Merry Christmas from us and a few of the children from the Xinxin English Learning School where we occasionally teach on the weekends:
We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
My First Christmas Pageant Ever!
About 2 weeks ago a very good friend of mine asked me to write and direct a 20-30 minute Christmas Pageant.
The funny thing about theatre in China is that it's not anything like theatre in America. To them theatre is ALL masks, bright elaborate costumes, dance-like rhythmic movements, and that high pitch obnoxious warbling. Needless to say, they had not done anything like this before.
Obviously the blocking, dialogue, and just about every other aspect of the performance was very simply scripted, especially considering it was being performed by and for non-native English speakers with only one hour rehearsal time.
Rough Synopsis:
Narrated Intro
Children's Choir: Silent Night
Part 1:
Narration
Reading
Scene: Mary & Joseph go to Innnkeepers, end up in the stable
Part2:
Narration
ReadingS
cene: Angel appears to shepherds,
Women's Choir: Hark the Herald
Shepherds find Mary & co., shepherds go out into audience proclaiming good news.
Part3:
Narrated Intro
Reading
Scene: Wise men come bringing gifts
Ensemble: Away in a Manger
Narrated Conclusion
She asked me 2 weeks ago. I had it written a few days later so that we could cast people from our English studies the next weekend (the weekend before the performance). The cast members came from 5+ different english classes and most of them had never met one another. Some of my actors refused to take scripts because they didn't want to waste the paper. The ages ranged from 7 -mid-50's.
Cast List:
Children's Choir
Mary
Joseph
Innkeepers #1-3
2 Shepherds
Angel
Angel Choir
King from the East
2 Queens from the East
My set was a chair and immovable risers placed upstage.
My prop list:
wrapped blanket that WAS the baby Jesus
2 candy boxes (Incense and Gold)
One bottle Olive Oil (myrrh)
One stuffed sheep
We would have rehearsed earlier, but we weren't allowed into the performance hall early enough before the show. When 6pm rolled around (7pm performance) 2 of my shepherds, and my only speaking angel were missing. I replaced them all. 20 minutes before the performance the angel and a shepherd showed up. So we performed with 2 angels and 3 shepherds.
We had no run through. The woman who was bringing the costumes thought we just wanted Choir robes. (Languare barrier...) There was impromptu blocking, speaking, and gesturing. There was about a 6 minute pause when the narrator didn't know it was his turn to speak after Part 1.
BUT, no one missed an actual line, everyone was off script other than the narrator, everyone stayed behind the curtains when they were supposed to, no one touched props that weren't theirs, they handed off the microphone beautifully despite practice without it (with only a small exception), the hall attendant changed his mind and agreed to turn the stage lights on, and my replacement Angel was FABULOUS! All in all it was remarkable how it all came together. I was so impressed and proud of them!
I had an absolute blast taking charge of the project!
The funny thing about theatre in China is that it's not anything like theatre in America. To them theatre is ALL masks, bright elaborate costumes, dance-like rhythmic movements, and that high pitch obnoxious warbling. Needless to say, they had not done anything like this before.
Obviously the blocking, dialogue, and just about every other aspect of the performance was very simply scripted, especially considering it was being performed by and for non-native English speakers with only one hour rehearsal time.
Rough Synopsis:
Narrated Intro
Children's Choir: Silent Night
Part 1:
Narration
Reading
Scene: Mary & Joseph go to Innnkeepers, end up in the stable
Part2:
Narration
ReadingS
cene: Angel appears to shepherds,
Women's Choir: Hark the Herald
Shepherds find Mary & co., shepherds go out into audience proclaiming good news.
Part3:
Narrated Intro
Reading
Scene: Wise men come bringing gifts
Ensemble: Away in a Manger
Narrated Conclusion
She asked me 2 weeks ago. I had it written a few days later so that we could cast people from our English studies the next weekend (the weekend before the performance). The cast members came from 5+ different english classes and most of them had never met one another. Some of my actors refused to take scripts because they didn't want to waste the paper. The ages ranged from 7 -mid-50's.
Cast List:
Children's Choir
Mary
Joseph
Innkeepers #1-3
2 Shepherds
Angel
Angel Choir
King from the East
2 Queens from the East
My set was a chair and immovable risers placed upstage.
My prop list:
wrapped blanket that WAS the baby Jesus
2 candy boxes (Incense and Gold)
One bottle Olive Oil (myrrh)
One stuffed sheep
We would have rehearsed earlier, but we weren't allowed into the performance hall early enough before the show. When 6pm rolled around (7pm performance) 2 of my shepherds, and my only speaking angel were missing. I replaced them all. 20 minutes before the performance the angel and a shepherd showed up. So we performed with 2 angels and 3 shepherds.
We had no run through. The woman who was bringing the costumes thought we just wanted Choir robes. (Languare barrier...) There was impromptu blocking, speaking, and gesturing. There was about a 6 minute pause when the narrator didn't know it was his turn to speak after Part 1.
BUT, no one missed an actual line, everyone was off script other than the narrator, everyone stayed behind the curtains when they were supposed to, no one touched props that weren't theirs, they handed off the microphone beautifully despite practice without it (with only a small exception), the hall attendant changed his mind and agreed to turn the stage lights on, and my replacement Angel was FABULOUS! All in all it was remarkable how it all came together. I was so impressed and proud of them!
I had an absolute blast taking charge of the project!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Fair and Balanced? (Another long post)
This past semester we were told to teach sophomore English Majors using a textbook entitled: A General Survey of UK and USA: A Contrastive Approach (ISBN978-7-04-012132). The following excerpts are taken directly from the book without changing anything, not even the spelling and grammar mistakes. You will soon see why we avoided using the book whenever possible. I could quote more but you get the idea.
Chapter 4 – Section 2: The Post War US: “Conflict between the USA and the USSR had begun to rise even before the end of the war, due to the American ambition of world domination.” (64)
“In East and Southeast Asia, the United States tried hard to control as many regions as possible through military and economic aggression. The US fully supported […] Chiang Kai-shek, who started the civil war against the Chinese Communist forces. By the end of 1949, the whole of mainland China had been liberated and Chiang Kai-shek with his left elements, fled to the island of Taiwan. This marked the end of the Chinese civil war and an end to the US control of China. […] The American reactionary policy against China ended in a complete failure and it was also the first major setback that the US suffered in Asia after the Second World War.” (64)
“The American aggression of Korea took place in June 1950, and the Korean War broke out. The Chinese Volunteers, asked by the Korean people entered the war in October 1950 and in the following month an enormous counter-attack was started against the American offensive. The US finally had to sign a ceasefire agreement in the summer of 1953, which marked the failure of the US aggression and the end of the war. This was another setback by the US and it was the starting point of the US decline after World War II.” (64-65)
“US-led NATO mounted an air strike on Yugoslavia on March 24, 1999. […] the USA tried to make NATO as a tool of its global expansion. […] If US-led NATO was able to occupy Kosovo and to separate Yugoslavia, the USA would keep Russia under control and would be able to control the Middle East easily, which will further help the USA realize the dream of global expansion and its dominance of the world. It is doubtless an aggressive and unjust war, with is a violent trample on the sovereignty of an independent country.” (66)
Chapter 6: British and American Political Systems: “The capitalist countries, the separation of powers and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie are symbols of the political systems, but the forms in each country differ.” (82)
Chapter 11: British and American Religions-Section 3: The American Worship: “Christian Science is quite popular among the bourgeoisie class.” (153)
“Problems still exist in American religion. The USA is a religious world in which people have fervent religious beliefs. Some of the small sects are extremely intolerant. Some are rather emotional; some are odd and brutal; and some others are hysterical. There is another small religious group called the People’s Temple” The text continues to describe People’s Temple cult and the ensuing Jonestown mass suicide. “All these religious problems are also social problems. In such a highly developed capitalist world, the economic decline, constant unemployment, the disintegration of families make people all the more crazy for religion.” (154-155)
Chapter 15: British and American Sports – Section 2: American Sports: “The student spectators are led in cheering for their teams by trained, uniformed student cheerleaders, many of whom are pretty girls.” (198)
“America takes advantage of the abundance of swimming pools to produce the world-best swimmers. Teenage American girls, many from California, have dominated international competition. (199)
Chapter 17: British and American Foreign Relations – Section 2: The Relationship Between the USA and China: “In the Far East, China was the main objective of the USA overseas expansion. In 1844 US imperialism invaded China and compelled the Qing Dynasty to sign the unequal ‘Treaty of Wangxia.’ […] All this shows that the US imperialism tried to have the whole of China under its control. But in 1949, the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek met final defeat on the mainland despite more than a decade of US assistance. Incredulous Americans seeking an explanation for the disaster blamed the Truman administration, attacking communist sympathizers in the US State Department for the loss of China, rather than the mismanagement and weakness of Chiang’s forces.” (219)
“The US long-term policy of isolating China and separating her from the rest of the world had been historically proved to be a serious mistake and a failure.” (220)
Chapter 18: British and American Social life – Section 2: American Social Life: “This section gives an account of the social life in the USA from five aspects […] The gap between the poor and the rich is the third. In American society, a vociferous equality is greatly advocated. However, social equality has never been realized […] The difference between the rich and the poor is great because of the social system.” (227-229)
“The fourth is the decaying morality. The American society is developing very fast scientifically, while the spirit of the society is becoming more and more hollow. The premarital sexual relationships, homosexuality and others are only a few instances of this spirit.” (230)
“In the 1960s and the early 1970s, ‘new morality’ appeared among young people, most of whom were educated at college. They have premarital sexual relationships and live together before marriage […] Some Americans say this is only casual behavior; others may find such an excuse that premarital relations are the natural result of romantic love. This sounds even more ridiculous. There are more and more illegitimate babies born today in the USA. […] The ‘new morality’ is nothing but ‘immorality.’” (230)
“Homosexuality is another immorality and a rather strange social phenomenon that most people can hardly understand. It widely spreads. One reason for this may be the despair in marriage or love affairs. Some people fail in marriage and become disappointed with it. So they decide no longer to love the opposite sex, but instead begin to love a person of the same sex as a return of hatred to the opposite. Another reason may be that some people just want to find and do something ‘new’ and ‘curious’. As Americans are known as adventurous, they practised homosexuality as a kind of new excitement. Through this, we can see clearly the spiritual hollowness of these people and the distortion of the social order.” (230)
“The fifth is violence. […] It is said that, in the University of South Carolina, gangs of rascals have been taking girl students, women teachers and wives of teachers working in this university as their targets of rape, which has caused a great fear. Crime has decreased since 1990.” (230-231)
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
My Trip to the Post Office...
Jes here. I tell you that it's me so that no one holds Shawn accountable in any way for anything I'm about to write.
Most of you know me in a general sense, but you're not necessarily familiar with my quirkier sides. So, you should know this is not "general Jes" speaking, this is "Post Traumatic Stress Jes". Worry not, I am well on my way to normalization, which would be a lot cooler if it had more in common with carmelization.
Anyway, brown paper packages are one of Julie Andrew's favorite things, but at no point has she mentioned that going to the post office is one of her favorite things. Julie Andrews and I don't have a whole lot in common. However, her appreciation for brown paper packages and lack of appreciation for the post office is something that we do share.
I should tell you that going to the post office, for me, is much like being the passenger in a speeding car heading toward a giant angry train while the driver of the car is completely distracted by something out the window or the CD changer or whatever, and you know you're going to die but you can't even scream because this driver just picked you up from the dentist's office where you got your jaw wired shut so you weren't even doing so hot in the first place. I don't like going to the post office in China. It is not fun for me.
So this is already how I feel walking towards the post office on Monday afternoon.
I walk into the post office and a woman behind the desk motions me toward the packaging desk. I wait for a while until a man comes and opens my carefully sealed package. He opens it, looks inside, and then reseals it. At this point he communicates to me that I owe him 2 yuan for resealing my package. Now, 2 yuan is not very much, but it is still far too much for what just happened. You can think of this first situation as a small cake. I tell you it's a cake so that you are prepared to hear about how this cake was iced.
I now go to a different desk to send my giant stack of Christmas letters. There's plenty of pushing, line cutting, staring at the foreigner, and all the usual pleasantries. I finally get a woman to help me. She takes my cards and looks through them. (You should know that all of the envelopes are addressed in the Chinese way - address top left, return address bottom right- because my post office in Yong Ning has refused to accept my letters any other way for the last year+) She proceeds to communicate to me via Chinese & gestures that my cards are not acceptable because they are not addressed in the American way and they are going to America. At this point I'm more irritated with my post office in Yong Ning for refusing to accept my normally addressed letters for the last year. I tried to communicate that I had sent many letters to America this way and that it was fine. They "told" me to readdress the envelopes on the back the American way. So I sit down at the desk and readdress almost all of my cards on the back, all the while being pushed, stared at, and all the usual pleasantries. You may consider this a thick layer of icing on the cake.
I'm just about finished and the woman takes my finished stack of cards and looks through them. Then, she stops me. She "tells" me that I had been doing it all wrong and that they wanted me to write my own address in the middle on the back. I lectured her for a few minutes in English about how the middle back of the cards already had the other addresses on them and why did I have to rewrite this stupid cards for the 3rd time when I knew that they would get to their destinations as they were etc., etc., etc. Go ahead and stick a few of those obnoxious little figurines on the cake.
I took my stack of cards and left the post office. I stood outside just breathing for a few minutes not sure what to do next. I walked across the street to KFC, bought a coffee, and sat down to
re-readdress my envelopes.
When I finished I walked back to the post office with that so angry you look happy kind of attitude (similar to how some things are so cold they feel hot... why does that happen, Eric?). When they saw me walk in they looked a little frightened but motioned for me to come to the front of the line. I gave her the stack and she barely even looked at them before she weighed them. She tells me the final cost and I give her my money. As she's getting my change she realizes she made a "mistake" and it would actually be twice as much. Candles?
I pay and I leave.
When I get on the bus back to Yong Ning the money taker walks to the back of the bus. I give her my 3 yuan and then she takes money from everyone else on the back of the bus. Then the woman comes back to me and asks me for money again. I tried to tell her I already paid, but I'm speaking English and she laughs at me and then tells all the other people around how funny it is that the foreigner doesn't speak Chinese and doesn't know she's supposed to pay for the bus. Seriously, woman? I am the only white person on the bus. I may be the only white person you have taken money from ever and you forgot that you took money from me?!?!?!? And today no less?!? So I laughed in that so cold it's hot kind of way, and I paid the woman again. Go ahead and throw a whole new cake on that first one.
Most of you know me in a general sense, but you're not necessarily familiar with my quirkier sides. So, you should know this is not "general Jes" speaking, this is "Post Traumatic Stress Jes". Worry not, I am well on my way to normalization, which would be a lot cooler if it had more in common with carmelization.
Anyway, brown paper packages are one of Julie Andrew's favorite things, but at no point has she mentioned that going to the post office is one of her favorite things. Julie Andrews and I don't have a whole lot in common. However, her appreciation for brown paper packages and lack of appreciation for the post office is something that we do share.
I should tell you that going to the post office, for me, is much like being the passenger in a speeding car heading toward a giant angry train while the driver of the car is completely distracted by something out the window or the CD changer or whatever, and you know you're going to die but you can't even scream because this driver just picked you up from the dentist's office where you got your jaw wired shut so you weren't even doing so hot in the first place. I don't like going to the post office in China. It is not fun for me.
So this is already how I feel walking towards the post office on Monday afternoon.
I walk into the post office and a woman behind the desk motions me toward the packaging desk. I wait for a while until a man comes and opens my carefully sealed package. He opens it, looks inside, and then reseals it. At this point he communicates to me that I owe him 2 yuan for resealing my package. Now, 2 yuan is not very much, but it is still far too much for what just happened. You can think of this first situation as a small cake. I tell you it's a cake so that you are prepared to hear about how this cake was iced.
I now go to a different desk to send my giant stack of Christmas letters. There's plenty of pushing, line cutting, staring at the foreigner, and all the usual pleasantries. I finally get a woman to help me. She takes my cards and looks through them. (You should know that all of the envelopes are addressed in the Chinese way - address top left, return address bottom right- because my post office in Yong Ning has refused to accept my letters any other way for the last year+) She proceeds to communicate to me via Chinese & gestures that my cards are not acceptable because they are not addressed in the American way and they are going to America. At this point I'm more irritated with my post office in Yong Ning for refusing to accept my normally addressed letters for the last year. I tried to communicate that I had sent many letters to America this way and that it was fine. They "told" me to readdress the envelopes on the back the American way. So I sit down at the desk and readdress almost all of my cards on the back, all the while being pushed, stared at, and all the usual pleasantries. You may consider this a thick layer of icing on the cake.
I'm just about finished and the woman takes my finished stack of cards and looks through them. Then, she stops me. She "tells" me that I had been doing it all wrong and that they wanted me to write my own address in the middle on the back. I lectured her for a few minutes in English about how the middle back of the cards already had the other addresses on them and why did I have to rewrite this stupid cards for the 3rd time when I knew that they would get to their destinations as they were etc., etc., etc. Go ahead and stick a few of those obnoxious little figurines on the cake.
I took my stack of cards and left the post office. I stood outside just breathing for a few minutes not sure what to do next. I walked across the street to KFC, bought a coffee, and sat down to
re-readdress my envelopes.
When I finished I walked back to the post office with that so angry you look happy kind of attitude (similar to how some things are so cold they feel hot... why does that happen, Eric?). When they saw me walk in they looked a little frightened but motioned for me to come to the front of the line. I gave her the stack and she barely even looked at them before she weighed them. She tells me the final cost and I give her my money. As she's getting my change she realizes she made a "mistake" and it would actually be twice as much. Candles?
I pay and I leave.
When I get on the bus back to Yong Ning the money taker walks to the back of the bus. I give her my 3 yuan and then she takes money from everyone else on the back of the bus. Then the woman comes back to me and asks me for money again. I tried to tell her I already paid, but I'm speaking English and she laughs at me and then tells all the other people around how funny it is that the foreigner doesn't speak Chinese and doesn't know she's supposed to pay for the bus. Seriously, woman? I am the only white person on the bus. I may be the only white person you have taken money from ever and you forgot that you took money from me?!?!?!? And today no less?!? So I laughed in that so cold it's hot kind of way, and I paid the woman again. Go ahead and throw a whole new cake on that first one.
Monday, November 24, 2008
No Internet
The Internet on campus has been down for almost 2 weeks. Can you imagine if that happened at an University in the U.S. ?
No internet means no Law School applications can be submitted. Thankfully I was able to go to a friend's house in Yinchuan and use his to at least get 2 submitted although not complete(waiting on Letters outside my control).
No Internet also means little to no contact with the Western World. So Happy Thanksgiving incase we don't have a chance to tell you.
Right now we are in a small Internet bar in YongNing where the cigarette smoke is starting to burn my eyes and the sounds of explosions from the gamers are giving me a headache. Time to go home.
No internet means no Law School applications can be submitted. Thankfully I was able to go to a friend's house in Yinchuan and use his to at least get 2 submitted although not complete(waiting on Letters outside my control).
No Internet also means little to no contact with the Western World. So Happy Thanksgiving incase we don't have a chance to tell you.
Right now we are in a small Internet bar in YongNing where the cigarette smoke is starting to burn my eyes and the sounds of explosions from the gamers are giving me a headache. Time to go home.
Monday, October 20, 2008
What about the economic crisis?
Jes and I occasionally at a small weekend English school to help out a friend of ours. Its a little extra cash and is a lot of fun. We enjoy teaching much more when the students actually want to learn English. The students ages range from about 5 to 16 or 17. This past Sunday we taught a class of 10-12 year olds. During a break one of the girls (11 years old) asked me about the "economic crisis in America". Any question about it is going to be tough enough to answer the way it is but she simply asked, "What about the economic crisis in America?"
yikes...where to begin...
yikes...where to begin...
Friday, October 10, 2008
Hong Kong: Part 3 of 3
Day 6) Saturday was supposed to be very relaxing since Shawn would be taking his test the next day. Pretty early we got on a bus towards "Central" (The main island that is Hong Kong). We stopped at this amazing nunnery. Chinese architecture and their little bonsi style trees are always awesome to me. From the nunnery we could see this brilliant orange bridge in a park that was fairly close to where we were. Naturally we went there next. The landscaping was with the little trees and the carefully tiled rocks... just cool stuff. I also met some people from Iowa. The one guy owned a company in Chaska. Eventually we made our way down to take the famous "Star Ferry" across to Hong Kong Island ("Central"). We had some pretty decent tacos for lunch. There are only 2 mexican places in all of Hong Kong, because Chinese people really don't like Mexican food... which baffles me. Finally we reached our main and intended destination, the "Sothebey's Auction" at the exhibition center. We walked through hundreds of Chinese Contemporary painting that were almost all valued at well over a million dollars. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately we were pretty exhausted by the time we got there anyway, and only spent a few hours there when we could've spent much longer. We got lost on our way out, finally found the bus home, and splurged on a meat lover's pizza from pizza hut. Goodnight.
Day 7) We woke up bright and early to get Shawn to the testing center. We waited with him a while until he could get in the building. Then Carmen and I took a bus over to Asia Lutheran Seminary. I was going to go shopping at the famous "Stanley Market", but instead stayed at ALS and made a "Congratulations" card. I was really anxious for him to get back, so around 2pm I started waiting outside the building, walking back and forth between the train station and ALS. Finally I gave up, but about a half hour later he showed up! He had made a friend and walked to the train station instead of taking a taxi. He said the test could've gone better, could've gone worse, but he seemed to feel pretty good about it. That or he was just relieved to be finished. Then we discovered the Sem pictures of both "Roger Woller" and "J.P. Meyer". We took pictures. I did a little shopping in a nearby market, and then we went to church! It was super encouraging, and we even saw a few old friends! Everyone knew our parents! It was nice to hear a real sermon. Afterward we went to Outback Steakhouse, but I didn't let Shawn get a steak because it wasn't in the budget. Looking back, he had just finished his LSAT and deserved to celebrate. We could have payed Mike back when we see him next month anyway. Sorry Shawn. Next time you can have two.
Day 8) We woke up at 4:30 to leave by 5. We made it through customs and immigration by 6, and were at the airport around 7. When we arrived in Xi'an we had about a 7 hour layover and splurged on the hourly rate hotel. Shawn slept like a rock. I couldn't take the plumbers snaking the drain next door and went out to complain. She offered to move us down the hall, but Shawn was sleeping so well that I decided to just let him. We got up around 5pm, caught a flight at 6pm, and we home in Ningxia by 8.
and THAT is the whole story.
Day 7) We woke up bright and early to get Shawn to the testing center. We waited with him a while until he could get in the building. Then Carmen and I took a bus over to Asia Lutheran Seminary. I was going to go shopping at the famous "Stanley Market", but instead stayed at ALS and made a "Congratulations" card. I was really anxious for him to get back, so around 2pm I started waiting outside the building, walking back and forth between the train station and ALS. Finally I gave up, but about a half hour later he showed up! He had made a friend and walked to the train station instead of taking a taxi. He said the test could've gone better, could've gone worse, but he seemed to feel pretty good about it. That or he was just relieved to be finished. Then we discovered the Sem pictures of both "Roger Woller" and "J.P. Meyer". We took pictures. I did a little shopping in a nearby market, and then we went to church! It was super encouraging, and we even saw a few old friends! Everyone knew our parents! It was nice to hear a real sermon. Afterward we went to Outback Steakhouse, but I didn't let Shawn get a steak because it wasn't in the budget. Looking back, he had just finished his LSAT and deserved to celebrate. We could have payed Mike back when we see him next month anyway. Sorry Shawn. Next time you can have two.
Day 8) We woke up at 4:30 to leave by 5. We made it through customs and immigration by 6, and were at the airport around 7. When we arrived in Xi'an we had about a 7 hour layover and splurged on the hourly rate hotel. Shawn slept like a rock. I couldn't take the plumbers snaking the drain next door and went out to complain. She offered to move us down the hall, but Shawn was sleeping so well that I decided to just let him. We got up around 5pm, caught a flight at 6pm, and we home in Ningxia by 8.
and THAT is the whole story.
Macaroni, Macaroni, Macaroni, Macaroni. Put the Cheese in the Noodles and What Do Ya Get?
That title will seem a bit ridiculous to anyone who doesn't know that song...
Shawn and I decided to bust into our valuable stash of macaroni and cheese last night. (We finally found butter in the underground market).
We were pretty excited about it. We boiled the noodles, and mixed the cheese powder and butter with the milk... the milk. There was something wrong with the milk.
Have you ever tasted "yogurt milk"? It is disgusting, and it turns not only perfectly good, but scarce and precious macaroni and cheese into inedible crap. Gross. I even tried to plug my nose and eat it because it seemed such a waste, but to no avail. We just couldn't do it.
What a waste.
Stupid yogurt milk.
Be warned, taste the milk before you put it in your macaroni.
Shawn and I decided to bust into our valuable stash of macaroni and cheese last night. (We finally found butter in the underground market).
We were pretty excited about it. We boiled the noodles, and mixed the cheese powder and butter with the milk... the milk. There was something wrong with the milk.
Have you ever tasted "yogurt milk"? It is disgusting, and it turns not only perfectly good, but scarce and precious macaroni and cheese into inedible crap. Gross. I even tried to plug my nose and eat it because it seemed such a waste, but to no avail. We just couldn't do it.
What a waste.
Stupid yogurt milk.
Be warned, taste the milk before you put it in your macaroni.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Hong Kong Details: Part 2
Day 3) I woke up early and finished "A Movable Feast" so I could return it to Becca. Then we (Becca and I) went shopping in the Muslim Quarter. I found a set of 4 seasons paintings and I splurged. I talked her down from 800yuan ($115 US) to 270 ($38). She had to go ask her boss if it was okay so that's always a good sign. I was excited. I talked about it so much that Shawn said I was only allowed to talk about the paintings if I scratched his back while doing so. I woke up Shawn around 11:30 and we had a quick lunch and headed to the airport. Since it was actually the Chinese National Day the airport was super relaxed, not busy at all, and our tickets were really cheap! There were hardly any lines for anything and there was coconut milk on the plane! It was delicious. After we got off the plane we crossed the border, went through customs, etc. Then we met up with Carmen (my older sister's high school friend who is awesome and now our friend). She brought us back to her place. We hit up the supermarket and got some sushi and real bread. Then we crashed at her place. Awesome.
Day 4) In the morning Carmen walked us around various parts of Hong Kong and showed us the sights. We saw the incredible skyline of Hong Kong Island and walked the Avenue of the Stars where Shawn waited patiently to have his picture taken with Jacki Chan's hand prints. Of course when we got back none of our students knew who Jacki Chan was. Oh well. We came back to the apartment early so Shawn could take his last practice test. After he was finished we were going to go to the Waterfront Park and then the Nature Reserve (with wild monkeys!) but the Waterfront Part was so gorgeous we just stayed there the whole time instead. It would have been nice to see monkeys, but we weren't sure exactly how to get there anyway. I'm pretty sure we had sushi and bread again that night. This was also when we heard that there was a typhoon a comin'.
Day 5) On Friday morning we got up early and took a bus, then a Ferry over to Cheung Chau Island. It was awesome!! Everything is really expensive in Hong Kong, so when we stopped at one of the island restaurants and had Congee (and local food) we were super excited when it was not only 13 HKD (less than $2), but it was also delicious! We decided to go look for one of the smaller more secluded beaches so there would be as many people, and we ran into a ton of fun stuff on the way! We popped into a few temples, followed a path to what was supposed to be a cave, but just ended up being some cool rocks, climbed some hills that had great views of the island, and finally found a "path" to the beach. We had to climb over a ton of rocks, use a rope to get down from another area, and squeeze through rocks in others. When we got there, though, it was beautiful and there were no other people! We hung out there for a little while. It started to rain on and off. When it was raining a little harder we decided to head back to a different part of the island. Shawn found a really cool lizard near our path, and then we walked by the island cemetery and creamatorium. We went to the big public beach and swam for a while, which was fun and very salty. There were a few ancient rock carvings down one of the paths so we checked those out too. Eventually we made our way back to the ferry and then the bus. Right when we stepped onto the bus it started to rain really hard and didn't stop until well after we got back to Tai Po. It was a good day.
Day 4) In the morning Carmen walked us around various parts of Hong Kong and showed us the sights. We saw the incredible skyline of Hong Kong Island and walked the Avenue of the Stars where Shawn waited patiently to have his picture taken with Jacki Chan's hand prints. Of course when we got back none of our students knew who Jacki Chan was. Oh well. We came back to the apartment early so Shawn could take his last practice test. After he was finished we were going to go to the Waterfront Park and then the Nature Reserve (with wild monkeys!) but the Waterfront Part was so gorgeous we just stayed there the whole time instead. It would have been nice to see monkeys, but we weren't sure exactly how to get there anyway. I'm pretty sure we had sushi and bread again that night. This was also when we heard that there was a typhoon a comin'.
Day 5) On Friday morning we got up early and took a bus, then a Ferry over to Cheung Chau Island. It was awesome!! Everything is really expensive in Hong Kong, so when we stopped at one of the island restaurants and had Congee (and local food) we were super excited when it was not only 13 HKD (less than $2), but it was also delicious! We decided to go look for one of the smaller more secluded beaches so there would be as many people, and we ran into a ton of fun stuff on the way! We popped into a few temples, followed a path to what was supposed to be a cave, but just ended up being some cool rocks, climbed some hills that had great views of the island, and finally found a "path" to the beach. We had to climb over a ton of rocks, use a rope to get down from another area, and squeeze through rocks in others. When we got there, though, it was beautiful and there were no other people! We hung out there for a little while. It started to rain on and off. When it was raining a little harder we decided to head back to a different part of the island. Shawn found a really cool lizard near our path, and then we walked by the island cemetery and creamatorium. We went to the big public beach and swam for a while, which was fun and very salty. There were a few ancient rock carvings down one of the paths so we checked those out too. Eventually we made our way back to the ferry and then the bus. Right when we stepped onto the bus it started to rain really hard and didn't stop until well after we got back to Tai Po. It was a good day.
Hong Kong Details: Part 1 of ?
Day 1) On the eve of the 29th of September Shawn and I began what would be the most horrible train experience of our lives. With 4 people in every 3 person seat and thousands (I say thousands because most of you know I tend to exaggerate) of people standing in the aisles, we began our 16+ hour overnite trian ride to Xi'an. This train actually took longer than it does to get from Minneapolis to Beijing. Usually Shawn and I love the trains, but usually we get the "hard sleepers" and this time we eneded up with hard seats. We were travelling with Becky, Val (the two new FOC teachers) and a group of their medical students. During the ride there was a little girl who had a standing ticket, so I invited her to sit on my lap so she wouldn't have to stand so long. She was a blast except for the fact that she kept hitting Shawn in the face and everywhere, and eventually bit my thumb and drew blood. She did, however, mimic the alphabet with great pronunciation. She got to leave the train around midnight. We did not. There were at least a hundred people in our car with "standing" tickets. We were fairly close to the bathroom which was nice because it meant we only had to crawl over about 20 people to get to the bathroom, but horrible because of the smell. There was a guy sitting on the ground directly in front of the bathroom gnawing on a chicken leg. It was disgusting. Shawn was to take the LSAT in a few days and this was not the way to start it. He did not sleep a wink.
Day 2) That morning we watched as the train that had left from the same station but an hour later passed us. Not encouraging. When we finally did get off the train we went to find the guy who was supposed to have made reservations for all of us. We would have made our own, but we were told they were already made. We literally walked around for hours trying to find a place to stay that the students we were with could afford. Finally Shawn and I left the group and went to our usual hostel and "splurged" for the hefty price of $7 a night. Then, naturally, came the nap. I woke up hours before Shawn did and went walking around the Muslim Quarter. It's fun for me. We had one of the famous Xi'an meals with the whole group (plus Becca who had come from America to visit me the week before and then went to see a friend in Xi'an). I love the mutton in China. Hao Chi. We skipped the fountain show because we'd seen it and Shawn needed to study. I read most of "A Moveable Feast" and decided that I really love non fiction and find it much easier to read than fiction.
Day 2) That morning we watched as the train that had left from the same station but an hour later passed us. Not encouraging. When we finally did get off the train we went to find the guy who was supposed to have made reservations for all of us. We would have made our own, but we were told they were already made. We literally walked around for hours trying to find a place to stay that the students we were with could afford. Finally Shawn and I left the group and went to our usual hostel and "splurged" for the hefty price of $7 a night. Then, naturally, came the nap. I woke up hours before Shawn did and went walking around the Muslim Quarter. It's fun for me. We had one of the famous Xi'an meals with the whole group (plus Becca who had come from America to visit me the week before and then went to see a friend in Xi'an). I love the mutton in China. Hao Chi. We skipped the fountain show because we'd seen it and Shawn needed to study. I read most of "A Moveable Feast" and decided that I really love non fiction and find it much easier to read than fiction.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
New Apartment!
We've officially got a place in Yinchuan now. It's everyone's apartment, but we'll probably end up using it the most. It's got 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It's actually really nice. Of course when we went to go see it Saturday morning we discovered that it had not been touched for 3 years, and whoever left it 3 years ago did not clean. There were still cigarette butts in the ash tray, clothes on the floor, a balled up dish rag that had been left wet in the sink, etc. So, it took the 7 of us a good day to really get everything cleaned.
The funny thing was that we weren't allowed to throw away anything that the "owners" might possibly ever want to come back for. So now in the cupboards there are random clothes, an old computer moniter, about a dozen very dead plants, quite a few other things that no one in their right mind would keep, but we had to.
We cleaned with our Chinese liason, and we were all cringing quite a bit. If Chinese people mop, they don't sweep first. 3 years of China dust was just spread around the whole house with a wet 3 year old mop that was falling apart all over the place. They don't use soap either. Just water. every time someone else would sweep and then mop a floor, he would just walk right over it. There was nothing any of us could do, because he was helping and we appreciated it.
When I was little I used to make my mom coffee in the morning, but I didn't realize you were supposed to change the coffee grounds. I would just turn on the coffee maker and pour in water. So she would pretend to drink a cup of gross day old coffee until I went to school, and then she would make real coffee. She never said anything until I was in High School. Cleaning with him was just like that. That afternoon when he was gone, we got a lot more done.
The funny thing was that we weren't allowed to throw away anything that the "owners" might possibly ever want to come back for. So now in the cupboards there are random clothes, an old computer moniter, about a dozen very dead plants, quite a few other things that no one in their right mind would keep, but we had to.
We cleaned with our Chinese liason, and we were all cringing quite a bit. If Chinese people mop, they don't sweep first. 3 years of China dust was just spread around the whole house with a wet 3 year old mop that was falling apart all over the place. They don't use soap either. Just water. every time someone else would sweep and then mop a floor, he would just walk right over it. There was nothing any of us could do, because he was helping and we appreciated it.
When I was little I used to make my mom coffee in the morning, but I didn't realize you were supposed to change the coffee grounds. I would just turn on the coffee maker and pour in water. So she would pretend to drink a cup of gross day old coffee until I went to school, and then she would make real coffee. She never said anything until I was in High School. Cleaning with him was just like that. That afternoon when he was gone, we got a lot more done.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
A Little Relief
So we sat down with the administrators yesterday and negotiated our "rules". We can now leave when we want, but we always have to sign out and tell them where we're going. We also have to apply 15 days in advance if we ever want to go further than Yinchuan. Better, but still totally lame-o.
We start classes today. Without the freshemn, we're teaching about 14 hours a week on even weeks, but only about 8 on odd weeks. However, in 2 weeks when the freshmen are finished with Military training, our class load will double. Boy, we're really looking forward to that. Hopefully we won't actually be teaching 28 hours on even weeks.
The other Americans coming to Yinchuan are still not here. They should be coming in the middle of next week if all of their passports/visas got worked out.
We start classes today. Without the freshemn, we're teaching about 14 hours a week on even weeks, but only about 8 on odd weeks. However, in 2 weeks when the freshmen are finished with Military training, our class load will double. Boy, we're really looking forward to that. Hopefully we won't actually be teaching 28 hours on even weeks.
The other Americans coming to Yinchuan are still not here. They should be coming in the middle of next week if all of their passports/visas got worked out.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Yikes!!
Our school just informed us that we are now severely restricted on our ability to leave campus. We must always be back on campus by midnight, and we are neevr allowed to spend teh night in Yinchuan. We must always sign in and out when leaving or returning from campus, and must always make sure the secretery knows exactly where we are going at any point in time that we are not on school grounds.
Not cool.
Hopefully this will be taken care of by the end of the week.
Not cool.
Hopefully this will be taken care of by the end of the week.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Getting ready to go back...
Today we did most of the cleaning/packing for China. Soon and very soon.
Our flight leaves on Monday the 25th for China.
I miss our friends and family already.
Our flight leaves on Monday the 25th for China.
I miss our friends and family already.
Friday, June 27, 2008
waiting
Classes are over, our grades are in, our visas are taken care of, and our bags are packed.
Now we play the waiting game...
The waiting game sucks, let's play hungry, hungry hippos!
Now we play the waiting game...
The waiting game sucks, let's play hungry, hungry hippos!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Out of Surgery!
As of about 8pm your time my dad got out of surgery and is good! It will be a long recovery, but there were no complications, and everything went as expected! They did a double bypass, so they took one vein from his chest and one from his left leg. He's still intubated (on a breathing tube), but that should be out in a few hours. I guess recovery is going to be very painful, but the more he moves around and whatnot, the quicker he will heal. He's also got a sheath? in his right leg, and has been on his back since Monday when he had his heart catherterization, but that should come out soon, too, I think.
He'll be in the hospital for another 5-ish days, and then home with 4-6 weeks of just resting, not working.
Wuhoo! Thanks for the prayers!
He'll be in the hospital for another 5-ish days, and then home with 4-6 weeks of just resting, not working.
Wuhoo! Thanks for the prayers!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Double Bypass Surgery...
Yesterday my Dad had an appointment for a heart catheterization and when they got in it was way worse than they expected. They put him on a helicopter and flew him to St. Luke's in Milwaukee immediately. Since he was still in stable condition when they got to St. Luke's they scheduled his open heart surgery for tomorrow at 1.
Keep him in your prayers.
Keep him in your prayers.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
EXACTLY one week...
I don't even know if I can make it.
Shawn did the smart thing and didn't look at any of the Camp Croix pictures that were e-mailed or blogged,(and told me not to look at them) but I couldn't help it. What a mistake. I can't believe we've gone 10 months without seeing any of the kids (or any of you Wollers). I can't believe I have to wait yet ANOTHER week to see them again. I could have cried, and I am NOT a crier.
I'm not usually one to get stressed out, but I've definitely been feeling the effects. I've been having crazy dizzy spells and just general fatigue and weakness. (And I'm CRANKY!) However, all of our bags are completely packed except for a few clothes and the Wii. Our flat is totally cleaned except for the ridiculous amount of sand in Ningxia which leaves our flat looking as if I haven't swept in months about 5 minutes after I've finished. The upside of my stress for Shawn is that he hasn't had to clean or pack a single thing. I've been so intent on keeping myself busy and distracted so he's been able to play video games, learn Chinese Chess, and almost finish season 10 (or 11, 12??) of ER.
We were going to leave for Beijing on Thursday and have 2-3 days to maybe go see the Wall and hit up the Silk Market, but our school "didn't realize" that we had already bought our tickets for America and that they couldn't ask us to stay 2 extra weeks to take care of visas. So, we will get our visas, but we will have to stay in Ningxia until Saturday. Our actual flight out of Beijing leaves the 30th, and we're scheduled to get home on the 30th around 12:40pm. We simply can not wait to be home.
We should be sprinting to the finish here, doing our "work" with a burst of energy, but it will be really tough to not just hide in our flat for a week solid. We've got a few more classes to teach, but we're just watching movies, so our showing up is just a formaility. You should all know that Shawn has a much better attitude than I do right now. I'm working on it.
Point being, we are very much looking forward to seeing ALL of you.
Eric, if I cry and hug you when I get off the plane... don't judge me.
I should go sweep the floor... again.
Shawn did the smart thing and didn't look at any of the Camp Croix pictures that were e-mailed or blogged,(and told me not to look at them) but I couldn't help it. What a mistake. I can't believe we've gone 10 months without seeing any of the kids (or any of you Wollers). I can't believe I have to wait yet ANOTHER week to see them again. I could have cried, and I am NOT a crier.
I'm not usually one to get stressed out, but I've definitely been feeling the effects. I've been having crazy dizzy spells and just general fatigue and weakness. (And I'm CRANKY!) However, all of our bags are completely packed except for a few clothes and the Wii. Our flat is totally cleaned except for the ridiculous amount of sand in Ningxia which leaves our flat looking as if I haven't swept in months about 5 minutes after I've finished. The upside of my stress for Shawn is that he hasn't had to clean or pack a single thing. I've been so intent on keeping myself busy and distracted so he's been able to play video games, learn Chinese Chess, and almost finish season 10 (or 11, 12??) of ER.
We were going to leave for Beijing on Thursday and have 2-3 days to maybe go see the Wall and hit up the Silk Market, but our school "didn't realize" that we had already bought our tickets for America and that they couldn't ask us to stay 2 extra weeks to take care of visas. So, we will get our visas, but we will have to stay in Ningxia until Saturday. Our actual flight out of Beijing leaves the 30th, and we're scheduled to get home on the 30th around 12:40pm. We simply can not wait to be home.
We should be sprinting to the finish here, doing our "work" with a burst of energy, but it will be really tough to not just hide in our flat for a week solid. We've got a few more classes to teach, but we're just watching movies, so our showing up is just a formaility. You should all know that Shawn has a much better attitude than I do right now. I'm working on it.
Point being, we are very much looking forward to seeing ALL of you.
Eric, if I cry and hug you when I get off the plane... don't judge me.
I should go sweep the floor... again.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Idioms...
I gave my English Majors a list of idioms and their definitions. They each had a partner and had to write a dialogue showing that they could appropriately use one of the idioms. I just wanted to share this one with you (exactly as written and performed):
V: How beautiful your leg! Ha Ha!
N: Don't pull my leg
V: Oh. So sorry. What's wrong with your leg.
N: Nothing! Nothing! It's good.
V: Really? Let me have a try! Baby!
N: Oh, no! No!
V: Wow. Your leg is fall!
N: (cry) You hurt my heart!
V: (run)! See you!
V: How beautiful your leg! Ha Ha!
N: Don't pull my leg
V: Oh. So sorry. What's wrong with your leg.
N: Nothing! Nothing! It's good.
V: Really? Let me have a try! Baby!
N: Oh, no! No!
V: Wow. Your leg is fall!
N: (cry) You hurt my heart!
V: (run)! See you!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Google Earth
For the Google Earth users out there I have finally found the location of our apartment/school.
Our coordinates are:
Latitude: 38°14'49.37"N
Longitude:106°13'33.31"E
Eric, I know you asked for this months ago but as you can see there really aren't a whole lot of landmarks around by which to find the school. Believe me I tried. It wasn't till I got more familiar with the area and the roads in particular that I was able to locate it.
The picture is a bit old, there are a few more buildings and the athletic field in the center of campus is artificial turf now and therefore always green. Everything surrounding the campus is pretty much the still the same though: fields and small brick huts(for lack of a better word).
The small town just north is actually YongNing. I think it has been mislabeled. You can also see how far away we are from Yinchuan (i.e. civilization, any other foreigners, KFC)
So there, we aren't quite off the map. You just need to know where to look.
On another note, blog spot has been working for us for almost a week now but I don't want to say anything and jinx it.
Only about 18 more days till we come home. Have food ready.
Our coordinates are:
Latitude: 38°14'49.37"N
Longitude:106°13'33.31"E
Eric, I know you asked for this months ago but as you can see there really aren't a whole lot of landmarks around by which to find the school. Believe me I tried. It wasn't till I got more familiar with the area and the roads in particular that I was able to locate it.
The picture is a bit old, there are a few more buildings and the athletic field in the center of campus is artificial turf now and therefore always green. Everything surrounding the campus is pretty much the still the same though: fields and small brick huts(for lack of a better word).
The small town just north is actually YongNing. I think it has been mislabeled. You can also see how far away we are from Yinchuan (i.e. civilization, any other foreigners, KFC)
So there, we aren't quite off the map. You just need to know where to look.
On another note, blog spot has been working for us for almost a week now but I don't want to say anything and jinx it.
Only about 18 more days till we come home. Have food ready.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
The Legal Drinking Age is 3
Last week Shawn told his students that in America the legal drinking age is 21. He asked them the legal drinking age and they said "3".
A few months ago I met a woman on the bus and a gave her our phone number. A few weeks ago (about 6 months after I met her) she gave me a call and wanted to meet me. So, I met the woman and she invited Shawn and I to dinner with her, her mother and sister.
Last night we went to dinner, expecting a very long and semi-painful night considering her English is absolutely terrible and our Chinese is worse. However, it turned out to be a lot of fun. They were all really sweet, and her mother especially was incredibly enthusiastic about our being there.
Her 3 year old nephew was there and when dinner started they gave Shawn a beer and then opened another one for this little kid, and poured it in his little cup. The kid drank an entire can of beer. Every few minutes he would stand up and go around the table "Gambe, mama", "Gambe Ayi" "Gambe Nai nai" etc. "Gambe" is the equivalent of "Cheers" and he would hit his glass to theirs and drink. If someone he had toasted didn't drink (since he did it so often) he would say "He! He!!"(drink, drink) until they did. After a few rounds he was accidentally knocking things over when he stood up to "Gambe" everyone and the mother of the child laughed a little and said, "My son is very happy."
Keep in mind that the beer has a very low alcohol content. Also, they did cut him off after one.
Now we know, the legal drinking age in China really is 3.
A few months ago I met a woman on the bus and a gave her our phone number. A few weeks ago (about 6 months after I met her) she gave me a call and wanted to meet me. So, I met the woman and she invited Shawn and I to dinner with her, her mother and sister.
Last night we went to dinner, expecting a very long and semi-painful night considering her English is absolutely terrible and our Chinese is worse. However, it turned out to be a lot of fun. They were all really sweet, and her mother especially was incredibly enthusiastic about our being there.
Her 3 year old nephew was there and when dinner started they gave Shawn a beer and then opened another one for this little kid, and poured it in his little cup. The kid drank an entire can of beer. Every few minutes he would stand up and go around the table "Gambe, mama", "Gambe Ayi" "Gambe Nai nai" etc. "Gambe" is the equivalent of "Cheers" and he would hit his glass to theirs and drink. If someone he had toasted didn't drink (since he did it so often) he would say "He! He!!"(drink, drink) until they did. After a few rounds he was accidentally knocking things over when he stood up to "Gambe" everyone and the mother of the child laughed a little and said, "My son is very happy."
Keep in mind that the beer has a very low alcohol content. Also, they did cut him off after one.
Now we know, the legal drinking age in China really is 3.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Modeling... with our translator Vivian
My darling husband
All the female models
The crowd that gathered in Long De just to see foreigners
During the 3 days of mourning for the earthquake victims in China some of us wore yellow strips of cloth around our wrists for the 3 days and on the 3rd tied them to these trees.Hey, it's working!
Kids running away from Shawn in Long De
Ladies and Gentlemen, the split pants...
Some lake... this is what we look like now that we've been in China so long.
"Hallelujah" was the only English word she knew
Another modeling picture, since I never actually put any up...
I'm trying to post some pictures of our recent adventures, but there's no telling if that will work or not.
We're at 23 days till we come home... and counting.
I sent out an e-mail this morning of everything we've been up to lately, and yet I still feel obligated to blog because it's actually working. Well, enjoy the pictures...
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Let the Sarcastic Comments Begin...
You have no idea how hesitant I am to actually blog this story. Dave, please stop reading here.
About a week ago a friend of mine in Yinchuan called me and said that some model agency wanted to meet all the foreign women in Yinchuan and choose 2 to model jewelery for 1000 yuan. Since Shawn and I are considering purchasing a motorbike I decided, why not? We could use the money if this all works out.
So, I went with some other foreign women to go meet this model agency. We didn't know what was going to happen really, but long story short he chose my friend and me.
The next day the model agency decided they wanted me for a different gig on the same day, but instead of just me, they wanted a couple for a wedding photography advertisement show... so both Shawn and I were going to be models in Inner Mongolia for a few days.
They ended up canceling the other jewelery show, so my friend kind of got the shaft on that. Considering how everything was going and how they kept canceling and rejecting people, we really didn't think it would happen.
It did happen.
On Wednesday afternoon Shawn and I got in the model agency's company car with tinted windows and drove to Inner Mongolia. There we checked into our hotel rooms and went to meet the boss of the company who was putting on the show. At this point we discovered that we were being introduced as professional American models, and were under no circumstances to let on that we were just teachers. Somehow, the guy bought it, and we were in.
That night they taught us how to walk down the runway, turn, and all that.
The next morning we woke up at 6am to go get made up. Apparently we were the "main point" of the show, so... that was interesting. We had to wear 4 different outfits and do the catwalk stint about 7 or 8 times, and then got paid. The entire morning was actually quite humiliating, but the mood lightened as the afternoon went on and we discovered that the boss of the wedding photograph company was just a jerk and was upset with the scheduling and performance order, not us.
It was originally going to be 2 or 3 days, but he didn't want to pay us any more (typical China) so our "agent" told him we'd only do the next day or 2 if he paid us for each day. We were under the understanding that we were getting 500 yuan per person per day, but only ended up getting 500 yuan total. We did get free meals, a free trip, put up in a hotel, and got to see the Wu Hai sight (there was only one).
So, after 10 hours of being "professional international models" we went to the only tourist attraction within an hour. We rode the super long zip line in the desert, and also drove a 4-wheeler around in the desert. Shawn let me drive because he could tell I really wanted to, but I had only ever driven automatic 4-wheelers, so the guy kept getting mad at me for being such a horrible driver.
We got back to Yinchuan about 11:30 Thursday night.
And that's about the gist of it. Pictures coming soon.
About a week ago a friend of mine in Yinchuan called me and said that some model agency wanted to meet all the foreign women in Yinchuan and choose 2 to model jewelery for 1000 yuan. Since Shawn and I are considering purchasing a motorbike I decided, why not? We could use the money if this all works out.
So, I went with some other foreign women to go meet this model agency. We didn't know what was going to happen really, but long story short he chose my friend and me.
The next day the model agency decided they wanted me for a different gig on the same day, but instead of just me, they wanted a couple for a wedding photography advertisement show... so both Shawn and I were going to be models in Inner Mongolia for a few days.
They ended up canceling the other jewelery show, so my friend kind of got the shaft on that. Considering how everything was going and how they kept canceling and rejecting people, we really didn't think it would happen.
It did happen.
On Wednesday afternoon Shawn and I got in the model agency's company car with tinted windows and drove to Inner Mongolia. There we checked into our hotel rooms and went to meet the boss of the company who was putting on the show. At this point we discovered that we were being introduced as professional American models, and were under no circumstances to let on that we were just teachers. Somehow, the guy bought it, and we were in.
That night they taught us how to walk down the runway, turn, and all that.
The next morning we woke up at 6am to go get made up. Apparently we were the "main point" of the show, so... that was interesting. We had to wear 4 different outfits and do the catwalk stint about 7 or 8 times, and then got paid. The entire morning was actually quite humiliating, but the mood lightened as the afternoon went on and we discovered that the boss of the wedding photograph company was just a jerk and was upset with the scheduling and performance order, not us.
It was originally going to be 2 or 3 days, but he didn't want to pay us any more (typical China) so our "agent" told him we'd only do the next day or 2 if he paid us for each day. We were under the understanding that we were getting 500 yuan per person per day, but only ended up getting 500 yuan total. We did get free meals, a free trip, put up in a hotel, and got to see the Wu Hai sight (there was only one).
So, after 10 hours of being "professional international models" we went to the only tourist attraction within an hour. We rode the super long zip line in the desert, and also drove a 4-wheeler around in the desert. Shawn let me drive because he could tell I really wanted to, but I had only ever driven automatic 4-wheelers, so the guy kept getting mad at me for being such a horrible driver.
We got back to Yinchuan about 11:30 Thursday night.
And that's about the gist of it. Pictures coming soon.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Whoops...
I do a lot of crazy things in my sleep. I talk a lot. Usually Shawn finds it highly amusing.
Last night in my sleep I punched Shawn in the face. He did not find it amusing.
Last night in my sleep I punched Shawn in the face. He did not find it amusing.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sports Day
In China all of the schools take a few days off at the end of April for Sports Days. Basically it's 3 days (or so) of track and field, volleyball, basketball, swimming, etc.This morning was the opening ceremony (where we held the Olympic Torch).
This afternoon one of our students called us and said she and her classmates needed our help for something. So we went out to the field where we discovered that they wanted us to compete in the 4 x 100 meter relay. There were supposed to be 2 teachers and 2 students on each team, but Shawn and I were the only teachers who ran.
Tomorrow we'll be running the 4 x 400 meter relay which is supposed to be only teachers, but we'll see. I'll also be playing a volleyball game in the afternoon. Awesome.
As you can see these girls are running in jeans, dangly earrings, sweaters, etc.
The jumper is our student Shadow, and the runner in the black t-shirt is our student Disty.
On a side note, the Yong Ning police asked the school for photos of us this afternoon. We have no idea what that's about and probably never will.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Olympic Torch
One of the girls at our school gets to run with the Olympic Torch since she won some 5000 meter race.
So it was at our school today.
About 30 minutes ago Shawn and I held the Olympic Torch. That was pretty cool.
I can't believe I didn't bring my camera.
P.S. You know how we lost the volleball game so I didn't have to play anymore? Well, it turns out the teachers from the other team had cheated by asking someone from a different department to play on their team, and this person was really good. Anyway, we're still in the tournament so I still have to play. Lame.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Congrats Shawn!
Today Shawn's intramural basketball team played for 2nd place against all the P.E. teachers. It was a close game, but they won! P.E. teachers against English, Art, and Music teachers, who knew? Naturally Shawn scored at least half of his team's points!
I participated on the English department's volleyball team. We lost miserably and I was clearly the worst player. It does wonders for the self esteem, really. Fortunately it was an elimination tournament and I never have to play again. Yay!
I participated on the English department's volleyball team. We lost miserably and I was clearly the worst player. It does wonders for the self esteem, really. Fortunately it was an elimination tournament and I never have to play again. Yay!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Our little neighbor...
Yesterday I finally bought a toaster oven. No more microwaved brownies!! Anyway, this morning I was making cookies and I heard a tiny little maybe knock at the door. I opened it and there was no one there. I thought I had been hearing things. A few more times I heard little sounds, but nothing loud enough to constitute a knock, so I ignored them. About an hour later there was another knock (ish), but this time when I opened it up our 2-ish year old neighbor boy was standing by our door with his bottle! It was so cute. Almost right away his grandma popped her head out of the door (they have a barber shop just opposite of our apartment) and came and took him. I gave him a cookie first because he totally made my day! Can 2 year olds have peanut butter cookies?
We see this little boy quite often because he's always playing outside in front of the barber shop, and always sees us when we leave or come home. Our goal has always been for him to wave to us before we wave to him. Just a few days ago he started to! We were psyched. Apparently once he got to the waving stage he's completely comfortable.
We hope he keeps it up!!
We see this little boy quite often because he's always playing outside in front of the barber shop, and always sees us when we leave or come home. Our goal has always been for him to wave to us before we wave to him. Just a few days ago he started to! We were psyched. Apparently once he got to the waving stage he's completely comfortable.
We hope he keeps it up!!
I hope this works...
Shawn and I had a pretty exciting weekend! We were invited to the International Kite Festival on Saturday, so bright and early Saturday morning we got up to hop a bus out to the desert... which is a great place for an International Festival. Little did we realize we were there to represent America in front of thousands of cameras. We were America's Kite Experts, and we were even interviewed on television as such. It was quite fun actually. A number of our students and the other teachers have already told us they saw us on television. Fortunately when we did actually fly the kites the cameras were not paying attention, because both of our kites snapped and flew away. Go team America!! There was one point in time where we were absolutely swarmed by middle school students (and a few younger kids) begging us to sign their arms, hands, and clothing. It was hilarious. I wish I could've gotten a picture. Equally as delightful, if not more so, was our Friday night experience. We've made a few friends within the Norwegian Peace Corps here in Ningxia and they put together a big charity fundraiser/performance for the blind and deaf students in Ningxia so that they can go to see (and compete?) in the Paralympics in Beijing this summer. They called us and asked if we would judge the performers. We were glad to, and as a result we were again camera-ed to death. The entire auditorium even sang happy birthday to Shawn when he was pulled up on stage. He was the "head judge" and announced the winner and signed and handed over the diploma/awards. I'm just so proud of him. We got to see the blind and deaf kids perform (2 dances and a few songs-- these were not what we judged) and they were amazing. Those performances were far better than any we've seen at our school! It was incredible. We learned yesterday that our liaison, Frank, quit (not just us, but teaching) and won't be at school anymore. We think it has to do with his mother who has been very sick and lives in Xi'an, but we're not sure. We haven't needed him for anything since first semester, so it doesn't really affect us at all. It does, however, severely lower the average English level at the school. Anyone else is decent at best. Should be fun! Shawn and I signed up for the English Department Volleyball team, and if you know anything about how absolutely terrible I am at any sport at all you'll be shocked to know that I'm probably in the top 3 players on the team. Yikes! Shawn is by far the best, of course. He is also playing intramural basketball with what we think are the Music and Art teachers. There's only one other male in the English department, so they have no team. They're brutal to him. He always comes home from playing with new cuts. Thursday nights are still going amazingly! We've had some really good questions being asked. Shawn and I may start trading off teaching the Sunday afternoon class at the church, because he's usually there anyway, and his style of teaching would be more appropriate for the students. We'll see. Our summer calendar is coming together really nicely. If you want to take a peek: http://calendar.yahoo.com/wollersinchina . The only events you'll find are in July and August, and we're not positive about the "Back to China" date, we're just assuming. If you see any problems, please let me know, or if there's anything you want to add.I'm pretty sure that covers anything major going on over here, so keep us updated as to what's going on in the States, and we look forward to seeing you all soon!
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