Look at all those Nuggets!

Map of Shenzhen. It is so big! And not everything is even pictured here. The red arrow at the top is pointing the direction of where I live. The blue arrow is pointing in the direction of where Jessica and Marie live.


One of my favorite days in China so far. Cliff, Andrew, Ben and I were spending the weekend out in Longgong and Marie and Jessica's place. Andrew unfortunately had to leave on Saturday morning for a school function but the rest of us got to spend the day together. Jess and I woke up at 9 and cooked M&M pancakes for everyone! They have a stove in their apartment which is rare so it was nice to actually cook. Then we headed out for the day. We all went and grabbed supplies and went to a mountain and had a picnic. The mountain wasn't very tall so it was a nice hike up and had lots of paths wrapping around. The trick with China mountains is that 1) everything is paved paths and lots of stairs instead of actual dirt paths 2) the paths are intricate so you go up the mountain and if you deviate from your own path (which of course you always do) then you are lost for an hour or two trying to find the way out. So...we of course got lost and had no idea how to get back down the mountain. You probably are thinking "why didn't you just take a path that was going downhill and it would lead out". Well again, China, half the paths that lead down just eventually start going back up the mountain or lead to a dead end so it is not as easy as that. We started wandering and checking out different paths. Eventually we met up with these other two Chinese families who were in the same predicament as we were. Joining up the larger party now searched together. We came upon three old Chinese women and the families asked if they knew the way out. At this point we were right next to an apartment building but it had a large black fence around it and no way to get through the fence. Well the old women pointed at the fence and seemed to want us to go that way. The families seemed doubtful so the old women decided to prove to us that there was a way out. They quickly climbed over this dirt pile and disappeared around a stand of trees. Not having any better options we all followed. The group ended up walking along the top of an irrigation path right between the forest and the large black fence. A ten minute walk later we all emerged from the forest out onto one of the main roads. The old women seemed proud of themselves (as they should have) and the families were happy to be out. Our group headed for the bus to go back to the apartment. On our way we decided that since it was such a nice day we would go buy kites and try flying them in the local park by the girl's place. Shortly after, Cliff, Jess and I were stringing our newly bought kites together and getting ready to join the crowd of Chinese enjoying the afternoon wind in the park. I was actually able to take off my shoes and experience the grass under my feet (the first time I've gone barefoot out in China so far). Being the only white people in the park we attracted a lot of attention. Any Chinese person or child who spoke any amount of English came up to us at some point to say hi. So we had lots of help to teach us how to correctly get our kite in the air. None of us were very good but it was so much fun trying that it didn't matter. At one point I just stopped, looked around at the sunshine, saw Cliff and Jess running around with their bright yellow kites, and realized that at that moment there was nowhere I would rather be. After kite flying we went out for a family style dinner and then headed home. Jess and I had wanted to bake cookies for everyone (the girls also have a toaster oven) but unfortunately we realized we didn't have any baking soda and that the store didn't carry it. So we were at the grocery store staring up and down the aisles trying to figure out what the hell we could combine to make some sort of dessert. China is really not into sweet stuff the way America is and they don't have ovens so they don't bake. Finally we decided upon China smores. Jess's stove is gas so we had access to a fire. The store had marshmellows which were the same as ours and had chocolate bars (they weren't hershey and were a bit thicker than usual but they worked). Our main problem was graham crackers (which you can't find in China except at the International stores). We ended up purchasing these circular disks that had a layer of chocolate in between two. We hoped that the chocolate would just help add to our concoction. Well, the smores actually turned out pretty well! The disks were a bit harder than graham crackers but they worked. After smores we headed to another apartment and hung out just chatting about life. It was a quality day and I was very happy to be surrounded by good people enjoying the sunny day in China.


Not the best picture. But, we were out at a bar/club in Longgong and I was given a glow in the dark lollipop! I of course had to take a photo of that. This place really liked lasers. At different times throughout the night the staff would get upon the bar and dance. One point a guy got up and performed in a laser show. He had choreographed movements to the times of the lasers so it looked like he was in control of the light. He also had mirrors in his hands and would bend the rays around the room. It was quite impressive. There was also a laser cage (a platform with a pole that had laser bars coming down from the ceiling). It was a fun night and an interesting place.


(Sorry about the blurry picture, I was trying to take it without them noticing) This is where Fuat and I go to play badminton with the other teachers. The lady in the pink is Tracy, she and I try to play together once a week. Sadly I missed out the past few weeks so on the 21st I made sure to make it out to play.


This is now my bus stop. The side walk has been completely demolished (as seen in previous pictures) so I get dropped off directly on the road and have to walk a bit to finally get to my school.


Due to the construction this is the wall I have to climb if I want to walk to the main road or to Xili. It's only a couple feet high but the workers all get a kick out of the white girl pushing herself up and over the barrier.

Me-"If no one volunteers I'll have to pick someone, do I have to pick someone?" Student - "Of course"

Dragon fruit! I had never seen one before coming to China but people said that you can find them in some stores in America. The skin is really soft so you can easily cut the piece in half. Then it works nicely as it's own bowl and you can scoop the fruit right out. The part you eat looks like a dalmatian. It is white with little black spots and tastes very good.


The worker's bikes outside my school. I just loved that they are workers on the go - bringing their supplies with them by bike.


Hong Kong Day 2. To cross from Kowloon to Hong Kong city central you take a ferry. So we woke up, got a ride and spent the day in the heart of HK. After grabbing breakfast we headed up to the Peak - the highest mountain on Hong Kong island. You pay 25 HK Dollars and get to take a tram that goes at practically a 45 degree angle up the mountain. We walked around and grabbed some lunch. We ate at the New York Fries chain restaurant. They serve gourmet french fries. Everything in HK is very westernized so many of the restaurants around were things that we had heard of. Then we took a bus back down the mountain. Hong Kong is home of the longest escalator ride in the world. It is 800 meters long so we figured we had to check that out. It turns out that it is not one complete 800 meter ride but a set of escalators going through the city. So you take one that is of regular size, get off, walk to the next one a couple of meters away and then ride that. This goes on for 10-20 escalators. I don't think it should count as the world's longest escalator since it isn't connected, but it was still a fun ride. You go right through the heart of the city and we found a lot of restaurants and stores that we wouldn't have before. After the ride we went shopping and then to dinner at a burger joint in the mall. We headed home shortly after.


Hong Kong! I finally got there. What was even better was that I went with the same group of people that went to Kunming (minus Greg because he had to tutor). So Ben, Andrew, Marie, Cliff, Jess and I set off on Friday after Chinese class to head to Kowloon. We hadn't made reservations for a hostel so first thing was to find a place to stay. We got two rooms in this semi-shady building but it was only 65 HK Dollars so it was worth it. The Hong Kong Dollar is worth a little less than a kuai, so it's about 7 HK Dollars to 1 US Dollar. After we found the place we met up with Elise (a friend of Marie's that was visiting) and Ryan (one of my best friend's friend from college who lives in HK and I had met a few times before). We all went out to dinner at an Indian place and had a great meal. Hong Kong is definitely on the expensive side so dinner was 100 HK dollars a piece. Then we were planning on going to a bar but ended up seeking shelter under a archway with doric columns (thank you Andrew) when it started raining. We spent a number of hours there just sitting on the steps and talking about life.

You're such a Poed

My office!


This building has been my savior many times. It is on the corner of the street my school is on. It is big, bright and you can't miss it. So if I'm on a new bus and have no idea where I'm going or where I am, just keeping a lookout for the winking face does the trick.


Still collecting bottle caps in China! And no...I did not drink all of these - my friends have figured out about my collection and help me when we go out


Everyday the entire school goes out and does warm up exercises in the morning. This is to wake them up so they are ready for another 12 hours of school.

This is the sight right outside of my school. The entire sidewalk from my school to the end of the street is being completely torn up. When I walk into Xili I literally have to climb over a short wall to be able to keep moving forward. Supposedly they are building a parent driveway to help with traffic flow.

I was so proud this night! Not only did I take a motorcycle taxi home but I said a complete Chinese sentence to the driver and he understood me. I said "Wo yao qu di er gao ji zhong xua" - I want to go to 2nd Senior High School (my school). Even better the ride was only 5 kuai and he had an umbrella overhang so the fact that it was raining didn't bother us.

Dongmen! Ben took us to this Italian restaurant that was to die for. It was decently cheap and had spaghetti, pizza and garlic bread!! In this picture you can see all of the lanterns up. They were strewn across the city for National Day. Also, you can see how much Ben looms over all the Chinese. He's 6'7" and stands out everywhere.

The adventure of a lifetime

Warning: The below couple posts are on the verge of never ending. But as Cliff pointed out to me, blogs are supposed to be your unedited thoughts of what is going on in life. And as Jess said, this blog is as much for me to look back on after I leave China as it is to keep people up to date on life in a foreign country. I didn’t want to forget anything, so…eleven pages in Word later I have fully recounted my trip through Yunnan with six other amazing people.

The adventure (not vacation) that seven crazy people decided to take:

Shenzhen > Guangzhou > Kunming > Lijiang > Qiaotou > Sean’s Guesthouse and then back – Kunming, Lijiang and Qiaotou are in the Yunnan Province of China

Yunnan Province: On the south western edge of China, home of the Naxi people and largely connected with the Tibetan heritage. Kunming is the capital and in the center of the region.

The following retelling of the 2010 Tiger Leaping Gorge excursion will never give justice to all that we experienced through those eight days. I will do my best to recreate the majestic mountains, the china rage that came and went, the breath taking views, the excruciating hikes, and the crazy happenings that led our group through western China.

Roster: Me, Jessica Shewan, Marie Sweetman, Andrew Wanko, Greg Harper, Cliff Burke, Ben Engelbach

The journey:

Our trip started off with a bad sign. The only way the expedition could work out was if we all left on Thursday, September 30^th which was the day before vacation started so we were all teaching then as well. Andrew finished teaching the earliest so he was given money to get tickets for the 7pm train from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, about an hour ride. The tickets were sold out. Luckily he was able to get the 630pm train instead. Jess and Marie were the farthest away from the station so we were all worried they wouldn’t make it. Fortunately one of the teachers at their school had a car and offered them a ride to the bus station cutting their travel time down considerably. Everyone arrived well before 630 and our first hiccup was averted. It turned out that the earlier train was a blessing because our long distance train that we were connecting with from Guangzhou to Kunming was leaving at 9:09pm. Arriving in Guangzhou a half hour earlier than planned gave us time to get dinner and relax for a moment.

After our arrival in Guangzhou, we found some KFC, got seats in the waiting room and joked around for a while. Greg and I were chatting when all of a sudden he turned to me and informed me it was 9:01pm and asked if we should be boarding soon (Jess and I planned the whole trip so we were supposed to have answers to questions like that). I told him I’d go check it out. Standing up, I looked up to the big board of trains people were waiting for. Where ours had been listed, now was a different train number. Dread set in and I rushed to a random Chinese couple and showed them my ticket. They looked at the same board I had and shook their head no. A janitor saw that I was in a panic and called me over. He saw my ticket and his eyes grew wide as he started shouting in Chinese and pointing down the hallway quickly. I scrambled back to my group threw on my backpack and shouted “Run!! We need to go!!!” We all jetted back around the corner the janitor was pointing at. The first security guard we came upon looked at our tickets and shook his head saying the train had left. Not taking that for an answer we ran to the ticket taker who glanced at our tickets and started shouting “Yi lu! Yi lu!”(First floor! First floor!). Turning around we dashed for the escalator not stopping to think. The guys in the group were flinging themselves off the last half of the steps trying to gain as many precious seconds as possible. Reaching the first floor ticket taker the worker said we were in the right place and started laughing at the panic on our faces. He pushed us through and shouted to head down the hallway. We all were running the fastest we had ever run in our lives hoping beyond hope that we were not too late. We skidded around a corner and found ourselves at the bottom of two flights of stairs. Without breathing we jumped up the steps – I literally thought my heart might explode. The train was still there!! We pushed ourselves through the first open door we could find and almost collapsed on the floor. As we started walking down the first train car hallway the engine started chugging and the train pulled away from the station. If we had been 10 to 15 seconds later we would have missed our train. Goodness, the excitement that not knowing the language and being an idiot creates. Also the blessing of being a white person – we showed no one our passports or really our tickets, they just assumed we were innocent, stupid little foreigners.

The train from Guangzhou to Kunming was 26 hours long. We had seven sleeper seats (beds) and luckily five of them were in the same compartment so we had plenty of space to sit and play games. We, the meiguoren (Americans), took over the space and all the Chinese stared and wanted to talk to us when they weren’t annoyed with us for being loud. There were two kids in a compartment down the hallway who ended up attaching themselves to our group. One was a middle schooler and knew a bit of English. Her cousin, FeiFei, was four and the cutest little girl. We were having fun playing cards with her and she ended up loving taking pictures so Andrew and I were trading time of letting her hold our cameras and snap random shots. She had a weird obsession with feet so I think we both ended up with about 20 photos of people’s shoes and socks. Before we knew it we had arrived in Kunming at about 1130pm on October 1^st.