November; Brace Yourself, Winter is Coming

November has cruised by and we’re only a week away from Thanksgiving, so here’s a quick glimpse at what I’ve been up to.

The winter is already upon Daqing! Today is just under 30 degrees, but this weekend it should dip into the teens and I’ve already busted out the winter coat. But despite the cold weather I’ve been exploring around Yixi on my new bike and having a blast teaching as well.

Back during Halloween there were a few parents that actually brought in Jack-O-Lanterns, although none of them were pumpkins. Despite the makeshift decorations, spirits were high and the kids even got to play “trick or treat” for the good old candy hookup.

Linda and I Showing off the Jack-O-Lanterns!

My classes have been going well, I’m learning more about teaching all the time and every week there is something hilarious/awesome/ridiculous that happens. A week or two ago we had a lesson about clothes and getting dressed, so why not burn some class time with a "who can get dressed the fastest" race?

Mike helping put those shades on

For stress relief, hit children with hammer

Jerry helpin' out Leo with the hat and jacket

And finally here's the whole class + Susan. Benson was the winner!

That class was awesome because there wasn’t much lesson planning and all the kids enjoyed the race, the Chinese assistant teachers even observed and took all the pictures for me!

Outside of class I’ve been exploring more and more around Yixi, and while there are a lot of factories and bland buildings, you never quite know what you are going to find. All these pictures are from about a week ago when I took my bike out for an hour and a half or so just riding around randomly.

The Daqing Oil Refinery

Nearby Petrochemical Factories etc etc

You get the picture...

The (unused) Soccer stadium, across the lake, at dusk

Yixi even has a Christian Church near the lake

Wooded path in the outskirts of Yixi

I was really surprised to find the Church pictured above, it's not far from the stadium and the lake which are about a 10 minutes bike ride from my place. The church is in a strange location, not very accessible, but who knows if it's there for show or if there is actually a following. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled.

As I mentioned, the soccer stadium is essentially unused. It's about the size and quality of Dick's Sporting Goods park in Denver (most likely worse quality...) but there is definitely not a soccer team here, let alone any other sport. That's something that you notice after living here, buildings, stadiums, factories, apartments, pretty much anything might be built just for the sake of having it, even if it is entirely unneeded or unnecessary. Yixi's stadium is nice enough, but Xincun has an epic stadium modeled after the famous Beijing "Bird's Nest" from the Olympics and it is also unused.

Finally, a Panoramic view from my apartment. The observatory in the top left is right next to my school. Which is located in a building called the "Yixi Youth Science Palace of Ethylene" and no, I'm not joking!

I've been seeing more and more of the China that I was forewarned about in a great book my older sister Jessie bought me before I left, Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost, which I urge anyone interested to check out! But instead of being called "Laowai" everywhere, it's always "Mei Guo Ren!" that I seem to be hearing (translation: American). I've yet to see a day pass where I don't hear/see someone pointing, whispering, shouting, gawking, or otherwise inspecting me and speaking those unmistakeable words, OH MY GOODNESS IT'S ONE OF THOSE MEI GUO RENS!!! WOW! (A little exaggeration, but forgive me).
I've even been getting pushed around a bit more at the bus stop, at the grocery store, and even at the strongest bastions of Western Culture in China! Yes even McDonalds is not immune from China's bustling shove fests! A woman cut me as I was standing right next to Kurtis who wasn't even finished ordering his food, she proceeded to start shoving him out of the way while he was in the act of giving the cashier his money, and thank goodness I was still sleepy from the previous late night because I just laughed instead of getting furious. Kurtis "kindly" informed this woman that she would need to "LINE UP" or "Join the QUEUE" and luckily for us the cashier concurred (usually they wouldn't say anything).
But these are merely nuisances, nothing serious but it's the type of thing that you kinda turn your head sideways and go "huh?!?"

And I'll finish on that note, "things that make you turn your head sideways and go huh?!?"
Audi, Ford, Chevy, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, and a variety of other Automakers are represented on the streets here in Yixi (including a Chinese brand called "JMC" (shout out to my Pops)) but you can also try some less conventional transportation:

Tractors are all around, bringing in fresh veggies etc. from the farmland!

Why not just hop on a Donkey? there was a group roaming around a few weeks ago!

Rickshaws are fairly common, and fairly sketchy, and fairly cheap. Take your chance!

As always, things are great, I hope everyone back home has a wonderful thanksgiving!

TIC

October and Bday Celebrations

I kinda woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. It wasn't anything in particular but I was just in a strange mood, thank goodness I got my coffee maker a few days ago because I wouldn't have survived my 8am kindergarten without a pick me up! Besides some grumbling about poor restaurant service, a few misbehaved students, and the experience of stepping in dog poo (or maybe it was human, both are equally likely), it wasn't that bad of a day buuuuut my first peek out of the window this morning was a bit ominous.

Just for reference, this is the view from my apartment on a typical day...

But nope, this was today. Actually kinda cool, but quite eerie as well.

All in all I haven't had too many "bad days," it's usually just one or two things that bug you a little bit. It's been a very relaxing October, I had a blast on my bday, the weather has been similar to Colorado for the most part, and teaching is going well.

I bought a bike at the Yixi market for $20-25 but let me tell you it is, how should I say, an authentic Chinese bike.

Ridin' like the locals.

It's honestly fine for what I need, it's cheap, functional, and not likely to be stolen. Add in the basket on the front and I got a grocery haulin' machine, however long distances prove to be a bit more uncomfortable on this old piece of scrap metal. But luckily for me I got two awesome presents this year from some of my friends out here in Daqing! I already mentioned the coffee maker from the school, and Liam was looking for a home for his old mountain bike and I was the lucky recipient of its awesomeness. I still have the junker for missions to the grocery store.

Much thanks to Liam and the school!

Last Sunday I went out to Ranghulu and a bunch of us foreigners had a hibachi-style dinner and then headed over to Orange Bar to celebrate my 23rd year of existence, and I'm lucky to be around for 24 (just kidding Mom). Will and Katie provided the couch as usual, Monday I slept in and around noon Kurtis and I went to find a taxi to get us home.

It would be difficult to find a taxi on this particular day, because after a phone call or two we found out that the taxi drivers were on strike and we wouldn't be able to get a taxi anywhere until Thursday. By some mystical stroke of luck, a random pulled over and offered us a ride to Xincun for 35 yuan (only 5 over the usual) and we caught the bus home from there.

On Tuesday I took the bus out to Xincun and picked up the bike from Liam's house, it was about an hour bus ride there and I made it back in just under an hour on the bike, but also I got a pretty good workout. That night Kurtis, Susan, and I had dinner for my real bday and out came the Baijiu (Chinese rice liquor, much stronger than sake), needless to say I slept in on Wednesday as well...

Even my pops would flinch at the smell of this stuff, it's pretty, pretty strong.

Almost forgot to mention, my Tuesday/Wednesday classes all sang me happy birthday and it was epic. Those 4, 5, and 6 year olds can hype you up like you wouldn't believe! And my kindergarten has been going fairly smoothly as well, minus kids throwing up.

Can I get some help over here? Yup, bring the mop.

And finally last night Dean and Liam came out to Yixi and we had dinner at the lamb leg restaurant, and in truly epic fashion we ended the night watching Caddyshack. I told you there isn't much to do here in Yixi, and I wasn't lying!

But that means there's plenty of time to teach the waitress how to use your camera, the poor girl was having a hard time and you can see it in the following pictures.

Ok, now just move down a bit...

Kurtis attempts to help...

And that's as good as it gets!

The best part about restaurants in Daqing is the option to take a shot at a scratch lotto ticket/receipt when you get your bill. And just like that I was 5 yuan richer.

Gettin' rich in China! (5 yuan < $1)

In addition to all festivities mentioned above, Kingsley is having a Halloween party on Sunday, we'll see if I can come up with a costume in time. Other than that I have been soaking in the simple, small town life here in Yixi. Kurtis and I laced up our bball shoes and took on some Chinese guys in a little full court 5v5, which will likely become a weekly event. About a week or two ago I took a ride on my junk bike to the outskirts of the city and once you get into either the farmland or the marshland it is pretty scenic.

Just headin' out to the country

And that pretty much sums up my October, my Chinese is (very) slowly progressing, I've been trying a lot of new food, I'm learning more about teaching each day, and I've managed to avoid falling into last place in Fantasy Football, despite losing to Rob's Last Place Noobs and merely slipping to 2nd to last. Ahh, you're welcome Rob.

I also found out I'm going to be teaching the "Christmas Choir" class starting next week, I think it's because they wouldn't dare try to give that class to Kurtis...I'll let you know how it goes.

And any skateboarders out there should appreciate the sign of one of my Kindergartens:

The Entrance to my 2nd Kindergarten

Skate or don't!

Until next time, TIC!

Chinese National Day, Mudanjiang, and Two Weddings

So it’s been awhile but you’ll have to excuse me, I had a week off school for Chinese National Day and I’m just now getting back into the swing of things. So without further adieu, a quick update on what has been going on here in Heilongjiang Province.

After bumming around on the first weekend of break, a bunch of us foreigners headed to Shan’s wedding for an awesome time. The venue was huge, the ceremony was fairly short and sweet, and the food was pretty, pretty good. I will say though, if it wasn’t for us foreigners staying late, playing music, and having a rowdy time, the wedding would have been over in two hours easily. Chinese weddings tend to be earlier in the day, and don’t last long; show up, watch the ceremony, eat, and bail. But Shan’s was an exception and after we danced to a few songs (Kurtis did the Soulja boy dance…) we headed to Orange Bar to continue the festivities.

Wayne (legally certified) Performs the English Segment of the Ceremony

Chowin’ Down

During the week we took a trip to the local bowling alley, which is funny because I seem to go bowling much more often when I am outside of the U.S. (went twice in two weeks in Utrecht). The stars aligned during the tenth frame of our last game, I bowled a nice ball right down the middle for a 9, and then missed the spare. But! It turns out all I needed to beat Dean was 9 pins, and victory was sweet.

Sweet, Sweet Victory

Outside the Bowling Alley

Then it was off to Mudanjiang, an 8 hour train ride away, for Canadian John’s wedding. We headed over to Saertu (yet another part of town in Daqing), hopped on our train, and off we were.

Daqing Railway Station, in Saertu

We arrived in Mudanjiang Wednesday evening and got some food, but we called it a night rather early because we had to be up in the morning for the hour and a half bus ride to the small town where the wedding was held. Australian John came down with some sort of stomach bug so I lost my roommate. So to avoid paying for a full room by myself, I was able to ruin a potentially romantic getaway for Kurtis and Susan.

Of Course Kurtis Has His Buckeyes Gear

John’s wedding was a lot smaller but I really enjoyed the authenticity and it was an amazing experience to see life in small town China. Us guys hung around and had a few drinks but we could only prolong the inevitable, we were back in Mudanjiang in the early afternoon.

John and Crystal Getting Slayed by Confetti

We bummed around Mudanjiang for awhile, checking out the markets and the main square which was pretty cool. I definitely didn’t get as many “Hellloooooo”s or “Laowai”s as in Daqing which was nice, and I enjoyed the awesome nighttime atmosphere. We ate “pancakes” at a nice restaurant that was surprisingly cheap (pancakes aka crepes that you put meat and veggies in, more like soft tacos?) and the next morning we were heading back to Daqing.

Mudanjiang in the Day...

...and Night

View from the Balcony of John’s Wedding

Mudanjiang Market Street

Scenic Countryside, Nice to See Some Hills! (Daqing is as Flat as Nebraska)

And finally we were back home, I really enjoyed the holiday and the chance to see Chinese and Western culture meet. It was great to get out of Daqing for a bit, not that it’s bad here but I imagine my travel opportunities will diminish now that I’m in school until January without any big breaks. Before classes started again on Tuesday, Kurtis, Susan, and I went back to our newly found Leg-O’-Lamb restaurant and here is a glimpse of the epicness.

MMmmmMMMmmmm!

A few quick funny teaching stories:

At one of my kindergartens I was helping all the kids move their little plastic chairs into a semi-circle in order to begin class and I gently nudged one little rascal in the right direction when all of a sudden he turned around with the most furious 3-5 year old face I have ever seen. He then proceeded to shake his finger at me and scold me in Chinese before finally taking his seat. In a state of awe I looked over at my assistant teacher who was just as shocked as I was and asked her to translate what my student had said.
“I am NOT playing with YOU tomorrow! I’m so MAD at YOU Foreign Teacher!!!”
We couldn’t help but start laughing and I had to collect myself before the lesson!

In one of my “Shen Tong” classes I have a little girl named Mary. Mary is a very peculiar little girl, or curious if you want to call it that, but I called her up with another boy to act out a conversation I had taught that day. Hello, how are you, I’m fine thanks etc. Simple stuff. When all of a sudden Mary puts her arms around this unfortunate little boy’s neck and proceeded to kiss him on the cheek and start mauling him (for lack of a better word). I ran over to break it up but she seriously had a vice grip on this kid! I finally pulled them apart and I had to hold Mary in the air and carry her back to her desk and physically put her into it before she would cut it out! Every class I have to watch out for Mary, because not only does she do this to other little boys but every once in awhile she goes for me as well. I’m pretty sure one of the assistants who was observing my class got a picture, so I’ll try to track that down.

Once again, TIC!

Ranghulu, Shan's Bachelor Party, and the Foreigners

It's been a week and it will be amazing if I finish writing this post tonight (I teach the Kindergarten at 8:00 am tomorrow) but I figured I'd go light on the words and heavy on the pictures.

On Friday I had my first classroom observation by the school and I passed with flying colors, it was easy honestly because for some reason my students decided to be on their best behavior and it's hard to mess up a half hour class where the highlight is "Hello, how are you. I'm fine, thanks."

In case I forgot to do a formal introduction for the Chinese teachers, here they are from left to right: Vickey, Kelly, Susan, Elaine, and Anna.

The Chinese Teachers

And of course my partner in crime, fellow Yixi'er, and the homie, Kurtis. I caught him in his natural habitat and in his traditional clothing (by the way the Buckeyes just killed the Buffs as you might know).

Kurtis and his Buckeyes

So Sunday after class Kurtis and I took the 2 to 2 1/2 hour trip over to Ranghulu (see previous post for map) for our buddy Shan's bachelor party and to get out of Yixi for a day. The cab ride is 45min and about 50-70 yuan, the bus ride is much longer and you have to switch buses buuuuut it's a whopping 6 yuan ($1).

Right when we got off the bus we headed to get some Mala Chuanrs (I finally looked up the word for shish kabobs in Chinese. "Mala" is actually the variety cooked in oil unlike the grilled ones at the end of this post) with Kurtis's old friend and Chinese teacher at another one of the schools here. Mack was cool, very friendly and helpful translating and I offered to pick up the bill which didn't even dent my wallet.

Chillin with Mack and the owner of the Chuanr Stand

Afterwards we headed over to Orange Bar (or O3) for the bachelor party aka a bunch of foreign dudes drinking like college kids. Flip cup and beer pong included.

(Most of) The Whole Crew

The Other Room at the Orange Bar

Joe and The Owner of Orange Bar, Leo

Liam with Kurtis's Orange Bar Picture

German Alex

Will, Crashed on his Couch to Avoid the Late Night Cab Ride

So now you've met some of the crew, I haven't had the chance to get pictures of everyone yet. Not to mention this particular night was men only (no dancing girls Mom, don't worry).

Will and Katie (not pictured, yet) were kind enough to let me crash on their couch that night and the next afternoon a couple of us Men got naked and soaked in some hot tubs and lounged in the sauna at one of the local bathhouses. Here is the lone picture, outside of the bathhouse for the benefit of the readers...

Heading to Relax at the Bathhouse

And finally Kurtis and I were on our way back home, we only have one day weekends but we pack in as much as we can!

Here's a couple more pictures of Ranghulu, it feels like there is construction EVERYWHERE in China and this place was no different.

Build, Build, Build

And for my architecture friends here is a most-likely insignificant building with an interesting design. I've been trying to take as many pictures as possible but sometimes when everything looks the same you just get bored doing so.

Homework for Rob and Ron: Write me a Report on this Architecture

So back to work today and luckily I only have 4 days of teaching followed by a week off for Chinese National Day (Oct 1), after class we got some Chuanrs again and this time I got some pictures of all the action. Next week I have two weddings to go to so I'll be busy, but I'll either fill in my post with some pictures of my apartment or maybe wait til after the weddings to keep it interesting.

The Spread at the Chuanrs Stand

The Cooking Action

Life is simple here, wake up go to the market and get some fresh fruit and vegetables, teach some class, and just relax. China might be a hectic country but out in Yixi the pace is slow and easy, yet there are still things that happen everyday that you just shake your head at. For example, walking to meet Kurtis to catch the bus I noticed a little kid with some pants on that were missing, shall we say, the hind quarters...he proceeded to relieve himself without having to move the pants at all. I've seen this happen a half dozen times since.

TIC