Tag Archives: TV

New Year 2011

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A new dawn, a new day, a new year!

A new year is upon us and I am ever so glad.  2010 was the worst year ever, starting  last New Year’s eve in the hospital emergency room with Randy, Mom, Ruth Ann and Jeff.  Mom was taken by ambulance from the car dealership where she slipped and fell.  Randy drove her on that icy afternoon to win a car instead she won five dollars. When I walked in the ER, I noticed  Jeff had his arm wrapped in a sling. He had been in a car accident earlier that day.   As he explained some crazy woman ran into his car pretty much totaling it.   The impact popped his driver side air bag which exploded and  burnt his arm.  My day was not much better as I elucidated.  I had asked Kyle to move out after all his shenanigans with alcoholism.  The five of us just looked at each other in amazement and actually laughed in relief that we were all okay.  What a day!

Instead of New Years Resolutions, this is my year of “reverse process.”   This is how I am reversing my need to fix others and just fix me.  My list as follows.

  • Cook whatever I want
  • Wash only my laundry
  • Clean up whenever or just hire a maid
  • Watch TV in bed with popcorn or chocolate
  • Late at night look out my balcony, see the city lights, moon, firecrackers, and smile
  • Ride my bike even in the snow
  • Eat what I like or just eat out every day
  • Maybe exercise or maybe NOT
  • Have a drink on special occasions
  • Enjoy organizing anything at anytime, (art, books, jewelry, closet, kitchen cabinets, DVDS, shoes, bills)
  • Drink fresh fruit juice from my juicer every morning
  • Write a blog
  • Take photos, put in the blog
  • Find Temples. Get a Buddha or 2, or 3 or 4.  Remember there is a “little Buddha” in every one.  Give Buddha’s away!
  • Listen to my self
  • Don’t forget:  Think smart!
  • Continue thinking smart and blog good philosophy
  • Be spiritual, pray and look for the light in everyone
  • When the bad stuff bothers me just put a blazing flame around it and send it away

Let the fixing commence!

Chinese laundry

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October 6, 2010

Looking out the living room window I see a wedding at the 5-star hotel across the street.  It looks like a magnificent event with two or did I see three chefs?  Wish I had a pair of binoculars so I could see what’s happening up close.  Remember the TV show “Friends” and how they always looked out of their New York apartment window and would see the naked guy in the apartment across?  I think I could do that here, looking into thousands of apartment windows and seeing what’s happening.  Or they could be looking at the blonde western girl running around in her apartment in a purple night gown!  Ha which is funnier?  Ok back to the wedding, I hear something in Chinese from loud speakers, are they married yet?  What fun, maybe there will be a firecracker event to follow?  Maybe I can take some photographs.  Hey Alex, I need some help with night exposures and fire crackers.  I remember your wonderful photos last year in HL art class.  Gee I wish you were here to help me with my photography.  This is the fourth wedding party I have seen around the city in the last few days.  I was told it is good luck and good fortune to marry during the week of the National Holiday (remember this is China’s 4th of July!  Well sort of, I don’t they are celebrating independence from Britain.  Maybe it is just a happy week to be Chinese.  I’m happy to be in China and to be living the oriental lifestyle.  Shoot some firecrackers, would you!

Speaking of culture, Patti has been curious about the laundry issue in China, so I am devoting this blog to doing Chinese Laundry.  My little washer is nice, except it is written in Chinese, so I had it deciphered onto a green post-it.  (By the way “post-its” doesn’t exist here; I brought these from the states!)  My laundry detergent smells great and we all know how I like good smells.  The washer is only connected to cold water and I was told to do a warm wash, you boil water and pour it in.  Ok I did that for towels, seems to work.  Then after it is “dry”, that’s what the Chinese say, actually it is the “spin cycle” in America.  It is now ready for the dryer.  Don’t have dryers in China, ok they do but not in my apartment.  I actually haven’t seen one here, but know they do exist.  Where, I don’t know?  So in my case it is a walk upstairs to my master bedroom, open the sliding door and out onto the balcony.  This is where I have a clothes line pulley system.  You turn the lever and down comes one line which I bought a couple little hanger thingies to hang unmentionables on.  Then when this line is full you move the handle to the other lever and roll this pile up in the air and the other line rolls down.  I know what a wooden clothespin is, do you?  I actually bought some at the Suguo!  Cheap ones at that, cause they sprang apart, and I have bits and pieces in my nightstand drawer.  My balcony faces the south, which is good luck.  This side gets all the sun so clothes dry faster.  I like the balcony it is enclosed with glass panels which move and let you open them up and get a nice breeze.  Hanging clothes reminds me of my childhood in Plano when my mom did laundry.  She hung it out on the clothes line and the sheets and towels would get so stiff.  I remember the wind blowing them and me having to hang and bring them in.  I am reminded of hanging Ruth Ann’s diapers one after another.  Mom will recall when I was three I had a “blankie”, she would wash it for me and I would go hold onto it as it hung to dry.  It had a satin border and I recollect how cool it was on my face when I was warm.  Now that is a long time ago, and I still like blankets, as I brought my down comforter in the satin coverlet with me to China.  Still like that cool feeling when it is hot.  Since I don’t have anyone to hang onto, this is a good replacement, soft, cuddly and no emotional attachment.

8 Million and the “Joker”

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October 5, 2010

I was trying to figure out my metal rice box container on rollers located under my kitchen cabinet when Michael called and said meet him at S.I.T (Sculpting in Time) for lunch.  Many of the taxi drivers don’t know where this ex-pat place is so I called Alice to get it said in Chinese.  The last time I had a driver drop me off, I ended up a couple blocks away and was lost.  There are no outstanding landmarks and every place begins to look the same, especially if you can’t read Chinese characters.   This time I was dropped off right in front, need to get Alice to write that out for me in Chinese.  I met up with Michael and he introduced me to Derrick and Annette, a married couple from England.  Derrick and Michael taught together last year.  They have an electric bike to buzz around in and said their drive is 25 minutes from their new place in the “burbs!”  A long way, but they have more western furnishings, like a “UK bouncy” bed and dryer!  The population of the city was a major discussion.  I read it was 2.8 million.  The men said hardly, it was more like 8 million.  In five years it has doubled as people want to be closer to the conveniences of the city and better jobs.  No wonder I think it is so huge, it’s like New York.  Alice and Sawyer joined up for lunch.  Then the three of us took off walking and searching for light bulbs.  We actually found a vendor on the street that had what I needed, so I bought three.  This business of being able to find specialty items in specific places persuades me to buy extra.  I ask for a business card, so I can find his place again.  My wallet if bulging with business cards after living here a month and a half.

Sawyer wants to watch movies so we head back to my place.  He invites a movie editor friend visiting from Beijing.  His name is “Joker” like in the Batman movie.  What is it with strange American names, Chinese people give themselves?  He brought an old Michael Douglas movie, “The Game.”  Joker says it is one of his favorites.  It is an old 90’s movie and edgy.  I wasn’t too excited about the plot.  Afterwards we had a discussion about what Americans watch on TV.  He has a preconceived notion Americans watch old movies, like black and whites from the 40’s up to the 80’s!  He likes “Bonnie and Clyde” and watches it repeatedly.  I am thinking Americans are more interested in new flicks, not old stuff like on the Turner network.   The discussion went to political land accessions of China, such as Taiwan, North Korea and Tibet.  Are these separate countries or Chinese?  Would I be arrested if I wore a “Free Tibet” T-shirt?  Sawyer said, nah, not that many people can read English and would just pass me by on the street!  Now if I was in Tiananmen Square that might be different.  Ok no protesting there!  The conversation over democracy whiffs in the air and we decide China is becoming democratic and maybe the US is becoming socialist!  Are the countries flipping beliefs? Somehow the conversation drifts to an in depth debate about ghosts.  We discuss “The Sixth Sense.’  Joker and I agree it is an intense movie.  He doesn’t believe in God or ghosts!  Oh my, I can debate this issue for hours.  He has no idea what metaphysics or theosophy is so we can’t get to in-depth. I am reminded he just like movies, which is why, he is a movie trailer editor.

I realize without my cell phone, internet or TV I spend much of my time in discussion with people.  I like being connected and not distracted.  I like the cultural education I am getting.

Pondering the past, the gift is the present

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October 1, 2010

I wonder does he ever think about me, worry about my welfare, wish he was here with me, why did he do what he did to cause all this?  I don’t know.  He is so far from me now, in another world and I ponder over these things on occasion.  Do I hear from him?  Some.  It’s just a facade;  he never opens the door, walks in, sits down and talks one to one.  Did he ever really talk to me?  I don’t remember.  It is all a haze now like my morning view of the city.  I see the buildings but I don’t know what they are, like him.  Who was this man beyond the exterior?  I have learned the “one thing” is living your life in the moment.  I am stuck in the past, thinking like this.  It’s over, move on I tell myself, live life today, the present.  Someone said the present is a gift.  Looking out my window I see my gift a vast life to explore.  I see a five story pagoda on a little hill it keeps calling me to come visit.  A tear trickles down my eye.  Today I miss what I didn’t have with you.  It was a beautiful dream which floated away in a cloud.

A hot cup of honeysuckle tea, music drifting from my downstairs stereo with songs about the story of her life sounds like mine.  Alice gave me this CD by Deana Carter.  I enjoy the Sheryl Crow like melody.  It gives me a lift, makes me smile.  Alice and Sawyer will be coming by in an hour.  They are going to help me translate the Chinese characters on my TV remotes.  They are the best adopted Chinese children a mom could ask for.  They take care of me, like Sam, Casey, Randy and Andy do.  They fix things I can’t.  Sawyer gave me a T-shirt yesterday with a guy fishing in a boat with sharks swimming around.  “Big fish?” and “Exploring Unknown Worlds” are printed on it.  Sawyer likes fish, like my boys so this is something he got just for me and in blue, my favorite color.  Love, you find it everywhere, just look.   The gifts of the present and living life in the moment are my treasure.

“Tacos,” a Massage and bad mushrooms!

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“Tacos” is the name of the cafe I walked to yesterday, thinking some Mexican food would be great.  A western name for a more Chinese style cuisine.  Yes I did see an enchilada looking meal on the menu.  I am thinking does this waiter understand me well enough to explain to the chef I am wanting a vegetarian enchilada with a taco?  Probably not!  So I say I am vegetarian and he points to the pizza.  Ok a pizza it is plus garlic bread, lots of carbs.  There is reading material next to the table on a display rack, I check it out and some is in partial English.  I read there are five churches, and ten museums.  There is an article about local westerners not losing weight, cause the food is so good!  Yes, I can agree.  Pizza arrives, and it has corn on it, just like at S.I.T. (Sculpting in Time cafe)  This must a traditional recipe.  Cheese is blah, can’t even tell what kind it is, no Parmesan or mozzarella.  Oh well, it is still tasty.

Then I decide to walk to my fitness center to wear off the carbs.  Nice walk and a beautiful sunny cool day for a change.  I find the massage/spa area and ask if there is time for a massage.  Of course she speaks no English, and I somewhat show her I want a full body massage with hand gestures.  She points to 68 yuan.  Deal!  She hands me this Chinese cotton PJ outfit to put on — ok the top wraps around and ties, can do.  The pants are another thing, they look like a kids size 12 and I didn’t even attempt it.  Hopped on the table with a towel, underwear and Chinese top and in walks this young skinny Chinese male masseur.  Never had a male massage, first time for everything right?  My colleague Peter, had said he got a great massage the other day and it was “legit!”  So we will see!  No oil, and no skin to skin, ah that is why the PJ outfit.  Hope he can handle the no PJ bottom part and he seems ok with it.  He has a small sheet and works my back with his palms till I think every bone has cracked a few times.  Then we does some thumb pressure points and pushes a second time real hard, that can be painfully interesting!  I think he even tried to straighten my bowed legs by bending them entirely the other direction, wow!  Finally he rolls me over and massages the wrinkles off my face and then does the same to my ears and head.  Massage is over, it is legit and a mer ten American dollars for one hour.  I am calm and ready for a nap.  Head back to the hotel and sleep for hours.  Delightful.

Woke up to the TV running and a guy painting with  ink and a bamboo brush.  Wow, I can learn this easy enough.  He shows his mixture for ink and then starts with the bamboo stalk, then the branches and lastly leaves.  It was a great art demo and easy to follow.  I have ink and a ton of bamboo brushes at school, think I will give it a try tomorrow when I am teaching on Saturday.

Then the news showed three sick little children in the hospital, unconsciouses, on air and hooked up to an IV.  Now what is this about?  There is a peasant looking mom, bad teeth and tired eyes speaking.  Then mushrooms show on the screen.  Did she pick bad mushrooms and cook them for these kids?  OMG yes!  The newscaster is on the scene in the woods with her and she shows them the four kinds she picked, a yellow tree fungus, white toadstool , brown and one with polka dots on the inside.  None of these look edible to me…only hallucinogenic.  The scientist on the show, take four white lab rats and make a concoction serum  of each one of the mushrooms and inject into the poor little rats.  The clock ticks away two hours, four hours, ah at six hours we have some unsightly little rats!  There tails and feet are different colors, no longer sweet pink!  And one is spread out on all fours like a pancake, with eyes bugging out, I would say he is “tripping!”  Ah ha the mushroom that is the culprit was the plain white one.  Although the other three they marked with a big X too…….  The story ends happily, kids get treated and are smiling again.  Mom gets a lesson in mushroom picking along those of us who watched the story and the rats had an exciting day tripping in the lab!

I saw a UFO!

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I saw a UFO night before last!  Walking back to the hotel about 9pm looked up and this set of green lights in a semi-circular pattern were flashing on and off.  It was hovering around and then would change the light pattern into a triangle.  I saw the hotel guard and signaled for him to see it.  He agreed “UFO”– universal word, as he spoke no English.  Other people walked up and some showed me on their English/Chinese hand held computer translator they thought it was a kite or a helicopter.  NO way Jose, this is a UFO.  It was higher than the skyscrapers and just floated around, maybe twenty minutes.  I went to my room and tried to photograph it but can’t seem to get the shutter to stay open long enough.  Need to read up on time exposures  in my Nikon book!  Alas no proof, darn!

Woke up to a Chinese cooking TV show this morning.  Ok sauté some garlic, add some chili powder and water, looks like soup we are making, um.  Now the main ingredient oh my gosh it is a fish head!  They sprinkle it with a dark vinegar (No  soy sauce is used here at all!  Surprise, that must be a Japanese custom) and fry it.  Then plop that head in the soup and add some fresh eggplant, tomatoes, green beans with a corn starch thickener.  Ok I am going to pass on cooking or eating this!

Infomercials are here too. I saw one for buying uncirculated Chinese yuan, probably proofs.  Another was a rubber set of breasts with a hole in them to increase your bust size, yet still have nipplies and the last was a Blender-Boiler to make hot soy milk!  My favorite TV show is the Spanish Bull fights translated into Chinese!  I’ve never really seen a bull fight — so this has been a new education, watching the matador get pierced in the leg by a bull’s horn.  He tries to save face and not look like he is dying from severe agony and continues to hobble and coax the bull to ram his cloak.  I think the Chinese like “blood and guts” on TV.  I saw a news show with a child that was backed over by a car and the driver just didn’t see him.  He then proceeded to drive forward, hit him again, open the door jump out then the car rolls back over the kid.  What a mess, I never could figure out if the child survived.  In America we just wouldn’t see all the gory details.

Walking toward the back entrance of the University I meandered by a sweet little pond, with huge red-orange goldfish.  I heard the sweetest melody, someone is singing a Chinese opera song.  I saw a very old gray haired lady just strolling around the pond singing I guess to the fish.  I was transposed and couldn’t move.   She looked up, saw me, smiled and kept on singing.  What a charming moment in time!  Walking on, I come to a tunnel with a ten inch thick cement door.  Ok now what is this?  I walk in and see the  light at the end of the tunnel.  (Spiritually I am looking  to see the light at the end of my tunnel!)  As I walk though, I realize it might have been a bomb shelter, damp, dank, with exposed wires running the length of it for lights and a trench on the sides collecting water and what ever else is wet and smelly.

Leave the tunnel, and hop on a taxi.  Today it is sunny and I notice my cab driver has on a short sleeve T shirt with pull on sleeves he has added that tie at the wrist and upper arm, plus white gloves.  Well this is an interesting fashion statement!  Later I learn that the Chinese want to stay light complexed  and I am wearing a tank top to get what little bit of direct sun I can find to tan. We have the windows down even in the heat, and we drive past men pulling carts with piles of Styrofoam packing pieces, one with used cardboard boxes flattened and tied down, and another with old lumber pieces bouncing around.  All of this looks like trash to me, but may be someones treasures, I don’t know.  I see a biker with twenty or so helium brightly colored balloons, maybe he is going to the hospital down the road.  Another man is walking balancing two large bowlfuls of fruit on ropes with a stick across his neck.  Then out of the blue we stop at a red light and I hear this god-awful coughing up and hocking of a loogie right next to my window.  Seems this is quite accepted and I hear and see this many times a day.  The thing is, don’t step on it when walking!  Another reason to leave your shoes at the door of your home.

Teacher Day and a real home cooked meal

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Friday was Chinese Teacher Day, it is a  special day for teachers, when students call them, give them gifts, cards and flowers to express their appreciation.   I arrived and found a large bouquet of violet tulip like flowers, cards and gifts on my desk from various art students!  What a thrill.  I have a new coffee cup and snow globe now.   Students love telling you to have a nice teacher day, it is on TV and I think it is like a National Holiday.  I like this day.

Alice showed me how to catch a bus, ok not so hard, just lots of people, will have to keep my purse and possessions very close to me.  We took two buses to the University and it dropped us off in a nice shopping district I want to check out later today.   Time for clothes and shoes.  I like shoes, thanks to my mom!   I brought ten pair from my collection of sixty and I am missing some favorites!  Need red ones now!

I gave a call to Sarah, the mom of Filo, one of my art students.  Sarah is the lovely lady that  hooked me up with my apartment.  She was cooking dinner and wanted my company.  Yes, I will be right there.  Hopped on a Taxi and off I went back to the other side of town.  It’s dark now and the town comes alive with lights and it’s misty creating a surreal look about.  Sarah is so excited to see me, off with my shoes and on with house slippers.  I want to see what she is cooking, this is so much fun.  She has a pot of Balsamic rice in the rice cooker, sautéd tomato and fried egg dish and pork meat ball soup with mushrooms,  green chowder peas, and onions (oops forgot to tell her I was vegetarian!)  I watched her cut up some skinny green peppers and sauté them with sugar, salt, soy and some other ingredients-this was a spicy dish and very delicious.  She had fresh greens in a colander — they had red centers, never saw this plant before.  She poured a wee bit of oil in the pan and tossed these in, adding some spices and then water.  The water turned red from the plant and the plant turned dark green as it wilted.

Filo did not want to eat dinner with us, so she played on the computer in her locked room!  Sarah and I feasted with our chopsticks and small rice bowl.  Here you just pick a bit from any bowl you want and eat it.  You don’t make a plate of food.  I am getting quite good with the chopsticks and can pick up peas individually.  The rice turned pink from my greens I put on top…. and that was glorious to see.  Dinner was very good and it felt so comfortable to chat with another mom about husbands, children, our homes, our family, our life.  She had TV that was connected to a Chinese station that was in English.  ( I do not have this station at the motel, darn!)  The main news was of Teachers Day and how exciting it is for the students to make things for their teachers.  We had instant nescafe coffee and Swedish chocolates for dessert.

We admired her apartment, she has been here for over three weeks.  She and her husband live out but the drive is con-jested even though it is not far.  This is her place to stay for the week and then they travel back home during the weekends.  Many parents do this, as the high school I work for is a desired place for their children.  As we look out of her balcony the spectacular view makes me anxious to move.  I get a lesson on how to wash clothes and hang them to dry on the balcony.  Looks like I need to buy a clothes drying rack at Carrefour.

I get back to the motel, walk in and three young men students  from Nigeria, France and Morocco ask me to sit and chat.  Wow what a world talk we have about our Chinese speaking, our experiences and how long we have been here.  The cute Moroccan is working on his PhD and has been in China six years.  The other two just arrived this week and are in some culture shock but loving it.  I enjoy meeting new faces.

Renting a high-rise apartment

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It was raining cats and many dogs when I walked two long blocks to the apartment complex with Sophia, the school secretary our person that gets everything done.  Isn’t it always the secretary’s and shouldn’t they make more money than all of us?  She is pregnant and followed me down the street with her umbrella, commenting she loves the rain.  Well I will admit it was an experience in wetness, not sweatness.  We met the land lady on the 27th floor to view the space.  Removed our shoes and put on slippers.   I always wondered why they left their shoes at the door.  I know now.  After walking in the mud puddles, no one would want these dirty shoes in their homes.  It is a wonderful custom, and I think everyone should do it.  So if you come to visit me I will have slippers for you at the door.

My new apartment is a split level, making it both  27th and 28th floors.  The master bedroom view is to the south, highly prized by the Chinese.  (Good Fortune!) The kitchen is cute with a huge view of the three pagoda looking hotel and freeway.  It is about 1000 square feet I am guessing, plenty large with a living room, extra bedroom and bath and a half.   I asked for it to be cleaned and the lights to work in the bathrooms!  Geez what is the deal, no lights?   So the landlady agreed and will take two extra days to get it ready.  She is a nurse and her husband a surgeon.  How convenient in case I get ill!  Afterwards back to school, I had night guard duty.  Just watching the kids as they do homework.

This evening I watched Sawyer do Tai chi with his master.  The master has a large stomach, the better to hold his chi, I am told!  He gave Sawyer a little box with a baby on it.  It is a gift as his wife just had a baby girl.  They give gifts to all their friends to share in their joy and fortune of the birth of their new one.  Lovely tradition!   I came to school the other day and found a porcelain pig wrapped in pink sheer fabric, one of our teachers just had a baby girl and I got to share in their fortune!  Goodie a gift for me!  I like gifts.  The pig has candy in its belly, yum.  Alice was showing me her dance moves as she is learning Latin dance.  Some one tell Yulia, she may have met her match.  (Yulia was one of Andy’s best lady friends.  They took us Salsa dancing once!  Yulia is fast and furious on the dance floor, Andy and I admired her for that.)  So I took pictures of Sawyer and Alice in their poses.  They are just too cute. Alice told me today is her mom’s birthday, low and behold she and I are born in the same “birth year.”  Alice didn’t know her new Texan friend was so old!

Yoga again and this time we did one of those flip over poses, toes over your head and on the floor.  I remember Oprah speaking of muffin top on TV.  Well my muffin top had flipped over drooping into my boobs and then smashed into my face.  Last class when I did this I got stuck and the yoga teacher had to come flip me back.  What a pretzel I am!

Are you ready for a good laugh?   OK, your already laughing envisioning me  as an inverted muffin, but I got hit on tonight, you know a guy tried to make a pass at me.  I was waiting for Alice in front of the University and this white guy came barreling toward me, all excited to see the only white older lady in town.  He is a Math teacher from Montreal, wanted my phone number, very persistent, luckily Alice came along and helped me escape his clutches.  She said he was not my type!  I think he was just excited to see a white face!  HELP, just eat, pray teach……no LOVE.

Frogville TV

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September 3, 2010

Nice big thunderstorm, after I got home from my one class of three students.  Turned the TV on and have about 25 channels, of course it is all in Chinese.  There are no western programs or English.  On occasion you might hear seconds of English on a news broadcast, but it is nothing important.  I saw a water buffalo fight tonight; concept was like a cock fight in America.  Water Buffalo 48 was doing really good, they run head on into each other and try to kill the other, till he met up with number 15.  Water buffalo 15 knocked him to the ground and they hauled him off in a paddy wagon, poor 15. The owner of 48 got a red scarf which they put on the back of the buffalo.  Everyone cheered.  Then I flipped it to a show about frogs, looked like a place where they raised them, like a Frogville.  The weather was too hot and the little guys were dying of heat exhaustion.  So the owner was showing how he grew plants with large leafs to create shade for the little guys.  He even had cabbage plants for them to crawl in.  Then as it got hotter he made little wooden plank bridges so they could crawl under. The frogs had a mud moat to swim in and seemed to love the slime.  Then the owner showed how he took raw meat and let it set out and catch flies and in turn created maggots.  The maggot worms were gobbled up by the frogs, creating a very efficient business.  What he did with the frogs I do not know.  After thirty minutes I switched channels.

The channels are all called CCTV- Central China TV.  CCTV 1, CCTV 2 and so on, no diversity like in the US.  Although there is CCTV-MTV, now that’s a hoot.  Saw a guy that looked like Wayne Newton, ok sort of, with glitter in his puffy hair singing a Chinese Celine Dion song.  She would have been proud.  His voice was higher than hers!  Then a Michael Jackson rip-off was performing, and a Yanni piano guy. Yes, I liked the Yanni guy!  Remember it is all in Chinese!  There is a lot of Drama- with Ming Dynasty costumes, which is fun to look at for about five minutes.  Lots of love stories, boring.  Tonight I saw a Color Splash/Devine Design HGTV type of show.  The designer redid a Chinese apartment.  She had gone to IKEA and got some cheap shelves, which she arranged on the covered balcony, and then made a vase with popsicle like sticks.  GEEZ.  Not real impressed with the style.  Hey I found “Family Feud” in Chinese, just can’t read the answers!

Commercials are interesting; saw one today that was made of smoke that changed from a mountain, to a butterfly into a man, to a dragon, to the Great Wall of China and back to the mountain.  That was actually artistically cool and got my attention.  Don’t have the foggiest what it meant.  Cartoons are about the same, just Chinese-esque.

Speaking of smoke, the Chinese can smoke in motel rooms, cafes, taxis and at school.  My motel room occasionally will smell from next door smokers’ waking me up causing breathing problems.  Pollution is bad, yesterday morning was one of the first times I actually saw a blue sky.  It is humid, so mixed with the pollution seems smoggy most of the time.  I imagine in the country side it is cleaner.

World Traveler

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August 26, 2010
I’m here!  I am ok, jet lag was not too bad.  up early thou….. it is 7:20 am and I think it is 6:20 pm in Houston.

The motel is nice, some quirky things, no clock….! and toilet paper is minimal.  I’m on the second tiny roll.  Had to have our driver pull over from airport, had the runs!  Went to a public pot, hovered over a trench!  Ha that was interesting! Do have internet… not YouTube or Facebook at all.  Skype is up.   Send your Skype addresses to me.  Really glad to have the internet back.  This is such a treat.  No Starbucks, bummer.  Did see a Tea/Coffee bar a couple blocks.  The town is gray, square and dank.  But lots of tall interesting looking trees. Motel room has 2 twin hard as a rock beds, nice shower, but no refrig or cook-stove!  TV is all in Chinese– same type of stuff like in the US.  Looks like 1950 in places around the university.

People are nice, many do not speak English but are somewhat friendly.  I have met an IB Physics teacher from the DC area moved here 5 days ago with wife and kiddo, they are nice. Hope to pal around with them some.

Food is ok, not great.  Like I said I already have travelers poop!   Weather is foggy or smoggy, can’t really tell.  Huge skyscrapers, and lots of them.  2 million plus in the city.   Flying in the landscape is beautiful in the suburbs, with square homes-kinda minimal European looking,  very quaint.  I am in town, large and like downtown Mexico city. Lots of action, accidentally bumped into a parked motorcycle walking down the street and set off an alarm!  Lots of bikes and mopeds and no one watches for pedestrians.  Will need to be real careful walking.  Streets in town are 4-6 lanes and a huge mess navigating. Vendors selling cool looking food.  Ate at the Canteen on campus, the Nanshan Motel is on the University campus.  Lots of college kids, refreshing!  Had tofu/green beans, cabbage, and eggs with something green like spinach, but not!  All tasted rather the same and greasy, rice sucks!  Tea is good, drinking it now.  Had to boil my water for it.  Hope that helps (boiled twice!– no more poop!)  ate with chop sticks alot…. need to invest in a fork.

No specific smells yet….  I remember Mexico city smelt like chicken and bus diesel.  Haven’t smelt that yet.  The flight was long!  I am thinking with layovers and all about 28 hours. Hong Kong airport was sheik, wish I had bought a hair dryer and iron there.  Now I need to go find one today.

Laundry is interesting, kinda like yours, Sarah in Sacramento–except the washers are strange, small and old.  It is on campus too.

Tomorrow I will be taken to the health doctor for a check up for my “Expert Certificate”  —  And in-service is tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

Next thing is the bus system…. oh my that should be fun!