A Weekend in Beijing

Tony told the taxi driver how to get to the JW Marriott in Chinese and watched as Emily and I crawled into the back of the dark car. After the driver nodded in agreement that he knew where we were going, Tony shut our back door and looked on as though a concerned parent might as the taxi took off into the building-lit Beijing night. In only a short 20 minute ride we would be at the China Salsa Congress!!! Talk about exciting!! The best salsa dancers in China were all gathered together in one room to perform and then dance afterwards, and I just happened to be in the same city that weekend. This event could not be missed. Of course, not everyone on my team was as excited as I was to watch Chinese people step-back-and-forth to the beat of Latin music, especially at the rate of 30 US dollars; not yuan, US dollars. Earlier, in the Pearl Market, as Emily and I sat in a booth surrounded by fake Polo's, Abrocrombie shirts, and Chinese people watching us I begged her to go with me. "Please, please come with me! I know it is a lot of money, but I can't go on my own." Maybe it was the look of desperation in my face or of hope, or more likely just because Emily is just a solid, awesome friend already and decided to come with me.
Whatever the reason, there we sat riding through the city looking out at all the skyscrapers of Beijing. We passed the "pants" building, it basically a building designed so that it has a hole in the middle and looks like pants. Emily got really excited about it, which made me happy, at least if she didn't like the salsa dancing later, maybe she would like the pants building. The taxi slowed to a stop at a light. I noticed the diver reach his hands underneath the steering wheel and he pulled himself up and to the left very close to his open window. Before I had time to think of all the possible things this could mean, "BLAAAUUUUTTTT" came out of this Chinese man's body. It was such a loud fart! Should I react? Was this normal? I mean is this something that just happens all the time in China. These thoughts passed through my head, much like the gas that was just passed as I looked over to Emily to help me find the answers. Her face was contorted into a tight ball and completely red as she tried to prevent the free flow of laughter that was sure to happen. Eye contact and we lost it. It was just too much for us....we laughed and laughed the whole rest of the way to the hotel. A glance in the direction of the taxi driver or Emily and I my belly began to shake like Santa. The next morning, as we sat in Starbucks drinking glorious coffee talking with Tony, Newt and Claire we told them about the taxi driver. We asked, "Tony, is this common in China?" He replied, "No, (and shook his head) no, this is not common." Then after a beat of time, with a child-like innocence Tony looked up at us and asked, "What is fart?" We let Newt explain it to him and then he really told us it was not common. I guess the taxi driver thought more than language couldn't be understood.
Even though we had a stinky ride over to the Salsa congress it certainly didn't put us in a crappy mood. In the front lobby of the hotel there was only one booth for the Salsa Congress. "Is this where we buy tickets for tonight?" I asked the two ladies manning the table. "No, take the escalator downstairs and buy them down there." As we descend to the bottom floor, more and more salsa gear came into view and I couldn't help but feel a little flutter in my heart. To me this was like having a little piece of home, of something familiar with me. This is one of my favorite things about salsa dancing, no matter where I go in the world I can always find a place to dance and people who love it just as much, and many times more than my self. It is comforting and brings people together. Without knowing the language of another person, all their culture, their past, their future, or anything about them we can still come together and communicate in this completely different and beautiful way. It is one of the blessings in life. After reluctantly turning over our 200 yuan we went were able to watch all the performances of the night.
The basic layout of the night was 8 couples were competing to be the Chinese Champion Salsa couple and go on to compete in the World Competition in Orlando later this year. After they had the 8 couples dance, then there are many special performances by people from around the world and also from around the area. My favorite dance of the night was from these performances. It actually was not all salsa dancing either (maybe, you are a little surprised?). A dance company from Shanghai performed a dance which was mix between tradition Chinese dancing with fans and salsa dancing. The fans added an element of visual and auditory excitement as whenever they opened the fan it made a loud noise and the red flashed in front of your eyes in an intriguing way. After the performances, they cleared the floor and had a live band and everyone who came could dance. They were all really good dancers. We only stayed for a little bit of this time, because we knew it would be wise to get back (much to my dismay though). At the bottom of the post I have three videos of some of the dances from the night.
Overall, the whole weekend in Beijing was really amazing besides just salsa dancing. The whole IECS team was FINALLY together. We were able to encourage and hear one another's stories. We also celebrated Peter's, Tony's, and Tony's little one's literal birth day (well to be in a day or so). In the Pearl Market we all were able to get the items we were in need of for the winter, like nice warm coats! Emily and I also bought jeans. This is of course after we tried them on in the back of a small open booth as the Chinese worker held up two white shirts while we dropped drawers. It was a little humbling and drafty. The weekend was a great finish to a holiday to get us ready to teach and be with our students again!

Can You feel the Love Tonight?

"Can you feel the love tonight," we all sang in an off-key loudness that some might call singing and our Chinese students would be sure to call "very beautiful." As we stood around in arms around each other in a semi-circle, swaying to the genius that is Elton John and The Lion King I couldn't help but feel completely content. The love in the room was amazing and I already feel very close to the people I am serving with in China. This past weekend Newt and Claire, the directors of IECS and Tony came to Baoding to visit us. It is always so refreshing to see someone in the family. They brought a lot of encouragement to me and it was just good to see their face. I was struck though while spending time with them and having them ask how we are doing here, how comfortable I am here and by how satisfied with life right in this moment. I am a teacher and a servant here. I am here to love others. I have no huge plans for the future and nothing at home that is causing me anxiety. I am called to China and it is a honor to live out that call. Even more so than that is the excitement I feel for each day. I literally never know what each day will bring and it is fun to live each day an adventure. Of course this adventure is so much better though because I am getting to share it with a team here, elsewhere in China and at home.
Something Newt really wanted to let us know while his was here was how important it is to share with others encouraging words and words of affirmation. We went around a few times and just said nice things about one another, and though this might seem a little cheesy or a like a love fest, I must say it is such a blessing to hear this words and really does make a difference in your life. They are so important. I am also struck by how blessed I am because of the number of people lifting me up at home. I realize how my life is so covered right now in softly spoken words. It makes me realize when I am make the point to remember someone on a regular basis how important it is to let them know I am doing that. What a blessing to know you are being thought about!
Today was also a very good day. Emily and I went to the RT Mart yet again, but this time in pursuit of food. We ended the night happy with home-made salsa (might I add some of the best I've ever had) and chicken tacos (complete with Monterey Jack cheese!). It was so good.

MEI GUO REN!!!

"Mei guo ren (American)," the girl screamed at the top of her lungs as Emily, me and some of our new Chinese friends walked past the elementary school located across the street from our university. In a flash the whole door was full of curious Chinese children who wanted to get their own look at the mei guo ren. This is a normal occurrence outside of campus life. As mei guo ren, the team heard often draws attention and we are considered a spectacle. It does not bother me though. The people are just curious about what they do not know, and usually (not urally) they are extremely nice and want to help you out in any way possible. On this particular afternoon, Emily and I were on our way back from having lunch with some of our new friends here, Ashely (the girl in the video), Grace, Jamelia (yes her name is awesome), and Rachel. After a week here I already am feeling close to Ashely and Rachel and am excited to see our friendship continue!
None of the girls we went to lunch with today are in my classes, but I do have many, many other students in my classes, some include Sammy, Laura, Lane, Hancock, Creasy, Kobe (they love him), Wing, Castle (a boy), and many others. It is always fun when my students have the same names as some of my friends from home. The Laurens at home will be glad to know there are none so far in China, so here their name is all their own. Even after finishing my first week of teaching, it is hard to imagine myself as a teacher. It is fun to get up in front of the class though and help the students learn more about the English culture and language. This whole week I've been teaching the students "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." They love it!! This is one of my favorite things about teaching, is they love the simple things American students might think is silly. There are some awkward moments in class where the students will all laugh together about something....what they are laughing at I have NO idea! It is the strangest thing. To be fair though, often I will try to make them laugh and all I hear is crickets. In China, with my students, I often don't have jokes, but I try really hard and I think they will eventually catch on.
Last night, Emily and I went to Hebei Financial College where Ryan and Jon teach to go to their conversation corner. At their school, Ryan and Jon are the only foreign teachers right now and so the students are not as use to foreign teachers being around. As soon as we walked in the door all four of us where bombarded with students. It was like we were magnetic! Within a few seconds we were completely surrounded by excited students.
"Where are you from?" "Do you think Chinese food is delicious?" "What do you think of the Olympics?""What do you think of the economics in America?""What do you think of China?""How long will you be here?""Can you sing a song for us?"
These are among some of the questions repeatedly asked at conversation corner. It is a lesson in patience and personal comfort as students are pressing in from every direction.
After leaving to go get dinner, we were riding the bus back in the direction of home. As the bus came to a stop Emily shouted out, "That sign says Champion Pizza!" Without much other thought the four of us ran from the bus and towards the cheese heaven. Inside the restaurant was decorated Western style complete with booths and forks and knives. We ordered the "Typical American Pizza" and a chicken pizza and dined delightfully. This might become one of our favorite restaurants in the future. I am eager to make Baoding my own.

I'll take 6 plates of 25 Dumplings each please, thank you

Tonight was probably the best dinner and the most fun I've had in China yet. It began with my new Chinese friend Ashley coming over to my apartment and helping record a short video of it for your viewing pleasure at home. I let her practice her English by being the guide for the video. She really did a great job and it was a lot fun to do it. For some reason part of the end got cut off, but I still think it is a great video. I posted the video on YouTube under Amelia's apartment. The video is also below:


As we were wrapping our video up the rest of the Baoding team came home and we decided to all go to dinner. Along with Ashley, George, Rachel and Vincent came to dinner with us. In China, parties can get private rooms, but at the restaurant we went to tonight in order to have a private room we had to spend 100 yuan. The main thing we wanted to order was jiao zi again, but it was only between 6-10 yuan per dish. So we endded up having to order lots and lots of jiao zi AND some other dishes. Toward the end of the night we played "the numbers" game. Basically you count the number of people in the room at random, but if two people say a number at the same time you lose, or if you are the last person to say a number. We decided as a group, because we had so much left over, the punishment for losing was you had to eat one dumpling. By the end of the numbers game we had hardly any jiao zi left, except the "mystery" jiao zi we had just ordered because it was the most expensive. Everyone in our group had a lot of fun and laughed hard enough to work off at least a few jiao zi.

Hai O Hai O it's off to work I go

Chunk, click, chuck, click, chunk, click sounds with each rotation of my new bike's pedal rotation. Instead of hearing the nice breeze in the air as I now zoom down the streets of Baoding, my ears are overloaded with the freight train noise of my bike. This might not be such a bad though since the traffic is so crazy in China. The noise of my new bike can serve as a make-shift horn for me. I bought the bike on Saturday with the help of my new Chinese friend Yuessa. First, a large group of us went to Military Square and had jiao zi (dumplings) all together. These dumpling might have been my favorite meal since coming to China. The outside is a flour noodle stuff with various yummy fillings. These range from egg and clintro to pork and onion, both of which might range within my favorites. After lunch we proceeded to go to find bikes. The original place we went to before lunch we found out was shut down by the government a few days earlier. Probably because they were selling stolen bikes. Yuessa heard about another place to check out while we were eating jiao zi. The place ended up having three bikes. Emily and I both were in search of one and so was another new American friend Cameron. We each tried each one of the bikes but all of us were not satisfied. Yuessa tried each one as well, but was bold enough to ride down the street and saw another place to buy bikes. We took off toward that direction, not on the bikes though. An elderly Chinese man who had the looked like George Clooney only older and with a face full of child-like wonder followed us down to the next bike shop. After looking through the bikes and riding them a couple of different times I finally decided on a black bike with Ying Xian(if I am remebering correctly) written on the side.
"My bike has to have a name," I said as we waited for one of the bike-shop men to try to make Emily's bike seat higher. "But I want the name to be something in Chinese...maybe Dragon."
Yuessa quickly replied, "No! That is too over used."
Instinctively, my next idea sproung out from my alma mater and I asked what the name for Seahawk in Chinese is...of course this was silly because a Seahawk is a made up bird!
"What about a Seagull."
"Oh ok, it is Hai (make your voice dip and then up again) O (say the tone by keeping your voice even).
It was a surprise a few moments after naming my bike to look down and see a picture of a bird on Hai O and have Yuessa tell me the name of the bike is something like great bird. So fun!!
Emily also bought a bike, but her bike is purple instead of black and she has yet to give it a proper name. We have had a great time riding our bike around the city and going to the supermarket. I am very proud of Emily, because she was very nervous to ride her bike around the streets and she is doing it now with confidence. It only took one ride to the store.

Super Market Sweep Meets Frogger

When I was ushered to the checkout by the oh so very helpful Chinese worker I knew one of my first shopping experiences needed to come to an end. Yesterday, the team in Baoding all went for a shopping trip together to the big supermarket down the street to buy LOTs and LOTs. The market is called RT Mart and when passing it for the first time I thought it might be a concert, because there are huge semi-circle ballon/inflatibles that are around the outside of the doors. There were also so many people on the outside that is seemed this had to be a huge event and could be something as mundane as people simply needing to shop. The RT Mart is also underground, so even though it is huge, it is a little hard to find the first time around. Tim, Emily, and I walked past it the first time because we couldn't find it.
The Supermarket on the inside first leads into a mall-like area and then goes down to another floor where it is a lot like a Wal-Mart on the bottom. The only differece is it is more like a Wal-Mart at Christmas time. There are so many people everywere. To get around the store we had to dodge this way, then slide past that way. It was quite a task. While shopping we each got a cart and filled it with our needs for our apartments...lamps, bowls, plates, chopsticks, brooms, trashcans, hangers, shelves, etc. I would be looking at bowls, then see something in Jon's cart and decide I needed it too and run to go grab it. As we walked around the store all the Chinese in the store slowly looked at the sizable amount in our baskets and then wide-eyed at us. As I looked a tennis racks, two young Chinese girls came over to me and said hello then ran off. Later though as I walked around the store I kept seeing the girls and realized they were following me. In China, I am always watched by the people around me. It is important to know I am model for those around me and must be a light.
I turned to leave the store, after a successfully shopping and checking out to go out and get a taxi of course and heard beep, beep, beep. Something in my cart set off the alarm. I was immediately pushed back into the store right into a Chinese man who looked as if he was ninety by the helpful Chinese worker. As the worker spoke to me in Chinese, she dug through my belongings and called another worker over. If I was not already drawing enough attention this was sure to really put me on display. Before I had time to even look at my watch though they had found the source of the detonator and took the ink tag off my new rug. Overall, shopping is fun in China.

It Is What It Is

As I stepped off the plane from the US, the sights and smells of China already came rushing back to me from my last visit in May. Outside the Beijing air was hazy, making it hard to see far. The air had the distinct smell only found in China and it was familiar. These things only served to make feel at peace with my choice to return to China for the year. At the moment, I felt very happy to be alive and living out a great adventure.
Now, I am in the city of Baoding. It is a fairly large city, with maybe 4 million people in it. The city, like most Chinese cities I've been too has people and businesses all around it. Every street is full of different shops and people sitting outside on those streets selling little items like books, socks, electronics, pens, and anything you can think of really.
The campus where I am teaching is large with about 40,000 students on both the old and new campus. Hebei University is considered the best school in the Providence for the students to attend. I am hoping my teaching will live up to this standard. My school is also as the Chinese might say "very beautiful". There are many new building with lots of white brick and also there are gardens in the middle of campus. In the gardens there is a small pond and lots of benches for the students to study on. One of the other teachers who came with me, and was here in May told me the students "neck" at night on the benches outside. I was a little surprised to find this out. There are also basketball courts, tennis, and volleyball courts in the middle of campus. No matter what the hour there are students out playing on these courts. The Chinese love basketball. I don't mind since I like basketball as well. Overall, campus feels similar to a college campus in the US.
My apartment on campus is very nice. I have a small kitchen, complete with a little fidge, microwave, hotplate, kettle, and no sink. I have to use my bathroom sink for all cooking and cleaning. A bathroom of my own. Though, the bathrooms here are more like wetrooms, because the shower is right beside the toliet and there is no divide. So all the toliet paper dispensers have covers to protect them from the water. The toliet often gets wet as well. In my shower is also a huge light thing I am told you turn on in the winter to help keep the shower warm. It is so bright. I have a seperate bedroom with a desk for my computer, clothes, and a TV. I am excited because the TV has BBC news, which I of course love. At the end of this post are pictures of my apartment.
With IECS in Baoding there are five teachers, Jon, Ryan, Tim, Emily, and I. We work at two different Universities here. Jon and Ryan work at a Finacial College just a few blocks away. They only live about 5-10 minutes away from Tim, Emily, and I who all work together at Hebei University. I think our team is going to work really well together and we are all getting along really well so far. There is purpose in our being together. The photo at the top is of Emily and I.
We have already come a long way since arriving. I unpacked and have mostly settled my room. We had lunch with some of the officials. This is where I asked someone what one of the dishes we were eating was and he replied, "It is what it is". Who knows what it really was? We also went and bought cell phones today. Tomorrow is the day we will sign our contracts and get our teaching schedules. I think Monday is the first day of classes.
I am so excited to hang out with my students and spend intitional time with them. I think this year is going to be really amazing. I can not wait to see all that is in store.