shoreline of the city.

Zhuhai is a very interesting city. It is a coastal city that has much benefit from being near Hong Kong. Much development has gone in to this area. It is Southeast China, and part of the Guangdong, or Cantonese province. Though Cantonese is spoken by most here, the mainland or official Chinese, Mandarin, is widely spoken by most locals under 40. We live in the area where it costs less to live, and is a little dirtier than the nicer shoreline area. Our neighborhood has a palm tree lined road with much traffic and congestion, but the hills can be seen flanking us. There are so many things around here, and the few restaurants that we have visited have been pretty good. We aren't big fans of things like chicken feet, and other odd animal "delicacies", but have tried a few. The people seem to appreciate that fact that we try to use a few words to them and attempt to use chopsticks every meal. They laugh and stare a bit, but that is to be expected. We just try to be careful not to get run over as drivers here are not very concerned about pedestrians. Though, walkers don't seem to worry about walking in front of speeding cars, either!

Today, we went to see the Fisher Girl State of Zhuhai about 20 minutes away on the shore of lover's lane. Please check out Zhuhai on Wikipedia to read all about the legend of the statue. We walked along the water, saw the city in the distance, and then headed to Haibin park. It is a very serene place, with people doing Tai Chi, and the ability to climb hills to see the whole city from a Temple like platform at the top of the summit. There is also a place called Lake of the Lotus where people are put in to what look like giant rubber bubbles/hamster wheels. They can then try to roll around without getting wet, but it doesn't seem to get them very far.



After the park, we went to a very modern shopping mall. It was quite fancy compared to our area. It still did not stop people from spitting, but there are laws against that now being made because of the attempt to improve the country before the Olympics. The mall was next to a Pizza Hut, which after having local food all week, we had to try! It was actually quite good, and much nicer than any at home. We had shrimp, cheeses, raisins and ham on it. We also were given Seafood salad, fried shrimp, fruit drinks and dessert. This was ironically expensive at $25 because most full and wonderful meals eaten in our neighborhood are about $3-5 total for us both to get drinks, tofu, veggies, a rice dish, and a meat dish! There is also KFC here, as well, as in our neighborhood, but we have steered clear so far.



Once we caught the overfull and non air-conditioned bus back to our neighborhood, we had soymilk bubble teas at an outdoor bar that was showing olympics pregames. The area of it is right outside of our school, and it has an outdoor stage where many shows take place. the building where the school is is actually a large crescent with many shops, restaurants and a plaza where little kids can play bumper cars with batter operated mini cars they ride in. There is also many grill vendors, live chicken sellers, and jewelry vendors that Marie loves. She is also happy about all of the dogs and cats that roam about, but Jon does not want her to get Rabies, so she stays away from the ones that don't have owners!


It is now Sunday morning, 3 AM local time, and Marie and Jon are checking our emails thoroughly for the first time since we have gotten here. We are in an Internet Cafe behind our apartment building that never seems to close, and is still filled with dozens of smoking patrons. We can not use the Web on our laptop in our apartment building. We must log on to the Wireless Network at our school building, which closed 9 hours ago!

We will try to update this blog as much as we can, but it will be difficult while this course is on. We hope to be settled somewhere working by the middle of next month. Then we can update this much more, and even take pics/videos to add to it.

We hope that all are well, and look forward to letting you know of and see our travels as we go!

Until the next time, all the best to you and yours!

-Jon and Marie Helman

Just before we leave

Here's our first post.