Buying beer late at night

So, I think my “Southern Charm” wears off on the Chinese folks. Pretty much everyone I meet likes me. Tonight, I wanted to grab some more beers before I called it a night, so, about 22:30 I headed out the front gate to see who I could find still awake. I took my bike down the tiny, bumpy, dirt road, alley untill I saw a light on. Sure enough, a couple is closing up their shop.. mopping the floor, with the pull-down garage down half way shut. Here was my conversation with them

[waiting, won't speak to the woman because I can tell the man will make the decision regardless]
[man finally turns around]
你好。你们有没有啤酒吗?

我要买
几个吗?
六个
[some chinese I couldn't understand. they knew i worked at San Yuan (why else would i be buying beer from them!?)]
[the guy wants to dust off the bottles..]
没事,没事
没事啊。
谢谢,多少钱吗?
十五块钱
好了啊
再见
再见

That’s the basics of buying things in China. However, it’s less about the language, than about the relationship. Chinese are big on relationships. You should treat everyone nicely. If you show respect, you get respect. That is just part of speaking the language. However, it transcends any grammar or sematics that you can learn in a text book. The only way to learn Chinese is to live here, and interact on a daily basis with the people who live here.

Hanging out with Chinese friends

Tonight some of my Chinese friends came over for a bit. Syliva’s friend, Jerry, is visiting, he goes to school in Nanjing. Jerry plays bass in a rock band in Nanjing and we talked about Green Day, Nirvana, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, etc.  Liyilin lives at San Yuan, his mom is a Biology teacher at the High School, and he has lived here for 8 years, since the school was started, and watched the school grow. Liyilin brought his friend, who is really funny.

They came over, and we watched some music DVDs. I showed them The Black Eyed Peas Live in Syndey, Phil Lesh and Friends Live at the Warfield in San Franciso, and Sylvia’s “brother” brought a video of three world-famous guitarists Live in Denver at the Fillmore.

We talked about “Chinglesh”, Japanese “AV” girls (pornography industry),  a popular Chinese female actor who they called “A Real Man”, and a DongBei (North East) famous dance which they acted out.

We dranks some beers, not many because the Chinese have a strong tolerance to alcohol, ate Chips-A-hoy, ate peanuts, and generally just hung out. It’s cool hanging out with foreigners, in a foreign country!

Later in the evening, I went to Sylvia’s apartment and she cooked me pasta with homemade sauce that she made. Of course the pasta was authentic, and so was the Kraft parmasean cheese. It was her first time making the sauce, and it was damn good! Also, she heated up some beef soup that her mom had made… I swear it was the tastiest thing I’ve tasted since being in China. Jerry and I played bass and talked more about Green Day.

Here are some pictures of my friends

Getting Ready

Liyilin and Sylvia, and our friend

Showing off

Showing off

typical

Jerry looking on

OMG

Sylvia OMG

just chillin

just chillin

funny

funny

The Exchange Rate and Chinese ramen noodles

Here is a little bit about the chinese yuan exchange rate. I don’t get paid for 3 days. I have around 70 yuan, which is really close to ten dollars. This money could easily last me for 3-4 days here in China. I can buy a half-kilo of rice for about 3 yuan, some broccli for 4 yuan, some other veggies for3 yuan and some eggs for 2 yuan and peanuts for 3 yuan and two 580ml  beers for 5 yuan. That’s 20yuan, and easily enough food for (at least) me for two days. I would buy two packs of instant noodles, and a few more beers, thats another 7 yuan… no problem.

Now, what’s ten dollars looking like in America. Well, no beers for sure. Maybe some ramen noodles, but I haven’t yet mentioned the quality of Chinese noodles. Basically, Chinese ramen makes US ramen look like dirt. Chinese ramen noodles comes with THREE packets instead of just one packet of salt/garlic in the US noodles. The Chinese have a meet-based paste, some dried veggies, and either powder or soy sauce. Some noodles even have a fourth packet with peppers or bamboo shoots! Amazing!

So, back to the money thing. Ramen in the US is about 15 cents, which is about 1 yuan in China. Ramen in China is about 2 yuan, so twice the cost of US, but wayyyyy better. Plus,  the beer is only 2.5 yuan, a mere 30 cents! for a huge glass bottle of 580ml. That’s like two beers for 30 cents! I know my friend Sam Spear would like that deal ;-) But the rice is cheap, and GOOD. My rice cooker works like a champ and the veggies are ALWAYS fresh! I got some smoked pork (yes!) the other day, and it has been so tasty. A few hard-boiled eggs with put a great touch on any meal, especially with the rice. And then some Oreos for desert. The Oreos are pricey, 6 yuan for about 10 of them. So, not bad in US terms, about a dollar for a pack.

Did I mention you can buy a whole chicken, or duck, pig, or any animal you want? It seems wrong, like rape, but you can here in China. Not only that, but they will cut the thing up with a huge knife right in front of you, bones and everything, just a huge butcher’s knife on a big piece of wood. The markets here are unbelievable. My favorite? There is a market not to far from here where you can buy snakes! They are more like eels than snakes because they swim in a tank of water, but there are snakes. And the meat that sits out allllll day… you begin to wonder. Or the sausages that are hanging EVERYWHERE (literally in every house, every single house) has sausages they are preparing for the SPRING FESTIVAL.

It’s a big deal here. The Spring Festival is a special time. It is time for community, and family, and friends, and happiness. There are so many people in China.

A Few Films I Recommend

Spirited Away

Howl’s Moving Castle

Kiki’s Delivery Service

Avatar

Winged Creatures

Interception

Babel

Skateboarding

So, we are on vacation right now. The Chinese Lunar New Year is approaching on Februrary 14, which is like the equivilent of the Western world’s Chirstmas. My friend Sam from Britian and I have been skateboarding every day. I brought my skateboard to China and he bought one here. He’s a decent skater, has been for his whole life, and he’s teaching me the ways of a skater.

First, you have to learn the language: Ollie, Shove It, Fakie, Nollie, Frontside Shove It, Switch, Backside Shove It, Fakie 180, Backside 180, Kickflip, Heelflip, Manual, Riding Goofy, Riding Regular, etc. Second, you have to learn the technique. Skating is all about technique: balance, foot placement, and focus. Third, you have to practice. Practice, practice, practice. Every day, practice.

The cool thing about skating is that you actually get better.   There is a Chinese saying that reminds me of this. Every Chinese student knows this. It is posted in all the classrooms, and if you begin to say the phrase, they will chime in. It goes:

好好学习,天天向上
Hao Hao Xue Xi, Tian Tian Xiang Shang
Translation: “Good Good Study, Day Day Up”
My intrepretation: everyday use your mind and be productive.

Skating is about the mental game. You have to be sharp, focused, on point, ready to take risks. You have to be able to trust your body and mind. You have to use your judgement, and think fast. You have to be confident. You have to be cool. You have to be disciplined, and well-trained. You have to be yourself. You have to know yourself. You have to push yourself. You have to be somebody else. You have to wear a helmet. You have to be in shape. You have to exercise. You have to see your skateboard as a tool. You have to know your tool. You have to use the tools you have. You have to respect the tools you have. You have to love being outside. You have to love wasting time. You have to drink water.  You have to keep a mean face. You have to keep a game face. You have to love being a superstar. You have to love being yourself. You have to love what you are doing. You have to love skating.

Peace.

Peanuts

Honestly, I eat a shitload of peanuts everyday. I found out by reading Wikipedia that China is the world’s largest producer of peanuts, and because they are so readily available, cheap, and most importantly, taste familiar, I eat a lot of them each day.. I’d sayon average about 50 peanuts. In China, they come in all sizes and flavors. My friend from Australia said the ones I was eating this past weekend tasted like garlic. I prefer the cheap ones 5 yuan/half-kilo. So about $1.50 for a kilo (big ass bag) of shelled, roasted peanuts. You can buy them anywhere, but I ALWAYS taste one from each bag because like I said they taste different. Sometimes, when I’m eating them, the peanut was cracked open in the ground and I get a big mouthful of dirty instead of a peanut. Now, I’ve learned to be selective by actually looking at the nut before I eat it.

Anyways, peanuts are very nutritious. You should eat more nuts!

Emei Shan Photos and Travel Blog

I went to Emei Shan (Emei Mountain, 峨眉山 ) during the Spring Festival holiday. I had a good feeling for good weather…. needless to say, we arrived on the clearest and most beautiful day!

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Wayne and I took the 19:30PM bus from Chengdu to Emei. We arrived in Emei at night.

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Woke up at 06:30 and took a bus half-way up the mountain. This was the gate to buy tickets. 150元

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After about 1.5 hours, we suddenly broke above the clouds and were surrounded by blue sky in every direction.

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This was the moment of decision we had been waiting for, cloudy or not. Beautiful beyond your wildest dreams.

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Looking straight down!

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Above the clouds!

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Vertical cliff. The birds are flying UP

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A sea of clouds

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A monkey, Don’t fall!

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Icey steps, had to purchase cramp-on spikes for our shoes.

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Close to 2000 meters elevation

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Me standing at a large temple before the trail begins.

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Chris taking a few pictures before we start.

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Wayne took the chairlift (can’t see him here)

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We met Michael along the way

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Ice-covered Path. Be Careful of Slippery.

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Some roosters

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A Buddhist monastery along the way

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Gorgeous woods

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Chris and Michael. Almost there!

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Me and Wayne at the top

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Friends

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We are the best

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Awesome

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Mt. Gongga, the tallest mountain in China

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Me posing for a picture

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Some cool trees

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A Red Panda! Incredible!

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Getting tired

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ME at the top

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A glimpse of the Golden Summit!

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WOW

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Elephant

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On top of the world

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The Golden Summit

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Some cool people from Chongqing

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Buddha

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The Silver Palace

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Amazing View!

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Amazing

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A sea of clouds

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Michael and Chris

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The Golden Summit

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At the top of the world

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Me Excited

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Relaxing for a bit

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Relaxed

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A monastery where the monks pray

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Awesome Elephants

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The view of a temple

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Looking Down on the Mountains

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At Sunset

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Sunset

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Sunset

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Sunset

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Sunset

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Morning

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Sunrise

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Sunrise

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Mission Accomplished. Emei Shan was spectacular.

Friends of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake

I know a woman who runs a popular backpacker’s hostel in Chengdu, Sim’s Hostel. After the quake, because of its convenient location, Sim’s Hostel became a meeting and working place for many of the organizations offering relief to the disaster area. Maki invited me to come visit some friends who live in the disaster area, after I had expressed some interest in the earthquake. I was curious to know more, and since I had never experienced an earthquake, she invited me to go with them one Saturday. You can read about the actual earthquake on wikipedia.org. The town we visited was in Mianyang City, about 2.5 hours from Chengdu via minibus. For the most part, the highways were very clear, it was only when we got into the country that the roads became bumpy and unpredictable.

When we arrived, the family we were visiting had prepared us a large lunch. We spent most of the day outside, lighting fireworks with the kids and staying warm near a fire. I was feeling adventurous and did a little hiking on the terraced hills that had been cultivated to grow all sorts of vegetables. The small village probably only had 500-1000 people and was located in a valley, surrounded on both sides by large mountains, that were generally unhabited, except for the first 500 meters was had been turned into farm land. The soil in the valley was wet, and agriculture was very important.

The houses had almost all been rebuilt. Maki and a few others that went with us had helped them enormously with the rebuilding process. They had stayed in the village and worked there for weeks with the local families. The new houseses were very nice and seemed comfortable. Our host’s house had a tv, stereo, a nice leather furniture and glass coffee table, and tiled floors. Most other houses seemed the same. They had constructed a brick factory for making bricks, because of the demand for bricks. Most of the old houses were wooden with slate roofs, all the new houses were brick with tiled walls and floors. The focus of the village was still farming though. Here are some of the pictures. I would like to learn more about the familiy, personally, and would like to go back some time.

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Mountain terrain

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Hill side temples

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An old bridge

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Rubble

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A warm welcome

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Looking at pictures

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Daily life

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Family

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这个是鸭子 “Zhege shi yazi” (this is a duck)

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Annie and Old man

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认识你很高兴 “renshi ni hen gaoxing” (it’s very nice to meet you)

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Family

Click to see more pictures. 点击观看更多图片

School Pictures

The school I work for in Chengdu is called SanYuan WaiGuoYu XueXiao (三原外国语学校) which means SanYuan Foreign Languages School. It is located in a ’suburb’ of Chengdu city(成都市)called XinDu Qu (新都区). The school has Primary, Middle, and High School and is very famous and many kids from Sichuan come here. It is a private school, and the students stay in dorms on campus. From my understanding of college education, the dorms are probably bunkbeds with about 8 students per room with a sink and area to hang their clothes. The girls and boys dorimtorys are strictly seperated. There is a school cafeteria that is between the primary and middle/high school campus. The students will eat all their meals there, and spend the rest of the day in the classrooms. They have a 2 hour lunch/nap break at noon. Sometimes they will be in class untill 22:00. Here are just a few pictures I have taken recently of the school. 

Primary school, where I work. I teach on the 3rd and 4th floors

Primary School. I teach on the 3rd on 4th floors, almost every classroom

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On top of my apartment building, can dry your clothes or plant vegetables

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A view of the construction accross the river from us

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The road our school is on, about a 10 minute walk

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The view from my apartment

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Cafeteria ahead, middle/high school dorms on the right

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Dorms on the right, Middle/high school classrooms ahead

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Bridge, reflection

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Big leaves on a tree

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San Yuan

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Wayne, Anna, Bob, Me (Anna is Bob’s wife, she is chinese)

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Wayne, Anna, Bob, Me (Wayne is 59, Anna 40 something, Bob 63, Me 24

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The back side of our building, teacher’s apartments

“SARS” Xiaotangshan Hospital Site (“非典”时的小汤山医院遗址)

Someone sent me this link in a Chinese QQ chat room about photography. This area is in Beijing. Use Google Toolbar to translate.  http://yangyunzhong.blshe.com/post/5646/384331