Phil and I cruised from one end of the Olympic park to the other today. It’s ENORMOUS! Long lines preceded entering the Olympic park, Olympic super store shopping, and ordering dinner at McDonald’s (the only food choice by the way). However, we had a BLAST!
We managed to make our way down to the almost front row seats for the “Women’s Final Pole Vaulting” competition (not our original seats). We got to see an amazing Russian athlete, Isinbaeva, earn the gold medal in the sport as well as set a new world record for vaulting 5 meters and 5 centimeters. It was incredible to be a part of her process conferring with her coach and managing her level of nervousness. It was a total rush to be surrounded by so many people with Olympic athletes performing long jump, pole vault, steeple chase (I’d never even heard of this before-very similar to hurdles and involving water), discus, 200 meter prelim, 800 meter run, 100 meter hurdles, 400 meter hurdles, and I’m sure I’ve already forgotten something.
The buildings were fascinating and unique. The Olympic Park subway station was artistically framed in red lights and decked out red and white drums that sort of look like white caviar to me. The Water Cube continuously changed colors while the Bird’s Nest was consistently red. Armies of Olympic workers kept things running smoothly. And at the end of the night, they lined up military style and marched in step out of the building as all of the visitors left.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Jamaica Mon’
Based on a last minute invite by 2 of my yoga retreat students, Phil and I dashed off to Beijing last night to watch the men's 100-meter dash for the Olympic track and field event at the Jamaica House. Jamaica House is where the country of Jamaica holds it's swanky events for athletes and their families during the Olympics. We thought it would be an open event. However, when we arrive at what we thought was the designated time, a large sign informed us that it was a private party. A bit nervous about barging in and obviously NOT being Jamaican, we decided to use our foreigner status as a tool for inquiry. We didn't even make it in the door as a young women intercepted us and informed us that we were too early. Period. no negotiation. In somewhat disbelief, we headed off to procure some Indian food-the first non-Chinese cuisine of the past 2 months. It was good, but I still like the authentic Chinese food better. After dinner, we went back to the Jamaica House. Walking in as if we belonged, we looked around and clearly saw that the race wasn't on and that there were very few people. We were informed that things would not begin until about 10:00pm. Phil asked the waiter for is name, Eric, and we headed out to Beijing's only designer bar. We managed to make it for Happy Hour. It was a trip as it totally catered to westerners. So we all ordered mojitoes. Talk about a cross-cultural evening! After a drink, we decided to give Jamaica House a final try. Again, walking in like we owned the place, we encountered some Chinese-speaking people who Phil informed that were invited by 'Eric'. Then we met the ladies with the guest list. In quick loud English, Phil shared his invitation from 'Eric.' Carefully examining the guest list, the ladies asked, "Erin?" Phil nodded, they crossed someone named Erin off the list, and all four of us quickly entered the Jamaica House. Things were going full swing! Chinese, Jamaicans, British and Americans were everywhere. Relatives and well -known Jamaican musicians were being interviewed by multiple magazine and television reporters and video cameras and photographers worked nonstop. Unlimited wines and mixed drinks were flowing free of cost. The only thing we had to pay for was water! And it was expensive! Life music, dancing, mask wearing, and Olympic viewing-awesome!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Time
I have no sense of time living in China. I have a vague awareness of days of the week because weekends are set up differently than weekdays and Monday is supposed to be my free day. But dates have completely blown passed me. Phil and I got our tickets to the Olympics today. We were so excited that it’s all going to work out. I looked the date on them and realized they are two days before we return to the U.S.A. Then I had to find out what day today was. So we just realized that we only have about 2 ½ weeks left here at our private Shangri-La. How quickly the time has gone by! It’s going to be so strange to go back to a ‘regular’ life of work, deadlines, scheduling, no mid-day naps, and no cook in the house! (Although Phil may beg to differ on that point.)
I am looking forward to things like air-conditioning, cold water, cold hard cider, salads, eating fruit with the skin on it, fewer mosquitoes, having the shower separated from the toilet, and a dryer for our clothes. But I will miss the popsicle flavors, the crazy variety of fruits and vegetables, the slower pace of life, the naps, the sound of the cicadas, the birds of happiness, the amazingly detailed paintings and artwork at temples, and seeing how babies are so doted upon with total love an adoration by everyone in the family.
We had quite an adventurous night last night. A yoga teacher ran and got Phil and me from our room because a snake had appeared in the reading room. Everyone was freaked out and didn’t know what to do. Phil’s response was hilarious. He said to me, “And what am I going to do about a snake? Get you?” I am the animal control person in the household typically. It made me realize how hard it must be to be a parent when your child runs in with some emergency that you have no idea what to do about. Whew! Anyway, we went in armed with brooms, a really (I mean REALLY) long soup ladle, and a large cooking pot (I couldn’t find a sturdy enough bag or pillow case) ready to do battle. We couldn’t find any trace of a snake. So we ended up pulling apart 2 couches and looking in and under every object in the room to help calm everyone. I was quite glad that we weren’t successful in finding the critter since they described it as a more yellow than black snake about 4 feet long with the circumference of a garden hose. Of course, we put on a good show though. At breakfast this morning, Phil reveled in freaking out everyone with stories about how my dad used to catch snakes and cook them up for breakfast. He got some great reactions. Even better, I understood the story he told in Chinese! Hurray!
I am looking forward to things like air-conditioning, cold water, cold hard cider, salads, eating fruit with the skin on it, fewer mosquitoes, having the shower separated from the toilet, and a dryer for our clothes. But I will miss the popsicle flavors, the crazy variety of fruits and vegetables, the slower pace of life, the naps, the sound of the cicadas, the birds of happiness, the amazingly detailed paintings and artwork at temples, and seeing how babies are so doted upon with total love an adoration by everyone in the family.
We had quite an adventurous night last night. A yoga teacher ran and got Phil and me from our room because a snake had appeared in the reading room. Everyone was freaked out and didn’t know what to do. Phil’s response was hilarious. He said to me, “And what am I going to do about a snake? Get you?” I am the animal control person in the household typically. It made me realize how hard it must be to be a parent when your child runs in with some emergency that you have no idea what to do about. Whew! Anyway, we went in armed with brooms, a really (I mean REALLY) long soup ladle, and a large cooking pot (I couldn’t find a sturdy enough bag or pillow case) ready to do battle. We couldn’t find any trace of a snake. So we ended up pulling apart 2 couches and looking in and under every object in the room to help calm everyone. I was quite glad that we weren’t successful in finding the critter since they described it as a more yellow than black snake about 4 feet long with the circumference of a garden hose. Of course, we put on a good show though. At breakfast this morning, Phil reveled in freaking out everyone with stories about how my dad used to catch snakes and cook them up for breakfast. He got some great reactions. Even better, I understood the story he told in Chinese! Hurray!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Mountain Water
I'm still living it up at the Buddhist temple. Generally, the noises of the day are amazingly loud cicadas chirring (if that's the correct noise for them), birds in conversation, and the chopping of vegetables from the kitchen. Yesterday, the idealic peace was momentarily disturbed by a loud shriek from our housekeeper (and cook, etc. who just happens to be about 75 year old) and I saw her spryly leap over 2 feet of woven mats and zoom across the walkway. I knew immediately that it had to be a snake or a giant spider. It was a snake. Our housekeeper wasn't bitten (thank goodness), but she was totally shocked, horrified, and scared almost to death. With no 'real men' around, she ventured outside our gated temple to find someone. She brought back a small, bare chested, older gentleman who arrived with a shovel in hand. With multiple grunts and harsh whacks of the shovel's edge, the snakes adventures among the mats where brought to an end. I don't think it was a poisonous snake, so I said a little prayer for it's transition onward.
Later that afternoon, we all (2 yoga teachers and 2 guests) decided to go for a hike. As I headed for the group at our doorway, I was surprised to see our 'housekeeper' also in attendance. Keep her age in mind, she was outfitted with a backpack (with a water cooler jug in it) buckled around her waist and chest and holding two empty water bottles. I knew our meandering walk was about to take on a new path. We had been carefully avoiding the pathways in the woods due to the mosquitoes (vicious blood suckers that they are!) and the scratchy, thorny brambles along the way. Instead, we'd been taking the very civilized and well paved road that wound it's way up and around the mountainside. Well, our delightfully energetic and tiny 'housekeeper' took the lead and headed right into the brambles up the rocky pathway straight to the heart of the mountain. Fortunately, I'd dressed for the occasion with long sleeves, long pants, and my trusty baseball cap. She set a pace that we were all challenged by. Aren't we supposed to be the young fit ones? Ha!
We were on a quest for a mountain spring. I'd heard about this spring where the water rushed out of the mountain that people walked significant distances to in order to get the 'sweet' mountain water. So we trekked up the twisty, rocky, hot path. Eventually, we make it. What a surprise. I had imagined a deep crystal clear creek flowing rapidly down rocks with dragon flies and flowers all around. Instead, a white PVC pipe was poking out of the hill with a thin trickle of water flowing into a mucky, muddy puddle. My first thought was, "How are we going to get a huge jug of water down that path without breaking our necks?!" However I kept it to myself and began helping to fill up the smaller bottles and transferring the water into the large jug. Mosquito kamakazi flyers attacked, occasional pebbles crashed to our feet from the mountain top, and our own thirst mounted. It was a HOT day! How I longed to gulp that cold mountain water. But I knew if I did, I might be bathroom ridden for the rest of the trip (maybe a slight exaggeration). So everyone took long drinks, I was strong-somewhat of my own personal martyr- and we filled all of the jugs and bottles. By this point, several other locals were waiting in line behind us to fill their own jugs. Still wondering how on earth we would manage the jugs safely, our 'housekeeper' began to climb into the backpack. I complained loudly only able to say, "I can! I can!" To which she replied, "I can, too! I can, too!" When I entreated my colleagues, they shrugged their shoulders and just stayed close to her. Apparently, she had made up her mind. However, I was greatly relieved to see that there was a much wider, smoother, and flatter path for the way down. Additionally, after about 3 minutes, our housekeeper sat down, unstrapped herself from the jug laden backpack and let another person climb in and strap down. Everyone took turns carrying the monster backpack back to the temple.
Happy to be back, everyone grabbed their cups and began slurping the good mountain water. I, on the other hand, went to fill up my cup with the boiling water from the thermos that we normally use for drinking water. I got a couple of strange looks, but no one comments on my steaming cup while there was finally a cold beverage available.
I still can't help but think back to my 4th grade science class when we talked about why it's not a good idea to drink out of mountain streams. Fortunately, I'm learning to keep my mouth shut (some of the time anyway), and I haven't seen anyone suffering from digestive issues. I on the other hand, have finally begun to experience the need to stay very, very close to the restroom. Any movement in the abdominal area sends me sprinting to the privacy of my own bathroom. I'm so grateful for antibacterial soap and running water. I have a 45 minute car ride back to the Fragrant Hills retreat tonight. Yes, I am wondering how I will manage. I think I'm going to look up the words for, "Pull over now!" :)
More pictures to come.
Later that afternoon, we all (2 yoga teachers and 2 guests) decided to go for a hike. As I headed for the group at our doorway, I was surprised to see our 'housekeeper' also in attendance. Keep her age in mind, she was outfitted with a backpack (with a water cooler jug in it) buckled around her waist and chest and holding two empty water bottles. I knew our meandering walk was about to take on a new path. We had been carefully avoiding the pathways in the woods due to the mosquitoes (vicious blood suckers that they are!) and the scratchy, thorny brambles along the way. Instead, we'd been taking the very civilized and well paved road that wound it's way up and around the mountainside. Well, our delightfully energetic and tiny 'housekeeper' took the lead and headed right into the brambles up the rocky pathway straight to the heart of the mountain. Fortunately, I'd dressed for the occasion with long sleeves, long pants, and my trusty baseball cap. She set a pace that we were all challenged by. Aren't we supposed to be the young fit ones? Ha!
We were on a quest for a mountain spring. I'd heard about this spring where the water rushed out of the mountain that people walked significant distances to in order to get the 'sweet' mountain water. So we trekked up the twisty, rocky, hot path. Eventually, we make it. What a surprise. I had imagined a deep crystal clear creek flowing rapidly down rocks with dragon flies and flowers all around. Instead, a white PVC pipe was poking out of the hill with a thin trickle of water flowing into a mucky, muddy puddle. My first thought was, "How are we going to get a huge jug of water down that path without breaking our necks?!" However I kept it to myself and began helping to fill up the smaller bottles and transferring the water into the large jug. Mosquito kamakazi flyers attacked, occasional pebbles crashed to our feet from the mountain top, and our own thirst mounted. It was a HOT day! How I longed to gulp that cold mountain water. But I knew if I did, I might be bathroom ridden for the rest of the trip (maybe a slight exaggeration). So everyone took long drinks, I was strong-somewhat of my own personal martyr- and we filled all of the jugs and bottles. By this point, several other locals were waiting in line behind us to fill their own jugs. Still wondering how on earth we would manage the jugs safely, our 'housekeeper' began to climb into the backpack. I complained loudly only able to say, "I can! I can!" To which she replied, "I can, too! I can, too!" When I entreated my colleagues, they shrugged their shoulders and just stayed close to her. Apparently, she had made up her mind. However, I was greatly relieved to see that there was a much wider, smoother, and flatter path for the way down. Additionally, after about 3 minutes, our housekeeper sat down, unstrapped herself from the jug laden backpack and let another person climb in and strap down. Everyone took turns carrying the monster backpack back to the temple.
Happy to be back, everyone grabbed their cups and began slurping the good mountain water. I, on the other hand, went to fill up my cup with the boiling water from the thermos that we normally use for drinking water. I got a couple of strange looks, but no one comments on my steaming cup while there was finally a cold beverage available.
I still can't help but think back to my 4th grade science class when we talked about why it's not a good idea to drink out of mountain streams. Fortunately, I'm learning to keep my mouth shut (some of the time anyway), and I haven't seen anyone suffering from digestive issues. I on the other hand, have finally begun to experience the need to stay very, very close to the restroom. Any movement in the abdominal area sends me sprinting to the privacy of my own bathroom. I'm so grateful for antibacterial soap and running water. I have a 45 minute car ride back to the Fragrant Hills retreat tonight. Yes, I am wondering how I will manage. I think I'm going to look up the words for, "Pull over now!" :)
More pictures to come.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Inhale Yoga Exhale Yoga
With Phil off galavanting around China, I've been at the Buddhist retreat teaching yoga English and conversational English with students who are like puppies when it comes to learning yoga. The first day I got here started with lunch. Every other sentence began with, "Rachel, what's this?" Lots of requests for me to provide the English words for lunch. Lunch lasted for about 2 hours due to our nonstop conversation. Don't worry. I'm also getting the Chinese words. It's pretty funny. I have an okay food vocabulary in Chinese, but my conversational skills leave a great deal to be desired. :) Hey, it's the priorities in life. :) One student keeps pulling out crazy advanced poses and saying, "Teacher, please help me." She's been doing yoga for about 4 months and assumes I'm a sage yogini. I explain what I know and tell her when I don't know. She seems to have some crazy yoga teacher that stands on her, squashes her up against walls, and uses what I consider forceful means to get her into poses. Being very safety conscious, he sounds like a nutty yogi, but I guess it takes all kinds. I think she's expecting me to lay on yoga teacher hands and magically transform her into a famous and beautiful yogini. I wish!
I love the food here. It's all vegetarian where I'm staying and wow, are they good with tofu! Very exciting. I've discovered that I'm not really a fan of dumplings in any variation. I'll eat them, but I don't look forward to them. I've also discovered that I like Chinese breakfast. I've never liked breakfast for most of my life. Cereal is boring and I'm hungry 20 minutes later. The Chinese have this great flat bread that looks like a combination of Indian nan bread and tortillas. But it's infinitely better than either. They also make a kind of rice soup with some sort of brownish red rice and a tiny bit of sugar. Since nothing else is sweet here, it's very exciting. I am planning on making Chinese breakfast foods when I get back home. No more food crashes at 9am for me!:)
So I can tell time in Chinese (for the most part), ask what things are, say I'm full, say I'm going to take a nap, and I'm learning the body parts (critical for yoga). Why else would you need to know the words for heel and ball of the foot, palm, and diaphram? Anyway, I'm having a great time. Languages are a delightful puzzle. The Chinese are always shocked when I pull out one of my phrases on them. They don't expect me to speak any Chinese. Then I have to quickly explain that I speak very badly. Then they stop babbling at me. Whew! I'm making progress though.
I love the food here. It's all vegetarian where I'm staying and wow, are they good with tofu! Very exciting. I've discovered that I'm not really a fan of dumplings in any variation. I'll eat them, but I don't look forward to them. I've also discovered that I like Chinese breakfast. I've never liked breakfast for most of my life. Cereal is boring and I'm hungry 20 minutes later. The Chinese have this great flat bread that looks like a combination of Indian nan bread and tortillas. But it's infinitely better than either. They also make a kind of rice soup with some sort of brownish red rice and a tiny bit of sugar. Since nothing else is sweet here, it's very exciting. I am planning on making Chinese breakfast foods when I get back home. No more food crashes at 9am for me!:)
So I can tell time in Chinese (for the most part), ask what things are, say I'm full, say I'm going to take a nap, and I'm learning the body parts (critical for yoga). Why else would you need to know the words for heel and ball of the foot, palm, and diaphram? Anyway, I'm having a great time. Languages are a delightful puzzle. The Chinese are always shocked when I pull out one of my phrases on them. They don't expect me to speak any Chinese. Then I have to quickly explain that I speak very badly. Then they stop babbling at me. Whew! I'm making progress though.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Tienneman Square & The Forbidden City
Yesterday Phil and I went to Beijing for a day of tourist activities. We visited Tiennemen (sp?) Square and the Forbidden City. Apparently Tienneman Square is a large empty square surrounded by government buildings. One of them supposedly has Mao perserved under glass. However, it wasn't open yesterday.
The Forbidden City is HUGE! We could spend a week there enjoying everything. The detailed painting on the outside of the buildings is amazing to me. None of the insides of the buildings are on display. Phil got a shot of me doing a yoga pose where I put my feet to my head in one of the tiny pagodas in the complex. I was a bit worried I'd get yelled at, but instead, I became a huge Chinese tourist attraction with many random people coming up to take my picture. Keep in mind that a lot of Chinese parents make their children pose with Westerners because it's unusual and exotic for them.
The subway was an experience all of its own. I'll write more on that later. Just think SARDINES. Yikes!
The best part of the trip was when Phil and I were in the taxi back to the retreat and he taught me the Chinese direction words for: straight ahead, left, and right. I was able to direct our cab up the twisting and turning and unmarked lanes back to the retreat. I felt very successful!
Based on my limited experiences trying to learn German and Chinese, I realize how much easier it is to learn a new language that that I am familiar with my learning style. It's made a huge different for me. I can't believe such information is neglected in official language learning schools and programs. (Sorry, personal soapbox there.)
Anyway, I'm going to try to go somewhere on each of my days off so that I am forced to speak and practice my tiny amount of Chinese. Very cool!
The Forbidden City is HUGE! We could spend a week there enjoying everything. The detailed painting on the outside of the buildings is amazing to me. None of the insides of the buildings are on display. Phil got a shot of me doing a yoga pose where I put my feet to my head in one of the tiny pagodas in the complex. I was a bit worried I'd get yelled at, but instead, I became a huge Chinese tourist attraction with many random people coming up to take my picture. Keep in mind that a lot of Chinese parents make their children pose with Westerners because it's unusual and exotic for them.
The subway was an experience all of its own. I'll write more on that later. Just think SARDINES. Yikes!
The best part of the trip was when Phil and I were in the taxi back to the retreat and he taught me the Chinese direction words for: straight ahead, left, and right. I was able to direct our cab up the twisting and turning and unmarked lanes back to the retreat. I felt very successful!
Based on my limited experiences trying to learn German and Chinese, I realize how much easier it is to learn a new language that that I am familiar with my learning style. It's made a huge different for me. I can't believe such information is neglected in official language learning schools and programs. (Sorry, personal soapbox there.)
Anyway, I'm going to try to go somewhere on each of my days off so that I am forced to speak and practice my tiny amount of Chinese. Very cool!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Weekend Swamp!
We had a ton of people out here today! There were 10 people in my class. 3 yoga instructors, 2 Chinese journalists, and the rest were from England and Italy. We went for a hike, took part in a kirtan (sort of call and response meditative singing of mantras), and I led my first yoga nidra (very deep mediation) session ever. Everyone was very receptive to my class and hands-on assists. We even had drumming lessons in a small twig 'bird's nest' that the director had built. It was totally cool. I hope Phil got some pictures because my camera's batteries died again. It's a battery eater. Almost literally.
Tomorrow looks to be just as packed with an Indian (of India) yoga teacher and a couple of his students here to check out the retreat. The director wants me to give a talk on my style of yoga, theory of teaching and learning yoga, and my philosophy of yoga for 30 minutes along with 2 other yoga teachers. It should be interesting. I'm really more of a demo girl nowadays with yoga.
Phil got us tickets to the Olympics online tonight. We are super excited. We've got our fingers crossed that it's all really legit and not some scam.
Sheila, the photos of the botanical garden are for you! They weren't quite as spectacular as the ones you emailed to me, but still it was fun to see something similar. The ones you sent appeared to be from Shanghai further south of here. So these are dedicated to you! :)
Oddities from a Western point of view (the giggle & head scratching section):
Pillows
Granted, even Phil will admit that I’m very picky about my pillow. It’s the one thing I refuse to share with him. I want MY pillow. So we arrive in China where the pillows are thin cotton bags (the equivalent of flour sacks) filled with tiny styrofoam balls the size of a ball point pen tip. It’s like sleeping in a large bowl of Rice Crispies all night. Also, the pillowcases have zippers on them so the pillow won’t fall out. But if you roll over with your pillow during the night, you might get poked in the eye or even nose with the zipper handle part. Even better is waking up with the zipper imprint across your cheek and forehead! It’s pretty funny. No sneaking naps around here! ☺
Sheets
There are no bottom fitted sheets here. There are only flat sheets tucked under the edges of the mattress. I am a wiggle worm as it is. Add the fact that the bed that Phil and I sleep in is a single bed with a flat sheet on the bottom. It takes some careful negotiation for two people to sleep in a single bed in the summer in order not to elbow, kick, knee, smack, squash, and/or shove the other person. So by the time we wake up, usually one of us is sleeping on the bare mattress. Kinda gross when you think about it. There’s a high turnover of volunteers here. Yuck.
Repairs
So check this out. One thing that makes Phil shake his head in this land is the way repairs are handled (or not-he has a great deal more experience with this than I do) here. For example, we have a door to our building with an extremely finicky lock. It’s taken us a week and a half to figure out how to lock and unlock it. I’ve had to jump out of our bedroom window several times just to exit the building. We’ve finally determined that it’s easier to lock people in the building than to lock them out. One of life’s little ironies, eh? Upon sharing this info, we were informed that we just can’t lock the door if someone is still in the building. Well, currently 3 people live in our building. Phil is an early riser; He sometimes gets up two hours before I do and goes for walks, etc. No longer can he do the courtesy of locking the door when he leaves unless he plans on coming back and letting me out again. Nothing will be done to correct the situation such as replacing the lock. It’s a “suck it up” mentality.
Another situation occurred where we noticed water running onto the floor from the back of the sink. We showed it to the head guy and he nodded patiently. He then showed us how to make sure the hot handle was completely turned off (it didn’t work anyway) before we turned the cold water handle. Then it didn’t leak. Why not just fix the hot water so there will be no leaks in the first place?
Phil has become an expert on Chinese toilet workings. (You can ask him about this in detail at a later point if you like.) The toilets often simply won’t flush. He’s figured out that if you carefully lift up the lid to the tank, the tank empties, causing it to flush. Carefully replacing the lid allows the tank to fill up again. Just as an FYI for the next time you travel to China. ☺
Brooms
Brooms are a constant source of confusion for me. In my mind, if it’s a tool needed daily, why not make sure it’s a good one? Brooms sold at the store have very thin, hollow, metal poles that are as tall as my waist. They rust and snap in half quickly. The end result? A tiny hand held broom only appropriate for a dustpan. How about outside brooms you may ask? Well, they certainly look really cool. They are made of longer wooden poles stuck into a bunch of straw. They kind of look like ‘witch’ brooms. However, mid sweep, the pole usually detaches from the straw bottom, and the straw bottom goes flying across the courtyard. As long as you are not in a hurry and don’t think seriously about your spinal health, it’s kind of funny.
Make sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page since I've added more photos!
Tomorrow looks to be just as packed with an Indian (of India) yoga teacher and a couple of his students here to check out the retreat. The director wants me to give a talk on my style of yoga, theory of teaching and learning yoga, and my philosophy of yoga for 30 minutes along with 2 other yoga teachers. It should be interesting. I'm really more of a demo girl nowadays with yoga.
Phil got us tickets to the Olympics online tonight. We are super excited. We've got our fingers crossed that it's all really legit and not some scam.
Sheila, the photos of the botanical garden are for you! They weren't quite as spectacular as the ones you emailed to me, but still it was fun to see something similar. The ones you sent appeared to be from Shanghai further south of here. So these are dedicated to you! :)
Oddities from a Western point of view (the giggle & head scratching section):
Pillows
Granted, even Phil will admit that I’m very picky about my pillow. It’s the one thing I refuse to share with him. I want MY pillow. So we arrive in China where the pillows are thin cotton bags (the equivalent of flour sacks) filled with tiny styrofoam balls the size of a ball point pen tip. It’s like sleeping in a large bowl of Rice Crispies all night. Also, the pillowcases have zippers on them so the pillow won’t fall out. But if you roll over with your pillow during the night, you might get poked in the eye or even nose with the zipper handle part. Even better is waking up with the zipper imprint across your cheek and forehead! It’s pretty funny. No sneaking naps around here! ☺
Sheets
There are no bottom fitted sheets here. There are only flat sheets tucked under the edges of the mattress. I am a wiggle worm as it is. Add the fact that the bed that Phil and I sleep in is a single bed with a flat sheet on the bottom. It takes some careful negotiation for two people to sleep in a single bed in the summer in order not to elbow, kick, knee, smack, squash, and/or shove the other person. So by the time we wake up, usually one of us is sleeping on the bare mattress. Kinda gross when you think about it. There’s a high turnover of volunteers here. Yuck.
Repairs
So check this out. One thing that makes Phil shake his head in this land is the way repairs are handled (or not-he has a great deal more experience with this than I do) here. For example, we have a door to our building with an extremely finicky lock. It’s taken us a week and a half to figure out how to lock and unlock it. I’ve had to jump out of our bedroom window several times just to exit the building. We’ve finally determined that it’s easier to lock people in the building than to lock them out. One of life’s little ironies, eh? Upon sharing this info, we were informed that we just can’t lock the door if someone is still in the building. Well, currently 3 people live in our building. Phil is an early riser; He sometimes gets up two hours before I do and goes for walks, etc. No longer can he do the courtesy of locking the door when he leaves unless he plans on coming back and letting me out again. Nothing will be done to correct the situation such as replacing the lock. It’s a “suck it up” mentality.
Another situation occurred where we noticed water running onto the floor from the back of the sink. We showed it to the head guy and he nodded patiently. He then showed us how to make sure the hot handle was completely turned off (it didn’t work anyway) before we turned the cold water handle. Then it didn’t leak. Why not just fix the hot water so there will be no leaks in the first place?
Phil has become an expert on Chinese toilet workings. (You can ask him about this in detail at a later point if you like.) The toilets often simply won’t flush. He’s figured out that if you carefully lift up the lid to the tank, the tank empties, causing it to flush. Carefully replacing the lid allows the tank to fill up again. Just as an FYI for the next time you travel to China. ☺
Brooms
Brooms are a constant source of confusion for me. In my mind, if it’s a tool needed daily, why not make sure it’s a good one? Brooms sold at the store have very thin, hollow, metal poles that are as tall as my waist. They rust and snap in half quickly. The end result? A tiny hand held broom only appropriate for a dustpan. How about outside brooms you may ask? Well, they certainly look really cool. They are made of longer wooden poles stuck into a bunch of straw. They kind of look like ‘witch’ brooms. However, mid sweep, the pole usually detaches from the straw bottom, and the straw bottom goes flying across the courtyard. As long as you are not in a hurry and don’t think seriously about your spinal health, it’s kind of funny.
Make sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page since I've added more photos!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Living Space
Showers
Keeping in mind I’ve experienced a total of 4 different showers so far in China, my experience is limited. But I still have to share. The bathrooms are set up in such a way that the toilet is right next to or even underneath the showerhead. The showerhead is detachable from the wall so you can hold it in your hand at a variety of angles. There is a drain somewhat in the middle of the floor for drainage. However, the bathroom engineers haven’t gotten the knack of angling the floor so that the water naturally flows toward and eventually into the drain. As a result, one must mop after each shower to shove the water down the drain. Everything is tiled. No matter how you stand or angle yourself, the toilet gets completely drenched while showering. Granted, it dries, but never before you need to use the toilet again. Even when I use a small rag to wipe it dry, it remains wet. I think the washcloths and towels in this country are waterproof. Go figure. So each time you sit to use the facilities, you slide a bit on the wet surface, and then stand up with a rather soggy bum. Combine a wet bum with very humid conditions and a generally sweaty body anyway. It’s often near impossible to get underwear up again. Phil hasn’t really complained about this. Maybe boxers are more manageable in such conditions.
Mattresses
Someone recently told me that there are summer mattresses and winter mattresses, and they are different. I can’t confirm this but find it interesting. Since it’s summer, maybe I am about to describe summer mattresses. Since I can’t attest to the age or general condition of the mattresses I’ve slept on so far, I’m only able to make some huge generalizations about Chinese mattresses. If you have a cranky back or neck, go home foreigners. They are thin, lumpy, bumpy, and saggy in places. Fortunately again, Phil is not in the least particular about the surface he snoozes upon so I’ve staked out the less mountainous side for my own slumbering needs.
Toilet Paper
Toilet paper here is actually overall better than what I experienced in Germany on the trains. German toilet paper is as stretchy as crepe paper, incredibly scratchy and rough, and an unbleached brownish/grey color. The Chinese toilet paper looks like crepe paper but it isn’t as stretchy. It’s bleached white and rather softer than its German relative. Most intriguing though is the fact that it is a solid roll; there is no cardboard tube in the middle to hang it somewhere. As a result, toilet paper rolls are typically perched precariously on pipes (often wet from condensation) relatively near the toilet. However, depending on the situation one is in when in need of toilet paper and the relative distance the goods are away from the place one is perched, obtaining the toilet paper can be a bit tricky.
Keeping in mind I’ve experienced a total of 4 different showers so far in China, my experience is limited. But I still have to share. The bathrooms are set up in such a way that the toilet is right next to or even underneath the showerhead. The showerhead is detachable from the wall so you can hold it in your hand at a variety of angles. There is a drain somewhat in the middle of the floor for drainage. However, the bathroom engineers haven’t gotten the knack of angling the floor so that the water naturally flows toward and eventually into the drain. As a result, one must mop after each shower to shove the water down the drain. Everything is tiled. No matter how you stand or angle yourself, the toilet gets completely drenched while showering. Granted, it dries, but never before you need to use the toilet again. Even when I use a small rag to wipe it dry, it remains wet. I think the washcloths and towels in this country are waterproof. Go figure. So each time you sit to use the facilities, you slide a bit on the wet surface, and then stand up with a rather soggy bum. Combine a wet bum with very humid conditions and a generally sweaty body anyway. It’s often near impossible to get underwear up again. Phil hasn’t really complained about this. Maybe boxers are more manageable in such conditions.
Mattresses
Someone recently told me that there are summer mattresses and winter mattresses, and they are different. I can’t confirm this but find it interesting. Since it’s summer, maybe I am about to describe summer mattresses. Since I can’t attest to the age or general condition of the mattresses I’ve slept on so far, I’m only able to make some huge generalizations about Chinese mattresses. If you have a cranky back or neck, go home foreigners. They are thin, lumpy, bumpy, and saggy in places. Fortunately again, Phil is not in the least particular about the surface he snoozes upon so I’ve staked out the less mountainous side for my own slumbering needs.
Toilet Paper
Toilet paper here is actually overall better than what I experienced in Germany on the trains. German toilet paper is as stretchy as crepe paper, incredibly scratchy and rough, and an unbleached brownish/grey color. The Chinese toilet paper looks like crepe paper but it isn’t as stretchy. It’s bleached white and rather softer than its German relative. Most intriguing though is the fact that it is a solid roll; there is no cardboard tube in the middle to hang it somewhere. As a result, toilet paper rolls are typically perched precariously on pipes (often wet from condensation) relatively near the toilet. However, depending on the situation one is in when in need of toilet paper and the relative distance the goods are away from the place one is perched, obtaining the toilet paper can be a bit tricky.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Buddhist Temple
Check out some of these shots from the Buddhist temple about 45 minutes outside of Beijing. It's a gorgeous place. A lot has been restored. I'll take more photos the next time we are out there.
Week 3 Begins
Another funny story: Phil and I were hanging out in front of a local shop having a cold drink chatting. A guy near us started up his motorcycle. We froze in astonishment and then burst into laughter. It was like a cartoon come to life. The motorcycle made these hilarious pop-pop-pop noises in such a manner that we immediately starting looking for the soap bubbles coming out of the tailpipe! Welcome to China! ☺
Phil brought his super-duper binoculars with him to China. He’s in heaven. Except that not of our books arrived so we can’t poor over our new Birds in China book. Despite this, the binoculars go with us on every hike we take. There are some fabulous birds in the country. They all have distinctive calls and colors. They zoom around so quickly, it’s very difficult to get a decent picture of them. It’s been fun trying though. Recently we were out for a walk and I motioned for Phil to freeze. Up ahead of us was a pair of quail (or pheasants-I’m really not sure at this point, but they did the quail coo) casually crossing the road. The female made her way into the brush first, followed by her more flamboyantly colored husband. I think Phil and I held our breath the entire 30 seconds. I’m also wondering if there are whippoorwills here. It’s not the exact whippoorwill call, but it’s very similar. Maybe they are close cousins.
We are working on week 3 of traveling around, eating local cuisine, avoiding ice cubes, drinking boiled water, and (for me) trying to remember not to rinse out my mouth with tap water after brushing my teeth. I’m very happy to report that so far, our digestive systems are in pretty good shape. Today we thought we might be hitting a rough patch, but everything came out okay. ☺ (Subtle pun, don’t you think?)
Since we’re on the bodily function topic (Sorry, Maria. You can stop reading at any point.), I’ve decided that deodorant is an important and indeed critical aspect to enjoying my time here in China. It seems that my nose only detects body odors. And not the nice ones if they do exist. So, being pretty ambivalent about deodorant use normally, Phil and I haven’t been using any since our arrival. About half way through last week (a week and a half into our trip), I noticed that I smelled REALLY bad. So I showered. But not very long afterwards, I smelled again. I switched shirts. I still smelled. I needed deodorant. And so does Phil. Fortunately, I normally like how he smells, so he didn’t take it personally when I requested that we both go back to regular deodorant usage. His nose is designed to sniff out food gone bad. A much more practical usage for a nose if you ask me.
Oh! Someone told me that bugs are attracted to scented body products like soaps, shampoos, deodorants, etc. I want to make clear that I’ve thoroughly tested out this claim. It is completely false. Even in my stinkiest condition (we had no soap or shampoo or deodorant-just water for a brief period of 4 days) where I could hardly stand to be around myself, the mosquitoes, horse flies, gnats, and other annoying flying critters continued to swarm me with great glee. I think it’s a myth deer hunting men started as an excuse to just get gross. By the way, I’m not knocking getting gross. I enjoyed it for a short time. But I’ve had my fill of it now. (Get the pun? ☺- one of my seventh grade students informed me that puns are not the lowest form of humor, they don’t even rank as humor. Duly chastised, but not reformed. ☺ )
We haven’t had very many clear days where we can look out and see the mountains in the distance. It seems like a combination of heavy humidity and smog. Everyone here remarks how much better the air is than in Beijing. Yikes! I’ve heard that some Olympic athletes (especially runners) have refused to participate in this year’s competitions due to the horrible air quality here. They say that it could ruin their careers. I don’t know about that, but I’m also not an elite athlete. I’m just popping Claritin daily and doing pretty well. Even with a cat running around.
Speaking of the cat, it seems to think that we should all feed it and play with it when it so desires. I like cats, really. They just make me sneeze so I avoid them. But when the cat starts weaving in between people’s hands and feet as we are doing yoga, it’s gone too far. Today, Barbara (the Canadian yogini) was leading a class when the cat started up his typical attention-seeking antics. So she put him in another courtyard outside. Apparently intent on partaking in the yoga session, the cat scaled the walls, climbed across the roof, and promptly returned by bounding down the rooftop stairs back to class. So the cat was put in the ‘reading room’ with the doors shut. Well, the cook came through, leaving the door open. The cat was returned to the ‘reading room’ with the doors shut. The yoga session had ended by this point and they were doing yoga nidra (a deep meditation) guided by a computer program in the ‘reading room’. The cat, again intent upon escape, was tearing around the room like mad. About a third of the way through the guided mediation, the program stopped. When Barbara went to investigate, guess what she found? The cat was quite smugly sitting upon the computer keyboard with the mouse dangling from its cord. Cats are cats no matter what country they are from! ☺
In order to practice my tiny bit of Chinese knowledge (which totally centers around food items and eating), I have been asking Phil to make simple requests in Chinese while we are at dinner. For example, I can understand when he asks for more of something, if he asks if I want more of something, and what those somethings are: rice, noodles, steamed bread, veggie filled buns, soup, carrots, potatoes, tofu, etc. It really helps that the cook uses pretty much the same ingredients just combined differently each day. My big accomplishment of the week so far was that I went to the local store by myself and bought two Mung bean popsicles. It took several tries to figure out how much I was supposed to pay, but I did it. It’s pretty funny. I feel like a kid, when I run home to declare to Phil how I did something all by myself! Just like when I was little with my mom and dad. ☺ It’s fun to be an absolute beginner at something again. It keeps me humble.
Oh! by the way, keep checking in on Phil’s blog, he’s not nearly as chatty as I am, and he adds links to cool articles related to China. He always includes fun pictures, too! http://philmckenna.blogspot.com/
Phil brought his super-duper binoculars with him to China. He’s in heaven. Except that not of our books arrived so we can’t poor over our new Birds in China book. Despite this, the binoculars go with us on every hike we take. There are some fabulous birds in the country. They all have distinctive calls and colors. They zoom around so quickly, it’s very difficult to get a decent picture of them. It’s been fun trying though. Recently we were out for a walk and I motioned for Phil to freeze. Up ahead of us was a pair of quail (or pheasants-I’m really not sure at this point, but they did the quail coo) casually crossing the road. The female made her way into the brush first, followed by her more flamboyantly colored husband. I think Phil and I held our breath the entire 30 seconds. I’m also wondering if there are whippoorwills here. It’s not the exact whippoorwill call, but it’s very similar. Maybe they are close cousins.
We are working on week 3 of traveling around, eating local cuisine, avoiding ice cubes, drinking boiled water, and (for me) trying to remember not to rinse out my mouth with tap water after brushing my teeth. I’m very happy to report that so far, our digestive systems are in pretty good shape. Today we thought we might be hitting a rough patch, but everything came out okay. ☺ (Subtle pun, don’t you think?)
Since we’re on the bodily function topic (Sorry, Maria. You can stop reading at any point.), I’ve decided that deodorant is an important and indeed critical aspect to enjoying my time here in China. It seems that my nose only detects body odors. And not the nice ones if they do exist. So, being pretty ambivalent about deodorant use normally, Phil and I haven’t been using any since our arrival. About half way through last week (a week and a half into our trip), I noticed that I smelled REALLY bad. So I showered. But not very long afterwards, I smelled again. I switched shirts. I still smelled. I needed deodorant. And so does Phil. Fortunately, I normally like how he smells, so he didn’t take it personally when I requested that we both go back to regular deodorant usage. His nose is designed to sniff out food gone bad. A much more practical usage for a nose if you ask me.
Oh! Someone told me that bugs are attracted to scented body products like soaps, shampoos, deodorants, etc. I want to make clear that I’ve thoroughly tested out this claim. It is completely false. Even in my stinkiest condition (we had no soap or shampoo or deodorant-just water for a brief period of 4 days) where I could hardly stand to be around myself, the mosquitoes, horse flies, gnats, and other annoying flying critters continued to swarm me with great glee. I think it’s a myth deer hunting men started as an excuse to just get gross. By the way, I’m not knocking getting gross. I enjoyed it for a short time. But I’ve had my fill of it now. (Get the pun? ☺- one of my seventh grade students informed me that puns are not the lowest form of humor, they don’t even rank as humor. Duly chastised, but not reformed. ☺ )
We haven’t had very many clear days where we can look out and see the mountains in the distance. It seems like a combination of heavy humidity and smog. Everyone here remarks how much better the air is than in Beijing. Yikes! I’ve heard that some Olympic athletes (especially runners) have refused to participate in this year’s competitions due to the horrible air quality here. They say that it could ruin their careers. I don’t know about that, but I’m also not an elite athlete. I’m just popping Claritin daily and doing pretty well. Even with a cat running around.
Speaking of the cat, it seems to think that we should all feed it and play with it when it so desires. I like cats, really. They just make me sneeze so I avoid them. But when the cat starts weaving in between people’s hands and feet as we are doing yoga, it’s gone too far. Today, Barbara (the Canadian yogini) was leading a class when the cat started up his typical attention-seeking antics. So she put him in another courtyard outside. Apparently intent on partaking in the yoga session, the cat scaled the walls, climbed across the roof, and promptly returned by bounding down the rooftop stairs back to class. So the cat was put in the ‘reading room’ with the doors shut. Well, the cook came through, leaving the door open. The cat was returned to the ‘reading room’ with the doors shut. The yoga session had ended by this point and they were doing yoga nidra (a deep meditation) guided by a computer program in the ‘reading room’. The cat, again intent upon escape, was tearing around the room like mad. About a third of the way through the guided mediation, the program stopped. When Barbara went to investigate, guess what she found? The cat was quite smugly sitting upon the computer keyboard with the mouse dangling from its cord. Cats are cats no matter what country they are from! ☺
In order to practice my tiny bit of Chinese knowledge (which totally centers around food items and eating), I have been asking Phil to make simple requests in Chinese while we are at dinner. For example, I can understand when he asks for more of something, if he asks if I want more of something, and what those somethings are: rice, noodles, steamed bread, veggie filled buns, soup, carrots, potatoes, tofu, etc. It really helps that the cook uses pretty much the same ingredients just combined differently each day. My big accomplishment of the week so far was that I went to the local store by myself and bought two Mung bean popsicles. It took several tries to figure out how much I was supposed to pay, but I did it. It’s pretty funny. I feel like a kid, when I run home to declare to Phil how I did something all by myself! Just like when I was little with my mom and dad. ☺ It’s fun to be an absolute beginner at something again. It keeps me humble.
Oh! by the way, keep checking in on Phil’s blog, he’s not nearly as chatty as I am, and he adds links to cool articles related to China. He always includes fun pictures, too! http://philmckenna.blogspot.com/
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