Trip to Dongbei- Jilin

We all got up relatively early this morning, and with a little translation help, left our bags at the hotel and grabbed a taxi to Beidahu Ski Resort. It was just a short drive from Jilin, this is about where we were, for all of you keeping score at home. Upon arrival we noticed a significant lack of cars and almost empty ski runs. The runs looked pretty impressive (for China). We weren't really expecting much, as China's modernization and wealth accumulation have been very recent, and good ski infrastructure isn't built overnight. We went inside and fairly quickly were able to use the helpful "ski equipment rental" (or some more Chinese translation) sign to find the rental room. We figured out the system and got all the gear pretty quickly, granted there were no English speaking employees. All in all, the lift ticket and all the rentals cost ~450Y, ($65.84), which isn't bad at all. Interestingly, because credit cards haven't really caught on in save happy China, we had to leave huge cash deposits on all the items, some of the deposits were more than 5 times the price of the item (talk about collateral). I had a great time skiing, it being only my second time. I went down one of the more challenging runs with Dave and managed to slide down on my butt about 1/4 of the distance. As the run was very steep (for me), when I fell, I didn't just fall, but instead fell and slid until there was a relatively flat spot. Luckily, Dave (a native Coloradan and avid skier) was there to help me find my errant skis and poles. Nonetheless, I had a really good time, and was pretty impressed with the ski resort; not high quality from what I have seen and heard, but not bad at all, especially considering its location.

A very interesting thing was a conversation we had with one of the staff members who had helped us get our gear in the morning. As we were leaving, we saw her and asked for help in getting a taxi back to Jilin. She and her friend were able to quickly call for a driver who took us back for a good rate. As we waited we chatted with her. Much to our amazement, she had never skied. Not once. She works at a ski resort, it might take her 15 minutes to go from her chair to being in skis and on the lift. But she hasn't done it once. In the States, almost every person working at ski resorts does so explicitly for the free or discounted skiing and the great access. But in China, this girl (probably about my age) gets mediocre pay and apparently no ski benefits. Granted she does have a fairly easy job, inside and heated and most likely a free or very cheap dorm at the ski lodge. This is just a small and brief representation of what life is like in a country with a very large, willing, and competitive labor force. Even after a semester here, things like this continue to blow me away. After the ride back, we checked back into the hotel for another night, decided that the underground arcade was a little too smoky and sleazy for us, had a marathon meal at McDonald's and headed to bed after a good (but cold) day of skiing (snowboarding for Lynn).

Trip to Dongbei-Haerbin (4)

Today began with certain misadventures, or just what life is like in a foreign country. I needed to send some scanned pictures of my passport to my boss because he needed them for reasons too complicated to tell. So, the hotel lobby had a scanner and computer. But, because I don’t speak Chinese and the Chinese don’t have a ‘line’ mentality, so the simple scanning took an hour, 55 minutes more than planned. So Dave and I finally headed off to a Japanese germ warfare museum outside of town. Apparently the Japanese had some “alternative” warfare experiments at a base near Haerbin during the Sino-Japanese War. Well, the guidebook said the bus to the museum was near the train station. Unfortunately, the train station in a city of 5 million isn’t exactly a small place. And, after much searching and asking, we found the bus stop-in an alley behind an office building; which was otherwise used as a trash dump. The search for the bus took about another hour. The bus ride was also a bit longer than the guidebook indicated, so we arrived at the museum about ten minutes after 11:00, only to miss the lunch closure by ten minutes. As the search for the bus ride and the walk to the museum had made us pretty chilly, we grabbed a bite to eat. After lunch we headed back to the train station and met up with Danthemanstan and Lynn, who had gone to the ice festival. Lynn is a friend from CIEE who just finished her teaching at a university in Xuzhou, in the northern part of Jiangsu province. She had come in late the night before and as an avid snowboarding enthusiast, wouldn't miss a trip to the frigid north. During the ice slides of the night before, I had forgotten to take my phone out of my exterior pocket, and the screen had cracked and was pretty difficult to read. So, while walking through an underground shopping center to cross a busy street, I noticed some cell phones. So, with a little bartering, I purchased a new phone. Now, in the States, I usually head to the T Mobile store to buy a phone, so I can be assured of quality and return policies. Well, I bought my original phone here at the main China Mobile store downtown. I had recently had some hardware problems with it, so I asked many people if it could be exchanged or refunded (I still have the receipt). The people I asked looked at me like I was crazy. So, because there are no warranties, customer service, or refunds, I figured I might as well buy my phone from a stall in the underpass market.

The four of us (me with a new phone) met up and headed rapidly to the train station. We had a pleasant 5 hour trip to Jilin City in Jilin province, which is south of Haerbin, so we were headed to warmer ground. Once here, we were quite hungry, so we headed to a restaurant listed in the guidebook for its stew. While looking at the menu, David was pretty sure that he saw the characters for 'dog meat'. Well, he was right, and actually, about a third of the menu was dedicated to dog meat. Muslims don't eat pork, and Hindus don't eat beef, and in America we don't eat dogs. These are all cultural differences and preferences which can be traced back through generations. For Catholics, during lent, meat is not consumed, because it holds a cultural (in this case religious) significance. In China, dog meat has been consumed for thousands of years. It is believed to hold medicinal value in helping the body stay warm, and thus is very popular in the winter. Jilin province is one of the areas where it was especially popular. David and I decided that we would try it, and we did. The dogs used for meat here are raised as livestock, just like the cows and pigs most Americans (vegetarians like Jane excluded) eat everyday. I will report that it tastes almost identical to turkey, but there wasn't much meat on the bone. I think I'll stick with steaks and pork chops, so don't be worried. After dinner we headed to a hotel and got some acceptable rooms for a pretty cheap price. Oddly enough, there were plenty of rooms, as temperatures in the negative teens (F) aren't that inviting to tourists. Even more odd was that our main complaint about the room at this hotel is that it is too hot, as the hotel is blasting the general heat.

Trip to Dongbei- Haerbin (3)

Our day got off to a late start today, as we stayed up fairly late last night drinking some baijiu that Danthemanstan had somehow managed to find sold in a squirt bottle. Only in China is 100 proof liquor sold in a squirt bottle, only in China. Danthemanstan and David had decided that the Northeast China Tiger Park was the best place to visit, so we headed that way. Our journey included an enthusiastic English learner also was a taxi driver. Encouraged by Dave’s Chinese knowledge and willingness to help him learn some English, he arranged for a friend to take us to the park and back for a reasonable price. So we missed out on trying to change three buses in a new city, tough loss. The tiger park was everything we expected and more. Essentially we drove around in a mini-bus through many enclosed fields filled with Siberian tigers, and one section with lions and even a ‘liger’. The real excitement came when a Jeep, with caged in windows and doors, entered one of the fields. All the tigers swarmed the Jeep, the reason was clear as it soon released a live duck. The tigers jumped and jostled to catch the duck (wings clipped so the tigers don’t have to work too hard). A few more ducks, some chickens, and even a small goat were released. These animals were all purchased by the other people in our bus and the other buses; the three of us didn’t make any purchases and thus were able to free load of the others. I don’t know that you can really do this sort of thing in the States, but I was pretty entertained and excited to see it here.

After dinner, we headed to the Ice Lantern Festival, which is the big tourist attraction in Haerbin this time of year. Well, there is plenty of reason why. It was truly amazing. Castles, churches, the Olympics Bird’s Nest, the Summer Palace, and many other things were replicated here; in ice or snow. Some of the castles were giant and incredibly intricate, and we could walk around inside of them. Some of the sculptures and buildings had slides on the side of them, which were a lot of fun. Now, I couldn’t really feel my feet for most of the visit, and there’s a very little warmth in a city of ice; but it’s not like I expected it to be warm. I really had a great time, the sheer volume of the amount of ice and snow was amazing and I hope the pictures can show how spectacular it was.

Trip to Dongbei-Haerbin (2)

It’s cold. Our train ride did take is about 2400 km to the north, so it’s quite natural to be colder. Haerbin was much more jumping than I expected for a city this close to Siberia, but then again it has at least 5 million people, so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise. We bought tickets for our departure, got to our hotel (quite nice-even by American standards) and headed out to a restaurant listed in the guidebook. Its name claimed ‘pancakes’ but it was more of a make your own spring roll place, aka no syrup or blueberries, but was nonetheless wonderful. The local Harbin Beer to wash it down made it all the more enjoyable. We spent the rest of the night cruising Haerbin and all the ice sculptures (too many to count). With long johns, a good hat, and gloves, it’s not that cold and quite enjoyable. The architecture of the city has a significant Russian feel, and there were a pretty good number of tall, white people around, also showing the Russian influence. The highlight of the night was assuredly the sledding/bobsled slide they had set up. It was made completely of ice; which was very cool. We were even able to negotiate with the worker and negotiate a better price. The first night in Haerbin was definitely a hit.

Trip to Dongbei-Haerbin

The trip got off to a pretty good start. We had a wonderful last meal in Changzhou, eating at the brand new PapaJohn's. I had heard it was opening, and it was right there by the train station, so we went on in. I had the pasta alfredo, which left a lot to be desired, but the pizza Dave and Danthemanstan got was absolutely wonderful. We then headed to the train station and loaded the train at 12:25. Now with a little bit of experience, we knew that it's best to seek comfort on long trips. So, Danthemanstan and I decided on the soft sleeper and Dave opted for the hard sleeper because there would be "Chinese hotties". Well, the soft sleeper is the Ritz Carlton of train transportation. As the pictures show, it is quite spacious and clean. The rooms have four beds in them, and a little table in the middle. We shared our room with a couple from Shanghai and their super cute three year old daughter. They were quite cordial upon arrival and the husband was fairly talkative, so I was able to talk with him a little; his English was pretty good as well, which made it easier. I am a firm believer that perspective is quite important in evaluation. My two previous overnight train rides had been standing, sitting on the floor, or in a not so spacious hard seat, so I really appreciated the soft sleeper. Danthemanstan taught me knock rummy, so we played that for quite awhile, and along with reading and watching the three year old play around the cabin, the time passed fairly quickly. I can't really express how nice it was to have the ability to change positions, lie down, get up, walk around; and to do this without having to budge, bump, and annoy another person. For food I had purchased a bag full of travel food from the supermarket on campus (to avoid the high priced train food). In the evening we took a trip down to Dave's hard sleeper car, and he had managed to meet up with two university students from Shanghai, who were quite friendly and nice. As we went to bed, I could barely believe myself, as the bed on the train was actually softer than the bed in my apartment (although much smaller and considerably more rocky and bumpy). I managed to get a good night's sleep and slept in in the morning. After some more cards and some chats with Dave's friends in the hard sleepers, the trip was done. All in all the 29.5 hour train ride was quite a delight and something I would do again.

Goal setting

During our week of orientation in Shanghai, one of the experienced teachers made a comment about some type of liquor called 白酒 (baijiu). He said it was really common and popular in China, but also said it tasted awful. I quickly wrote a note and passed it to David who was sitting next to me. It said, 'goal number one for China: acquire a taste for baijiu'. This goal was for the most part a joke, but there was a bit of sincerity in it. Our first encounter with baijiu was at the welcome banquet we had our first week here. It was absolutely awful and its taste seemed to linger hours after drinking it. After this initial encounter, I wasn't exactly encouraged to continue with 'goal #1'. But, Dave and I kept on encouraging each other to embrace this part of the culture. So, bit by bit we have been buying it from the corner stores on campus and mixing it with Coke or Pepsi. Now, there is obviously a demand for this stuff (why, I don't know) because all the stores carry it. The corner stores usually carry about six or seven types of beer, maybe three types of wine, and a solid seven or eight types of baijiu; they may carry one or two types of some 'yellow wine' liquor liquid, but not always. Now, at the major supermarkets, there are aisles dedicated to baijiu, some of it in very fancy boxes and porcelain bottles. That's not the stuff we are buying.

Last week, Dave and I thought we were really coming along and were mixing it at more than 50% with Coke. The ultimate goal is to drink it the same as juice or pop, which is what more than a few Chinese men can do. We each drank a bottle that night, don't worry they are only 16 oz bottles. Either way, the hangover I had the next day made me swear that this was a part of the culture to which I would remain a stranger. Not that baijiu is enjoyable to drink, either, it's not. Apparently, because of its high alcohol content and maybe because it's the only liquor I've ever had made from sorghum, but it is absolutely repulsive. I'm not quite in the budget group to be buying the top of the line baijiu, but I don't think the taste can be that different. The other day Dave and I both needed to go to Wal Mart to pick up some things, so our good friend Cao Xingxing came with us. After we came back from dinner at McDonald's, we stopped at a new supermarket near the bus stop by campus. While walking through the baijiu section (two full aisles) I pointed at a jug of clear liquid and asked Dave if he had any plans for the night. He answered "goal #1", right on cue. Yes, they sell liquor in a plastic bottle here, 4500 ml, or 1.2 gallons for those on the US system. It was 28Y, which is $4.10 for over a gallon of liquor. More expensive than water, but cheaper than milk. And yes, its taste correlated with its price. The picture above shows the bottle and on the left with a bottle of coke and Cao Xingxing and QinChen, another one of our friends. This batch seemed to have a bit of a nail polish remover smell to it. And, because we bought over a gallon of it, I guess we will have to bite the bullet and keep on pushing towards this "goal".

新年快乐

Xin nian kuai le, or Happy New Year! I can tell you most assuredly that at the beginning of 2008 I would have called you crazy if you told me that I would be in China one year later. But life takes its turns, and I am here. As the holidays in the States are winding down, things are just gearing up here. Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year is the largest holiday of the year in China. It is January 26th on the Roman calendar, (obviously it is the first day of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar). As expected, the holiday season passed here with significantly less activity than back home. Thanksgiving was pretty good, as I mentioned earlier in my blog, but the lack of turkey was disappointing.

I actually spent a good part of Christmas day listening to my students answer 3 to 4 minutes of questions each, as I gave the final exam to two of my classes. I gave a PowerPoint presentation to one of my classes and read them The Night Before Christmas. I did the same thing at the class I taught for the employees at the manufacturing company. This allowed me to get into the spirit a little bit, but it was also the first Christmas I have worked in my life. In the evening I went to a Christmas 'party' held by Super Education, the language training company for which I have done the small part time job. Now, I put 'party' in quotes because it (like other Chinese parties I have attended) would be much better described as a badly planned talent show. There is no concept of mingling or chatting. There is always some sort of performance on the stage, singing, speeches, a raffle, quiz questions, musical performances, break dancing, etc. As if this isn't enough, there is also some sort of soundtrack playing in the background; causing both the 'performers' and anyone trying to hold a conversation to shout. Needless to say I really missed some quiet Christmas carols and my moms ham balls and cucumber sandwiches.

The next big day was rockin' new year's eve, which wasn't all that rockin' in Changzhou. But, luckily for me, the foreign language department was hosting a new year's eve banquet. Now, because Spring Festival is a family holiday, this banquet is the big banquet of the year for the department. Danthemanstan and I were the only foreign teachers attending, apparently not everyone shares my motto that any free meal is a good one. The banquet was at a very nice hotel in town and the food was delicious. I think the best thing about the food at these banquets is the mystery of what it is. Danthemanstan and I asked about every dish, and apparently we are much more concerned about what we put into our mouths than the Chinese people. There were more than a few times that we would have to ask two or three people to find out what the dish was. We both received gifts when we arrived, a very nice set of the famous Changzhou combs. It was really nice of the department to give us gifts, but it did mean we weren't eligible for the raffle, which went on throughout the dinner and provided plenty of entertainment. The rest of dinner consisted of incessant toasting. As soon as one group of higher ups finished toasting the table, another group would come by. All in all, I felt like I was at a Catholic church service with all the rising and sitting. After dinner, we walked up the street to a KTV (karaoke television), which is a karaoke bar. So Danthemanstan and I chilled with Steve in the corner, drank some beers, and chewed on some sugar cane. The party sort of died down and there are only so many karaoke performances of Chinese pop songs that any human can endure, so we left around 10:30. So, no countdown of the clock in Times Square for me, but even more disappointing was that I didn't get to sing Auld Lang Syne.

The Joy of the Season

1963, the televisions and concert halls of the UK and the US, four young musicians from Liverpool. The hysteria was known as Beatlemania. 2008, the week before Christmas, the girls dormitories at Jiangsu Teacher's University of Technology in Changzhou, China. The hysteria has no name, but rivaled the popularity of the four English lads. Well, maybe I am exaggerating a little, but not by much. You may be wondering, what was the cause for Beatlemania II? Well, nothing more than 5 slightly inebriated foreign teachers singing Christmas carols on a Friday night.

A while back, Dave and I were talking and we came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be a bad idea to sing some carols around campus to spread the Christmas cheer. So we told some of the other teachers; I bought some Santa hats and Dave printed off some lyrics. The president of the school held a special Christmas banquet for all the foreign teachers. This of course meant plenty of toasts, and the wine and beer flowed freely. So after dinner we decided to make it happen. With a few beers, and a bottle of Coke and baijiu, we headed to the girls' dormitory on the main street. We finagled our way past the security women, essentially on the pretext that as "foreign experts" we can get by with anything. What ensued was well, well beyond any of our expectations. Clark, David, Bryan, Danthemanstan, and I were received with the same roaring voices of ecstatic girls as were John, Paul, Ringo, and George 45 years ago. It was crazy. At the first dorm, and the other four we sang to that night, it was mayhem. All of the girls came to their windows or balconies and screamed. Many brought out cell phones or flashlights and waved them in the night. At the two dorms where we were able to walk around the halls (not all the dorm managers were excited that we were disrupting the 'harmonious society') we were followed by mobs of girls. They took countless pictures, and a few of them even tugged at us as we left their floor. Now, Chinese people love to take pictures on their cell phones, but at times the flashbulbs were popping like the it was a rock concert or the 100 meter dash at the Olympics.

As I said, the reaction was well beyond our expectation. But that's not to say that it isn't understandable. As I have mentioned before, life on a college campus in China (and I have been told that our university is fairly normal) isn't quite the four year cruise it is in the States. The students have between 22 and 36 hours of class every week, and certain majors have required reading every morning at seven. Dormitory rooms must be cleaned every day and are subject to an unannounced inspection once a week. Curfew is at 11:00 every night. Electricity is also turned off every night at 11:00, except on the weekends when the luxury of 24 hour electricity is permitted. There is no hot water in the morning, and trust me, with no heating, these students aren't taking cold showers. Oh, and forget about romance, no boys in the girls' dorms and no girls in the boys'. So, given the very studious atmosphere and tight controls on any 'fun', something like our caroling is a big hit. The fact that we were 5 of the 12 people on a campus of 15,000 who aren't the Han Chinese ethnicity also helped (more than a little). In case you want to catch some of the action, there is a video on Danthemanstan's blog, linked to the left.