Just wanted to point out a few of the links to the right------->
I have added a picture album of all of the pictures we've taken here so far. There aren't many and they're not very informative but it's something to look at! Our pre-China/post-marriage pictures are also up if you haven't seen those already.
Also, the Will-Excel TESOL blog link is there. That is the program we are doing our training with. They've just started this blog and have been updating it regularly with our class's progress. There are some pictures of us at dinners and classes, so go on over and look at those if you're interested.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Induced snow... only in China
Click on the title for a great story about the wonders of Chinese science.
The end of the article discusses the difficulties that Beijing cab drivers are having driving in the snow, which brings me to a point about Harbin drivers.... they are amazing! It has been snowing a lot in Harbin lately (it's snowing right now!), so most mornings when we go out there is a thin layer of snow on the ground with a thin layer of ice underneath. The same goes for the streets: snow and ice. At every stop light you can witness drivers sliding to a stop, e-brakes pulled, and city buses spinning their wheels trying to get going again. But really, they are quite good at driving on the ice. I suppose because they have come to expect that sinking sensation you get when your car starts to slide and have adapted to ignore that fear and just make it happen.
Of course, by the end of every day the city has sent a sufficient number of work crews out to manually remove the ice and snow from the streets. On our way home from school we normally witness several of these crews chipping away at stubborn patches of ice, usually in the middle of a 4 lane road, with shovels and scrapers and someone nearby with a large broom to sweep it to the curb. And wouldn't you know it, they're all out there the next day doing it again. As you can see, China has solved two problems in one go: 1. They have created job security for hundreds of folks and 2. They have saved the city money because Harbin doesn't need to buy snow equipment and salt.
The end of the article discusses the difficulties that Beijing cab drivers are having driving in the snow, which brings me to a point about Harbin drivers.... they are amazing! It has been snowing a lot in Harbin lately (it's snowing right now!), so most mornings when we go out there is a thin layer of snow on the ground with a thin layer of ice underneath. The same goes for the streets: snow and ice. At every stop light you can witness drivers sliding to a stop, e-brakes pulled, and city buses spinning their wheels trying to get going again. But really, they are quite good at driving on the ice. I suppose because they have come to expect that sinking sensation you get when your car starts to slide and have adapted to ignore that fear and just make it happen.
Of course, by the end of every day the city has sent a sufficient number of work crews out to manually remove the ice and snow from the streets. On our way home from school we normally witness several of these crews chipping away at stubborn patches of ice, usually in the middle of a 4 lane road, with shovels and scrapers and someone nearby with a large broom to sweep it to the curb. And wouldn't you know it, they're all out there the next day doing it again. As you can see, China has solved two problems in one go: 1. They have created job security for hundreds of folks and 2. They have saved the city money because Harbin doesn't need to buy snow equipment and salt.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Musings
So here are a few things rattling around in my head:
0. Click here for a good story
1. Last week we had a bit of a 'warm spell' wherein temperatures were regularly above freezing at midday. I wore my pea coat and only one pair of socks every day and occasionally I was hot! Well, apparently that was an Indian Summer... Currently it is -8F with a high of 15F tomorrow afternoon (and that is sounding pleasant).
2. Steve and I have a third roomie for this first month. FYI, you should never live, work AND go to school with someone (unless you're married to them). And even then some people would have trouble, but Steve and I actually work together quite well!
3. When the most powerful police man within a hundred miles of your town owns the language school at which you are employed, things happen. Yesterday Steve and I got our one year work visa without saying more than 2 words to the guy with the stamp.
4. Flexibility is a trait that I believe I possess. However, every time I come to China my capacity for adapting and flexing increases tenfold.
5. If you would like to learn another language consider becoming a cab driver. Steve and I took a taxi this weekend and the driver spoke English amazingly well. Impeccable pronunciation, advanced listening skills and a large vocabulary. He did not study at a school. In fact, he just has a set of cards with phrasal translations. He can say things like, "I need a new job. I'm sick of waiting in lines. I'm sick of people asking me for money. My daughter is 16 years old. I like beer. I drank 5 bottles." I'm not sure when he had drunk the five bottles of beer though. Perhaps that could be considered as another job perk...
6. Chinese people pick great English names. I might write a baby naming book called So You Want an Asian English Name. It would include such classics as Thank, Monkey, Candy, Icy, Azure and Hero. And who could forget those ear catching originals, Mechanic and Toenail?
7. The driver that our school employs to drag us around to the various branches of Sunshine Language School (there are 4 branches) thinks my Chinese is great. It's not and he's just being polite, but it's still nice to hear occasionally. Actually, I think he was just shocked that I could speak Chinese since I had ridden around in his van for about a week and a half before I began conversing with him. He gave Steve some sage advice: While you live in Harbin you should not drink [alcohol]. Otherwise, you will begin looking at Chinese women and get a Chinese girlfriend. I think Steve wrote it down somewhere so he wouldn't forget.
8. Some people have asked for our address. I tried to post it here on our blog, but it was unsuccessful. So if you need our address just shoot one of us an e-mail and we'll send it to you.
9. We just got a phone call to let us know that classes aren't starting until noon tomorrow! So Steve and I are NOT going to miss yet another Clemson basketball game! We get to watch it online. Let's hope it's not another Virginia...
10. We love you all. We'll try and take some pictures soon so that we can post them.
0. Click here for a good story
1. Last week we had a bit of a 'warm spell' wherein temperatures were regularly above freezing at midday. I wore my pea coat and only one pair of socks every day and occasionally I was hot! Well, apparently that was an Indian Summer... Currently it is -8F with a high of 15F tomorrow afternoon (and that is sounding pleasant).
2. Steve and I have a third roomie for this first month. FYI, you should never live, work AND go to school with someone (unless you're married to them). And even then some people would have trouble, but Steve and I actually work together quite well!
3. When the most powerful police man within a hundred miles of your town owns the language school at which you are employed, things happen. Yesterday Steve and I got our one year work visa without saying more than 2 words to the guy with the stamp.
4. Flexibility is a trait that I believe I possess. However, every time I come to China my capacity for adapting and flexing increases tenfold.
5. If you would like to learn another language consider becoming a cab driver. Steve and I took a taxi this weekend and the driver spoke English amazingly well. Impeccable pronunciation, advanced listening skills and a large vocabulary. He did not study at a school. In fact, he just has a set of cards with phrasal translations. He can say things like, "I need a new job. I'm sick of waiting in lines. I'm sick of people asking me for money. My daughter is 16 years old. I like beer. I drank 5 bottles." I'm not sure when he had drunk the five bottles of beer though. Perhaps that could be considered as another job perk...
6. Chinese people pick great English names. I might write a baby naming book called So You Want an Asian English Name. It would include such classics as Thank, Monkey, Candy, Icy, Azure and Hero. And who could forget those ear catching originals, Mechanic and Toenail?
7. The driver that our school employs to drag us around to the various branches of Sunshine Language School (there are 4 branches) thinks my Chinese is great. It's not and he's just being polite, but it's still nice to hear occasionally. Actually, I think he was just shocked that I could speak Chinese since I had ridden around in his van for about a week and a half before I began conversing with him. He gave Steve some sage advice: While you live in Harbin you should not drink [alcohol]. Otherwise, you will begin looking at Chinese women and get a Chinese girlfriend. I think Steve wrote it down somewhere so he wouldn't forget.
8. Some people have asked for our address. I tried to post it here on our blog, but it was unsuccessful. So if you need our address just shoot one of us an e-mail and we'll send it to you.
9. We just got a phone call to let us know that classes aren't starting until noon tomorrow! So Steve and I are NOT going to miss yet another Clemson basketball game! We get to watch it online. Let's hope it's not another Virginia...
10. We love you all. We'll try and take some pictures soon so that we can post them.
Friday, February 13, 2009
A Map
For the visual learners among us, here's a link to the Google Map with the little pointer right on our apartment. It doesn't get any more exact than this, folks. Go ahead, take a little Google Maps tour of our area... You might notice there's a few other apartment buildings around ours (note the sarcasm here)- welcome to the land of 1.33 billion people!
I enjoyed finding our apartment on there. If you go up (NNE) the street adjacent to our apartment (on the east side), you'll get to the major/bigger road, Zhong Shan Lu. Hang a left on that, go to the next intersection, and on your right is the building containing one of the branches of the California Sunshine Language School which is where we teach. Almost due east of us on the big road (Zhong Shan) is the supermarket where we shop. If you go up Zhong Shan past our school to the next big road and take a right, continue a bit and on your right is the Dragon Tower that I posted picture of earlier.
I think that's about all the good I can tell you about on the map. Speaking of maps, though, I must tell you about how fantastic the driving is here. Many would come and say it's "insane" or "crazy," but I'm here to preach of the positive qualities of the driving experience. Though many traffic rules are thrown to the wind, everyone gets where they need to go. That's the great thing, you just go where you're going to go, with little regard for much else. The one rule that governs most things is that the first person to a spot is the one who gets right of way. Things like "cutting people off," "turning right in front of people," and "narrowly avoiding collision at all times" are in no way negative here. But the great thing is that everyone keeps moving. It's like one big highly synchronized fusion of transportation. I may seem satirical in this, but I actually really think it's effective.
The other side of this is the game of Frogger you get to play whenever crossing a street. Jaclyn and I have become highly skilled in our short time here. We mustn't be worried that cars will hit us. They're just going to keep moving and expect us to do likewise, often with little margin for error. Everyone trusts that the other will keep moving, and it works out pretty well. We've timed our big intersection that we cross every day and have a great knowledge of which direction all threats will be approaching. The expression "He who hesitates is lost" is our guiding force, though words like "flat" or "severed" might go better in place of "lost." But it is pretty fun.
It has gotten cold again, with highs in the teens or lower for the next while. No big whoop.
I haven't taken any new pictures, so you get more old ones. That's Jaclyn in a McDonalds warming up after a cold tour of the city, and myself in front of my animal, an ox.
Til later....
I enjoyed finding our apartment on there. If you go up (NNE) the street adjacent to our apartment (on the east side), you'll get to the major/bigger road, Zhong Shan Lu. Hang a left on that, go to the next intersection, and on your right is the building containing one of the branches of the California Sunshine Language School which is where we teach. Almost due east of us on the big road (Zhong Shan) is the supermarket where we shop. If you go up Zhong Shan past our school to the next big road and take a right, continue a bit and on your right is the Dragon Tower that I posted picture of earlier.
I think that's about all the good I can tell you about on the map. Speaking of maps, though, I must tell you about how fantastic the driving is here. Many would come and say it's "insane" or "crazy," but I'm here to preach of the positive qualities of the driving experience. Though many traffic rules are thrown to the wind, everyone gets where they need to go. That's the great thing, you just go where you're going to go, with little regard for much else. The one rule that governs most things is that the first person to a spot is the one who gets right of way. Things like "cutting people off," "turning right in front of people," and "narrowly avoiding collision at all times" are in no way negative here. But the great thing is that everyone keeps moving. It's like one big highly synchronized fusion of transportation. I may seem satirical in this, but I actually really think it's effective.
The other side of this is the game of Frogger you get to play whenever crossing a street. Jaclyn and I have become highly skilled in our short time here. We mustn't be worried that cars will hit us. They're just going to keep moving and expect us to do likewise, often with little margin for error. Everyone trusts that the other will keep moving, and it works out pretty well. We've timed our big intersection that we cross every day and have a great knowledge of which direction all threats will be approaching. The expression "He who hesitates is lost" is our guiding force, though words like "flat" or "severed" might go better in place of "lost." But it is pretty fun.
It has gotten cold again, with highs in the teens or lower for the next while. No big whoop.
I haven't taken any new pictures, so you get more old ones. That's Jaclyn in a McDonalds warming up after a cold tour of the city, and myself in front of my animal, an ox.
Til later....
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Happy Birthday!
I just wanted everyone to know that today (or yesterday... dates are really screwy around here) is (was?) my Grandma's birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!
She's a ripe old 35 today, so if you see her wish her well.
We love you Gma *kisses*
She's a ripe old 35 today, so if you see her wish her well.
We love you Gma *kisses*
Monday, February 9, 2009
WWIII
We're now in the 15th hour of the apparently ceaseless shelling/bombing/general exploding of Harbin. It's too early for anyone to have named this event, but let it be known that the IndoHarbinian War of Twenty Ought-Nine has begun. Jaclyn and I have remained hunkered down here in our concrete-walled safehouse save for a brief trip to the triage for some visa-related medical checks. It's been a rough day for sure, and the outlook for the evening remains grim considering the rocket's red glare we continue to see out our windows.
Okay, short story is that the Lantern Festival is today and to the Chineseman, this means an obvious calling to shoot off every firework he could get his hands on. It's amazing the continuity and frequency with which the fireworks have been exploding all day. Add to that the noise of the car alarms, and it really does seem like a warzone here. It's incredible. AND in China one doesn't have to go to a large, open area to shoot off fireworks- in fact, the closer to the buildings the better! As such, we've had a killer view of the fireworks no more than 10 or so yards from our window! It's been pure, unbridled pandemonium today in Harbin. It just can't be harped on enough----- THERE'S BEEN TONS AND TONS OF FIREWORKS SHOT TODAY. ALL DAY. EVERY MINUTE. EVERY SECOND.
Okay, I'm done.
Also, Jaclyn and I had our "medical checks" today, AKA please the Chinese guys in white coats and get your two dozen red stamps so that they'll give you a work visa. We had a blood sample taken and an x-ray (???? of our lungs ??????) [kinda] done, so up goes our chances of cancer and any variety of blood-borne pathogen. Just kidding. We think (Parents stop worrying).
Well, the task before us is sleeping in the warzone. Wish us luck.
Okay, short story is that the Lantern Festival is today and to the Chineseman, this means an obvious calling to shoot off every firework he could get his hands on. It's amazing the continuity and frequency with which the fireworks have been exploding all day. Add to that the noise of the car alarms, and it really does seem like a warzone here. It's incredible. AND in China one doesn't have to go to a large, open area to shoot off fireworks- in fact, the closer to the buildings the better! As such, we've had a killer view of the fireworks no more than 10 or so yards from our window! It's been pure, unbridled pandemonium today in Harbin. It just can't be harped on enough----- THERE'S BEEN TONS AND TONS OF FIREWORKS SHOT TODAY. ALL DAY. EVERY MINUTE. EVERY SECOND.
Okay, I'm done.
Also, Jaclyn and I had our "medical checks" today, AKA please the Chinese guys in white coats and get your two dozen red stamps so that they'll give you a work visa. We had a blood sample taken and an x-ray (???? of our lungs ??????) [kinda] done, so up goes our chances of cancer and any variety of blood-borne pathogen. Just kidding. We think (Parents stop worrying).
Well, the task before us is sleeping in the warzone. Wish us luck.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Shopping
Steve and I just experienced our first bustling Harbin morning! After sleeping in for the first time since we've been here (that felt good!), we got up to go to the store. It is a beautiful day out, and it's exceptionally warm (32 F right now), so Steve finally got to witness some of the China that I'd been missing... street vendors! There were people all along the streets hawking their wares, goods, and foods and just about every Chinese person was out doing their Sunday morning chores.
Actually, just about everyone was in the fruit and vegetable section of the supermarket! So we fought our way through crowds to get bags for our produce, then fought our way through crowds to get our produce, then fought our way through crowds to have our produce weighed and priced, then fought our way through crowds to get the hell out of the fruit and vegetable section! We found everything we had gone to the store for and at the check out a nice college aged boy was our checker. He asked us in Chinese where we were from and Steve said, "What?" So then he asked us in English. He told us that America was a very beautiful city (yes he said city, but it was a very good try and clearly spoken). I asked him in Chinese if he had been there before and he said no. He then welcomed us to China. It was great! Since all of that was going on we barely noticed how much we paid, and then when we got back out to the street Steve said, "All of that just cost us about $12." Here's what we got:
12 pack of pocket sized tissues
1 large bottle of soy sauce
Crushed red peppers
Metal Cooking Spatula
Metal Cooking spoon
Pack of strawberries
2 onions
3 heads of garlic
5 bananas
3 pears
5 oranges
Big bag of rice
5 pack of Ramen
~2 dozen eggs
Life is good.
Actually, just about everyone was in the fruit and vegetable section of the supermarket! So we fought our way through crowds to get bags for our produce, then fought our way through crowds to get our produce, then fought our way through crowds to have our produce weighed and priced, then fought our way through crowds to get the hell out of the fruit and vegetable section! We found everything we had gone to the store for and at the check out a nice college aged boy was our checker. He asked us in Chinese where we were from and Steve said, "What?" So then he asked us in English. He told us that America was a very beautiful city (yes he said city, but it was a very good try and clearly spoken). I asked him in Chinese if he had been there before and he said no. He then welcomed us to China. It was great! Since all of that was going on we barely noticed how much we paid, and then when we got back out to the street Steve said, "All of that just cost us about $12." Here's what we got:
12 pack of pocket sized tissues
1 large bottle of soy sauce
Crushed red peppers
Metal Cooking Spatula
Metal Cooking spoon
Pack of strawberries
2 onions
3 heads of garlic
5 bananas
3 pears
5 oranges
Big bag of rice
5 pack of Ramen
~2 dozen eggs
Life is good.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Teaching today...
So Jaclyn and I are both teaching our first classes today. Yes, we've haven't even been here a week, but that apparently doesn't disqualify us from the opportunity to fill in for a couple of teachers who are on vacation. Jaclyn's currently teaching two classes of primary school children (I guess 7-10 years old), and I'm teaching some older folks (high school and university) later today. After my observations this week, though, I'm not too worried. Jaclyn had very thorough lesson plans (something I don't have quite yet..) and should thus be excellent and relaxed.
Oh!!! A side note- Our neighbor just began playing his/her piano, practicing the same piece he/she's been working on all week! At least it's a pretty good selection and the player is pretty talented. Also, it sounds like a real piano (not a keyboard), which leads me to wonder how in the world they got a piano up to the eighth floor with no elevator. Welcome to China, the land of excessive labor! In every store there's way too many employees wanting to offer you advice, and for every public works project... well, there's another group of people doing something else such as clearing the ice off the sidewalks or anywhere else there's ice (everywhere). 1.3 billion people + we need jobs for everyone = someone doing every job imaginable at any given time!
That was a long side note.
Speaking of the ice, it's all the way up to 32 degrees today! And it's sunny! Yes Darcy, most days are NOT sunny. That day in the pictures and today have been the two. Most days there's smog/clouds (or maybe just smogclouds) blocking our view of the sky. But considering the heat today, a good bit of the "urban permafrost" is melting off.
It's the weekend, so we don't have class until Tuesday, so that's nice. All else we've been doing is eating lots of [Chinese] food. I guess eventually it will just be food, but for now it still feels like Chinese food. We did eat some KFC the other day because we were there and it was dinnertime, and Jaclyn did find some Chocolate Stripe Skippy peanut butter, but it's mostly been Chinese cuisine for us.
I've got to finish my lesson plans for class now. We'll be talking about cars today, so my class will hear about the best piece of automotive machinery in the world, that being the 1992 Honda Accord.
The two pictures are (1) The Dragon Tower, Asia's tallest standing steel tower, complete with a restaurant at the top; and (2) Some Chinese recreation on the frozen river here in Harbin. I did also get a picture of the sleds that come with dogs attached for the lazier people out there, but I won't post it because PETA might shut me down.
zaijian!
Friday, February 6, 2009
For Darcy
I would like Ms. Darcy Coover to know that I just finished eating a Skippy Chocolate Stripe PB sandwich.
That is all.
That is all.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Cold!
So it's a new kind of freezing here. It's unbelievably China cold. It's freeze your face off, punch you in the gut cold. It all makes sense that there are ice sculptures all around the city (see left), because it's just so cold that they sure aren't going anywhere. But everyone says it's going to do nothing but get warmer now! And the high is a tropical 28 degrees. So we're on the up and up. And as Jaclyn said, we had the easiest traveling experience ever. It was just fantastically simple. And now we've been thrust into the fabulous world of learning to teach TESOL.And everything here is just so amazingly "China."
This picture of Jaclyn and I has us in front of an Iwo-Jima-esque monument here in Harbin celebrating their defeat of the floodwaters that used to flood the city. "Yes! We built flood control walls and have conquered mother nature herself!"We've got to go to school now! Down the eight flights of stairs and through the bitter cold, that is. Yeehaw!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
We made it... and we're busy!
So after the most flawless 27 hours of traveling we've ever experienced, Steve and I made it safe and sound to our apartment in Harbin. We settled in for a few hours and then embarked on a short tour of our surrounding area. We were doing pretty well but ended up passing out by about 6:00PM! Of course, we were laying wide awake in bed by about 4:00AM the next morning. Oy, jetlag.
Our internet access was not working until about 5 minutes ago, so I decided I would update first thing to ease any concerns. Not that we've really had time anyway! We have been nonstop in orientation, training, and Mandarin Chinese lessons. Last night we had a great welcome dinner with a lot of the staff from the school where we'll be teaching and yesterday afternoon had a walking and driving tour of the city which was great! It looks like Harbin should be a fun place to explore. Oh, and it is as cold as we were expecting!! We all nearly froze to death walking around the city yesterday, but we're learning to put on way more layers than you think you need. The biggest shock was when they told us we had class(es) to teach this weekend! Steve is out observing a class right now, taking notes, and preparing for his first lesson on Friday or Saturday. I have two classes back to back to teach on Saturday.. intense!
We have 8 others in our program, including people from Australia, New Zealand, England, America, Canada, and South Africa. The guy from South Africa (Shaun) is our roommate for the first month until some of the other teachers move away and there is an open apartment for him. He's hilarious and we're having a lot of fun with him! In fact, all of our classmates are great, which is so nice. Nobody is negative, culturally insensitive, or shy so we have a great dynamic in the training classes.
I'm meeting Steve at the school when he's done observing his class and then we're going shopping. We haven't had time to buy food or anything for our apartment, so we're going to be getting as much as we can carry home of that tonight. Anyway, I'm going to use the rest of my free time right now to organize my stuff a little bit better. Comment on this blog or send an e-mail if you have any questions.
We love you all!!
Our internet access was not working until about 5 minutes ago, so I decided I would update first thing to ease any concerns. Not that we've really had time anyway! We have been nonstop in orientation, training, and Mandarin Chinese lessons. Last night we had a great welcome dinner with a lot of the staff from the school where we'll be teaching and yesterday afternoon had a walking and driving tour of the city which was great! It looks like Harbin should be a fun place to explore. Oh, and it is as cold as we were expecting!! We all nearly froze to death walking around the city yesterday, but we're learning to put on way more layers than you think you need. The biggest shock was when they told us we had class(es) to teach this weekend! Steve is out observing a class right now, taking notes, and preparing for his first lesson on Friday or Saturday. I have two classes back to back to teach on Saturday.. intense!
We have 8 others in our program, including people from Australia, New Zealand, England, America, Canada, and South Africa. The guy from South Africa (Shaun) is our roommate for the first month until some of the other teachers move away and there is an open apartment for him. He's hilarious and we're having a lot of fun with him! In fact, all of our classmates are great, which is so nice. Nobody is negative, culturally insensitive, or shy so we have a great dynamic in the training classes.
I'm meeting Steve at the school when he's done observing his class and then we're going shopping. We haven't had time to buy food or anything for our apartment, so we're going to be getting as much as we can carry home of that tonight. Anyway, I'm going to use the rest of my free time right now to organize my stuff a little bit better. Comment on this blog or send an e-mail if you have any questions.
We love you all!!
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