Summer Vacation '09, Part One

After a long & arduous school year we returned state side for six weeks of R&R. As this is being written we are about half way through what has been a very busy & somewhat taxing summer vacation. Still it has been good in so many other ways.

On the 14th of June we took the Shekou ferry to the Hong Kong International Airport. Even with the concern of swine flu the trip to the airport was so smooth. On the way we traveled in with a couple of teacher friends & made our good-byes once we arrived to the terminal. The 12 plus hours of travel as smooth as can be with one passenger talking our ear off about his guru. We were saved by the dinner that served & ended conversation, a one way conversation. I shut my eyes after dinner to practice my own form of yoga, even though it was not very comfortable.

June 14 - 20 - We arrived in SF and went to stay with Eileen’s sister, Terri, in Modesto. We had a good time with her daughter’s Natalie (11) and Megan (9). We took Megan to FunWorks for her birthday and then we all went to Chucky Cheese for a school fundraiser.…needless to say, our ears are still ringing.

We then spent a couple of days in San Jose with Eileen's other sister & father. We use their address as our home of record & all our mail ends up there. We touch bases with that side of the family then flew to Indiana & visited old friends in the area.

In the Midwest we drove a lot to see friends & extended family in Ohio as well as in Indiana. I can say that it was a good place to come from as the economy has made life there hard. Thankfully, everyone back there is still employed. Most of our time was spent with the Krum family & played w/ our god-daughter. She is talking & walking, cute & very articulate for someone under 3. I also had my health checkup & got a clean bill of health. That was a major relief due to my condition.

Then it was down to Southern California to visit the Andersons & my dad. At the Andersons we caught up with their newest family members (two one year olds) & then took off for my dad’s place. There we went shopping for computer equipment & hooked up the slingbox so we can watch American TV in China, we hope. Also, we loaded up on some clothes.

Now were back up to Northern California to finish out our vacation.

May Day Holiday

May Day Holiday
Hey folks! The last week of April we had a week off from teaching to celebrate a combination of spring break w/ the PRC national holiday called May Day. We went to the nation’s capital and neighboring cities (Beijing & Tianjin). Both places were MARVELOUS! We experienced the best air quality month in 20 years & beat the crowd that came on the 1st of May. We saw the major sights like the Forbidden City, Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, etc. You never see an entirety of any one item or place. Each of them is so large that you cannot see everything at one time. So you take a bite of the Summer Palace, the Drum Tower, or the Olympic venues & move on.

The Summer Palace was Eileen's favorite with all the weeping willow trees around the lake. We also, rode in a bicycle rickshaw around the hutongs (alleyways of old neighborhoods.)


Getting around Beijing is pretty easy if you don’t mind a nasty taxi driver now & then. The subway is efficient & well used. I mean well used as I think I met a million people crowded in each car & that was a slow day! We ate a variety Chinese food by regions, all of them very tasty. It was my first time to have Peking Duck & to be honest not one of my favorites. One afternoon we saw the Legend of Kung Fu Show. Wow! It is a fictional story with kung fu specialists acting out the story with some modern dancers & plenty of smoke & lights. It was ancient marital arts meets Hollywood.

The entire time there was great, but the two most stunning things we saw was a mini-van engulfed in flames on the freeway while we were heading to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. The other one was the leftover of the 60 story Beijing Mandarin Hotel which caught fire in February this year. You should search the net for photos & it will take your breath away. Get this, only one person died.

We had dinner with a friend & his future wife. He is from the States & she is from Mexico. They both have been in Beijing for a number of years & speak the language quite well. They told us many things, but one thing they told us was that China, especially in the big cities, is where things are happening in the world. There is an excitement for the future in this place despite all the difficulties the culture is going through.

Later we took the slick high speed train to Tianjin which is by the coast. It was heavily influenced by the Europeans in the early 19th century. The center of town has many European style buildings that are being renovated into very nice restaurants & shops. Tianjin is the home city of the first Chinese born Olympic gold medal winner, Eric Liddell. His story was made famous in the 1981 Oscar movie of the year, "Chariots of Fire" about himself & Harold Abrahams. Because Mr. Liddell was born in Tianjin, we went to see his home. When we were there I found out that Mr. Liddell proposed to his wife at the Kiessling Restaurant which is over a 100 years old & still in operation. It is a great series of restaurants with a bakery, Russian, German, & French restaurant each one a separate floor. The French restaurant was fabulous where Eileen & I recreated the proposal scene.

We also went to an art museum that had a collection of blown up photographs from a British photographer, Thomson from the 1870's. It was fantastic.

So you can tell we really enjoyed our vacation. Now it is back to work to finish off the school year. It will be a mad dash to the end. There is much more to say but I hope this summer to see most of you to tell you all other details I cannot here. Take care!

The Beggers are Back

It is now March and I've noticed the increase numbers of the "begging community" in our neighborhood. This community is made up of truly poor people asking for handouts to con artists. It is hard to tell the difference. Well, their numbers have greatly increase as the weather has become warmer. They must be like snow birds in the winter and fly south to stay warm. They all have a strategy to hit up expats. They never, in my experience, ask a fellow national. Tonight I was accosted by one of the common strategies. A "mother" with her rather chubby well dressed child in her arms pulls on your arm for money and follows you for quite a distance. I've seen the "community" hang around my Shekou neighborhood because the area where I live (Sea World) is full of expats and the stores, shops, and restaurants that cater to expats. The "community" head for their homes sometime late at night. When I walk to school to set up my classroom, around 7:00am, they are not many around. This is one of number of problems living in this neighborhood. I expect the number of the "community" to grow rather large as the economic downturn is hitting this area rather hard. Til later!

Winter is over...already?

Hey folks! It is still February and it will be 80 degrees Fahrenheit or 27 degrees Celsius today. Last week or so I put away my long sleeve shirts and changed our A/C from heat to cool. In our apartment we have wall mounted A/C-H/C systems that we had to figure out since the controls are written in Chinese. We used the heating system for about 3 weeks when the outside day time temperature was around 18 Celsius (mid 60s) and at night around 12 Celsius (mid 50s). That's it! So it was a quick winter and already the weather is getting muggy! Yuck! I'm not going to like it in a few months when it gets warmer. Also, if it is that bad now what until summer! Whoa! That is the way it is around here. When that time comes, every A/C unit in Shenzhen will be working and this is a conservative guess but that will be about 20 million A/C units. That is A/C units in every home, school, and work place. I'm glad I'm not paying that electric bill! PS let me explain the photo above. The box item on the bottom left is what is outside humming away. The long rectangle box is mounted near the ceiling on the wall inside. The other small item is the remote.

Thailand

Friday 23 – Thursday 29 January

We left Shenzhen airport at 11:30PM and flew into Bangkok airport at 1:15AM. We stayed the night in a great hotel near the airport for $23.00 which included breakfast. In the morning, we hooked up with another couple from the school, Abby Morgan, Ed Dame, and Ed’s mom. We took a personal shuttle van to Koh Chang Island via Oasis Sea World.

At Oasis Sea World we watched a dolphin show for about 45 minutes. Then 3 of us from our group got to swim with the dolphins! (We were late in booking it, and they only had 3 spots left. Tom and Ed’s mom opted out.) We got to pet and kiss 2 types of dolphins, the Chinese White Dolphin and the Irrawaddy Dolphin. If you look at our pictures, you will see how different they are from each other and how they look so unreal! They were so soft and sweet and gentle. (The Irrawaddy’s know how to really squirt you right in the eyes!) It was all natural sea water pumped into the pool. We got to be with them for 1 hour. It was an awesome experience.

We finally got to the island and to our wonderful resort…The Dewa. We felt like we were living the lifestyle of the rich and famous! We were treated like royalty. It was so relaxing and quiet. The room had a deep tub for a nice soaking. The breakfast was included, and it was incredible. They had regular breakfast foods of all sorts, including making your omelet in front of you, cheeses, cold cuts, Thai food, pasta bar, and freshly squeezed Mandarin orange juice. We stuffed ourselves. It was so good for Tom. He actually put on 5 pounds which was one of his goals after losing 10 pounds from being sick in December.

We went to a waterfall, did a Tree Top Adventure ropes course, whereupon I fell on a swing bridge and really bruised up my left ankle….but it was great! I walked the beach every morning and Tom and I together every evening. I had 2 different hour long oil massages on the beach, a facial at the hotel spa, and just quiet time reading on the beach. It was just what I needed. Tom got caught up on a lot of sleep and caught up with stuff he wanted to get prepared for school and our fellowship. We ate at various restaurants around the island and every meal was wonderful. We even ate at a place called “Pirate’s Pub.” It was English, but had a lot of Russian food. We were told that a lot of Russian tourists hang out there in the evenings. I had borsch (beet soup with sour cream) for lunch. It was great! We met a Russian couple on our Tree Top Adventure.

We experienced a lot of neat things that we’ve never done before. One night we had a BBQ dinner right on our beach as the sun was setting. Another night we had a nice seafood dinner at another hotel and then took a boat to see the fireflies light up the trees. That was very romantic! We had a lunch on a glass table that overlooked the ocean and our feet dangled underneath. It was an awesome trip and hard to come back to reality.

School's Chinese New Year Program

Friday 23 – Thursday 29 January

QSI, Shekou had it's annual Chinese New Year Program in which Eileen had a part in a dancing scene with other teachers. Everyone had a lot of fun!

Incredible India

Incredible India
A few years back while we were back in America we met some neat people from Bangalore (or Bangeluru), India. When they returned to their home land, we decided that one day soon we would visit them & their fascinating country. When we found out we were moving to China to teach we planned that this Christmas Break we would fulfill that desire. Now even with the bad news of 26/11 in Mumbai we had everything in hand to go. The most difficult part was getting a visa from the Indian Consulate in Hong Kong. It is a 3 time visit with lots of cash to get a simple tourist visa.
We flew Jet Air, which is a wonderful airline, to Mumbai & transferred to Bangalore. As for Mumbai Airport… it is a difficult mess to get around. You best plan 3 hours between transfers. I, unfortunately, caught one of the nastiest colds ever the day before & was sick as a dog for about 5 days. Shortly after that Eileen got a sever sinus infection. Not the way to spend your vacation days. Well, our friends picked us up at the airport & that was the shot of adrenaline for me. It was so good to see them! The air was cool & crisp as we drove to his parents’ home. It is traditional for families to live together in the same home for awhile from what I gathered. We were warmly greeted & the neighborhoods curiosity. I stayed up for a short while & went to bed. To be honest for the next 4 days I slept & ate. The only thing I remember was wonderful Indian food, which you eat by hand, & sleeping a lot. By Thursday morning I was on the mend & hit the showers for a trip into the city.
Oh, before I go on, our friends live in a very nice area of the city where the property value has sky rocketed. The home is typical of that neighborhood which is comfortable. The way you take a shower in India is either by bucket or a shower head. I used the bucket method & afterwards felt like a new person. Remember I’ve been in bed for 4 day & travelled on one day. The family was so kind to give their western style bathroom for our use & to provide paper products, which is pretty expensive as we found out later. With Eileen now ill we went to one of the many local pharmacies to purchase antibiotics which you can get cheaply & without a prescription. The medicine is western & a trained pharmacist will help you. Now I see why “medical tourism” is big here. Now we’re off to see the sights of the IT capital of India!
Bangalore has 8 million people residing in it. Most of them you can meet on the street any time of the work day as the traffic is amazing in what seems to me chaotic but to them a coordinated dance of anything moving on or near the streets. Many take the public transportation which includes a motor or auto rickshaw. This is a 3 wheeled motorcycle that goes up to 30 MPH & kicks out enough emissions to simulate smoking a pack of cigarettes a minute. Because gas cost over 4 dollars a gallon, diesel is preferred for big trucks or long range vehicles. There is a mix of new & old in Bangalore. What is unique is that just off the major roads you can experience peace with cows, stray dogs, a camel (I kid you not), & people milling about. The number of restaurants equals the number of places to see or things to do, but as I stated earlier I spent most of the time in bed getting over a cold.
We then took an overnight sleeper train to the neighboring state of Kerala, “God’s Own Country.” The train is the primary means for long distance travel for the people & it was packed! We were in the A/C “boggies” or cars which slept 6 to a section with 2 other beds along the walk way. Our friends told us to secure our valuables such as our shoes, purses, etc. which means you sleep with them next to you. The bedding was provided & I was out like a light. It was not the most peaceful rest but this is due to the rocking of the train. I did dream I was in a blender. I found this mode of travel better than flying economy class on a plane as you can lie down, stretch out, & walk.
Kerala is a wonderful state, somewhat like the Big Island of Hawaii with lush coastal regions and mountainous terrain. We spent our time in three cities/towns: Munnar, Thekkady & Palakkad (Palghat). Each place was so different. At Ernakulam (Kochi-the major train station), we woke up from our night journey on the train to drive up to Munnar which is way up in the mountains at least 4,000 feet up! Upon our arrival we purchase motion sickness medicine as all the roads all whine up the steep mountains which makes me car sick. Once there I found the air was so clean & the mountains beautiful. It is an area where tea & coffee is grown in manicured farms for as far as I can see. It was rather chilly at night but this is taken care of by some great Indian cooking at the local restaurant. Also, Vladimir Ilich Lenin is honored in this state as the Communist Party is big here. After spending a couple of days around Munnar it was off to Thekkady.
Thekkady is on a range called the Western Ghats. It is famous for trekking, Periyar tiger Reserve & the elephant rides. It is a drive to get to places so we opted for the elephant ride as riding tigers is dangerous for your health. We did stop by the reserve but the wild life was out to lunch.
We then travelled by car & train to Palakkad to spend time at our friend’s home town & family. They greeted us warmly & on Christmas Day prepared a spread fit for a maharaja or maharani (king/queen). Unfortunately, the time was cut short due to a family tragedy & the family members had to return that night to Bangalore. We return as schedule with the family members having completed the appropriate pooja for the passing of a relative.
We returned to Bangalore to spend the few days left with our friends. We saw their son’s school, spent time with extended family members, & just enjoyed each other’s company. Oh, yes we did our shopping to help the economy but without the gracious presence of our friends, their family & friends India would not have been a complete experience.