Alive and Kickin'

Things have been pretty hectic over the past few weeks. I have been working a lot, which is great. As you may remember, last year I couldn’t find work as a pan handler for much of the year. This year, I have been getting job offers almost every week. I am teaching computers and English, I have done a voice over for a tourism video, proofreading and translation, and yesterday I was offered a position overseeing a school. What a difference a year makes!
Aside from work, I am still playing basketball every week. Thanks to staying active, I have lost the weight I put on over the summer. The downside of that is that I can now fit into standard Chinese clothes. That’s right, I can go the local Wal-mart and buy clothes right off the rack. I recently bought a pair of jeans and I fit the first pair I tried on. Amanda says I look like a little Chinese guy. Along with the weight, I also lost the strength that I gained while fighting fires. A few days ago on the bus, a little old Chinese lady pushed me out of her way. I was in shock! A little old, sixty pound, four foot two inch, hunchbacked old lady pushed me out of her way! A few months ago, whenever they would try to get by me, they would just wear themselves out pushing and shoving and not move me an inch. Thinking back on it, maybe I have not lost my strength. Maybe she used an ancient Chinese, Bruce Lee move on me. Yeah, that must be it.
Some of you may have heard that I was recently sick. Now that I have recovered, I can tell you how sick I actually was. I started feeling bad after playing basketball one afternoon. That night I caught a chill in the cold night air, but I didn’t think anything of it. The next day I had to teach, and I coughed thru the whole class. In fact, I felt so bad that I tried to get one of the students to teach the class for me. When she declined, I used another approach. When all else fails, play a game. We played Hangman the rest of the class. After class, I cancelled a couple of appointments that I had and went straight home. Once I arrived at home, I turned the heat on, climbed into bed fully dressed, (winter coat, light jacket, sweater, two shirts, and long johns), and bundled up under two blankets. Despite all of that, I was freezing. Yep, I had a bad fever! As it turns out, my fever reached 104 F. After struggling with the fever for two days, I decided to go see my Chinese doctor, Dr. Jeff. Thinking back on that visit, I now realize I was very sick. After the doctor told me that I had bronchitis, the nurse kept saying to me “don’t worry sir; you’ll be fine in a few days”. I assured her that I was not worried”. I guess I was too out of it at the time to translate correctly what she was really saying. Here is how that phrase actually translates into nurse speak: “Oh my, you poor thing. Be afraid, be very afraid. I don’t think you are going to make it”. In fact, later on Dr. Jeff has a private talk with Amanda. It seems he was so worried about my condition that along with the IVs that I was to be given for bronchitis, he also instructed that I receive the swine flu vaccine. It seems he thought that if I were to catch H1N1 in my weakened condition, it could have grave consequences. I did not find out about this until I was well on my way to recovery. Having fully recovered, I learned something from this experience. What I learned can be summed up this way: People in the health care profession lie! All joking aside, I had to receive IV treatments three days in a row, for about four hours each time. Dr. Jeff and the nurses took very good care of me. They were very professional and efficient. Our friends were also great. They visited me both in the hospital and at home, they brought me flowers and a huge fruit basket, and they even brought Amanda lunch while she was with me at the hospital. One of my co-workers taught my class for me but refused to take payment. It is amazing what true friends will do.
So that is the latest from us in China. The rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated. I am still alive and kicking. - Frank

Field Trip

Last week we were invited to go on a field trip with our Chinese school. It was touted as an opportunity for us to practice speaking Chinese out of the classroom. In reality, I think things are much the same here as it is in America: it was a good excuse for a picnic and barbeque. That being said, we had a really nice time. It reminded me a lot of a family reunion. They played many of the same game, like the potato sack race and the three legged race. But they also played some that we somehow missed when my family got together. There was the Chinese character game. It was an undisguised attempt to get us to learn while we were having fun. Needless to say, I avoided it like it was the H1N1 (swine) flu. Another picnic game that is unique to this part of the world involves using chopsticks to pickup marbles out of a bowl. The top score of the day was 28 marbles in one minute. That mark was set by one of the Chinese teachers. The top score for a foreigner was set by…you guessed it. Amanda. She got 24 in a minute, compared to my 8!Not only is she picking up the language as easily as going to the grocery store and getting a pack of Raman noodles off the shelf, but she also uses chopsticks like a native. If I didn’t know any better, I would think her ancestry was from southeastern China instead of from the southeast of the US.

For lunch, we had a barbeque. They provided us with an assortment of meats on a stick, tofu, potatoes, zucchini, and other vegetables to cook ourselves. Joining Amanda and I at our table was a couple from Colorado, three Germans, and one of our former Chinese teachers. Since most of us have cooked food on a grill before, we were eating in no time and without a lot of fuss. Some of the other tables were not as experienced. One table in particular did not let their coals turn white before adding the meat, so when the fat from the pork dripped onto the fire the flames went out of control. When this occurred they would pour water on the flames, which created a lot of smoke. Forty five minutes into the lunch, all they had to show for their efforts was red eyes and runny noses from the smoke, and charred but undercooked meat. They kept gazing at our table longingly, and in mild wonder as we chatted amiably ate our perfectly cooked food.

One of the best things about the field trip though was that we got to play with some of our classmates children. While living abroad, it is strange the things that you miss. For me, until the field trip, I did not realize how much I missed having kids around to play with. The Chinese children are usually so shy and reserved around foreigners that I can’t get much more out of them than a nervous laugh or a terrified squeal. On the field trip, however there was a family from Georgia. About a year and a half ago the parents decided to pack their three boys and one daughter up and move to China. Can you imagine that? Wow. Well, their kids are not afraid. In fact, they are quite gregarious. We played tag, Frisbee, baseball, and Uno. The game of Uno was played totally in Chinese. The mother said that that is how she teaches the kids Chinese. It is working. The three year old girl’s pronunciation is perfect. Oh if only I had started learning way back when…

At the end of the afternoon the school had arranged for us to go to a nice restaurant for dinner. As soon as we sat down the servers began bringing an endless variety of dishes. Sticky rice with smoked ribs inside, beef with onions, spicy chicken, potatoes, a vegetable that looked and tasted like collard greens, and eggplant are just a few of the dishes. I was so wrapped up in sampling this amazing fare that I did not realize until later that, in Chinese, I was laughing and joking right along with everyone else. I guess sometimes you can combine fun with learning. – Frank

A Quick Hit

A Quick Hit

As you already know, it has been over a month since I have written anything. As always, things here have been interesting and getting a blog posted has not been simple. For some reason we have not been able to access Blogger. Amanda recently thought of writing our blogs using MS Word, emailing it to someone back home, and having them post for us from the States. Brilliant! So, to quote the Beatles, with “a little help from my friends”, I will be able to blog again.

Here is a brief synopsis of the last month:

1. Our new apartment

a. We love our new place.

b. It is very quiet and peaceful. This place is more like a home.

c. Beau and Sara – Your room is waiting!

2. School

a. For the first time ever I am enjoying Chinese class.

b. I am beginning to see minute traces of progress

c. Our teacher is really good at getting us to use the words and grammar that we know

d. We took a test last week and I made an 85.5. For the record that is just 3 points lower than Amanda. (Inconceivable!)

3. Work

a. I am working at two universities. I teach computers at one and English at the other.

b. I did a voice over job for a tourism company. It was fifteen commercials of about thirty seconds each. She has promised more voice over jobs in the future. The spots will be airing on CCTV 9 sometime in the future. The people at the recording studio did not believe me when I told them it was my first time doing a voice over. They kept saying you are so professional. One girl said I was like Will Smith. That should tell you how good a judge of talent they are!

4. Travel

a. We went to Chengdu to visit Denice, a friend from America.

b. We made our requisite visit to Starbucks.

c. The next little trip we have planned is to visit some friends in Laos. J & K see you soon.

Well, that is all for now. I will write again this week because our school is taking us on a field trip. That should give me something new to write about. Until then, I have homework to do. Frank

Whirlwind

Whirlwinds are atmospheric phenomena that occur all over the world. They include tornadoes, waterspouts, and dust devils. Over the past few weeks, it has felt like we were caught in one. Almost immediately after our return to China, we enrolled in Mandarin classes again, began looking for work, and started searching for a new apartment. This may not seem like a lot, but if there is anything we learned during our first stint here, it is that even the most routine things take on a new dimension in China. For instance, our Mandarin class is for only about two hours. Easy, right? Not so much. The first class in which we enrolled, was so difficult that after fifteen minutes I told Amanda I wanted to go to the remedial class. She and the teacher talked me into trying it for a couple more days. After day three in that class, I felt like going to the back of the classroom, curling up in the fetal position, and sucking my thumb. Instead of doing that, during the break, I asked to be put in the special needs class. I felt better about quitting that class when a day later Amanda also tapped out. Now, we have a great teacher, but she insists on giving us tons of homework. So those two hours of class usually turns into at least four.
The other thing that has really consumed our time has been searching for an apartment. We did not expect things to be so difficult this time, because our language skills have improved and we knew what we were looking for. What we didn't know, however, is that the price on apartments have gone up and that we needed to be more specific on what we wanted. How so? You know how in America if you want to rent a place to live, you can expect certain things? Things like doors, a floor, a kitchen, a toilet, etc? Well, that is not always the case here. We were actually shown places without these things. In one such place, the landlord had the nerve to call me cheap when I said we would not rent it without them! If there were a rule book for living abroad, the first rule would have to be, don't take anything for granted. ANYTHING! You know, it is like Dorothy said after the tornado dropped her in OZ, "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore." Eventually, we did find a suitable place, and should move into it pretty soon. Once that is over and as we continue to get used to school, hopefully things will settle down for us. After our time in America, Beijing, and Seoul, it is time for the winds to abate. It is time to enjoy the calm after the storm. - Frank

A Few Days in Beijing

We are on our way to a teachers conference in Seoul, Korea but we stopped in Beijing for a few days of sight seeing. After arriving in China's capital city, we were reminded of how crowded China is. There were people every where we turned. The squeeze was definitely on during our visit to the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. It seemed that all of China must have been visiting on the same day. The Forbidden City is a museum that used to be the imperial palace. It's construction began in 1406. From within those imposing wall, 24 emperors ruled China for nearly 500 years. It occupies an area of 720,000 square meters and has over 9,000 bays of halls and rooms. It is listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO. Since I love history, I enjoyed the visit. If I had it to do over again, though, I would pay the extra money for the guided audio tour and to see the extra rooms.

One thing that Beijing in famous for is it's variety of foods. One that I really enjoyed is called "Beijing kaoya" or Peking duck. I have tried duck before, but always I found it to be really greasy. The duck we had here in Beijing, however, was not greasy at all. In answer to "what does it tastes like", it definitely does not taste like chicken but instead has a stronger, wilder taste. They combine that tastes with sauces that are a little sweet and tangy, then you wrap the slices duck, combined with scallions and cucumber in a thin crepe like pancake. It was excellent. At another restaurant in Beijing, we had a simple meal of rabbit, chicken, and broccoli. The food was very good but the thing that makes this restaurant nice is that you also get treated to a show. JingJu, or Beijing Opera, is not something that many Westerners enjoy because of the high pitched singing. However it does have interesting parts. The interesting thing about JingJu is the colorful costumes and the various masks that the actors use. It is always a highlight to see how they change their mask with just a jerk of the head. That is the show that this restuarant features. A costumed actress dances around to lively music. The multipule mask changes that are made in time to the music is completely fascinating. I got a little video of it, but my batteries died just as it was getting interesting. Sorry.

Later on we went to Wangfujing Jie, which is a street famous for it's open air vendors. As we were walking along, I was once again struck by the fact that my in laws must have been trying to prepare me for life in China since Amanda and I were married. They were always trying to get me to eat various critters that you can never buy at the local Walmart. For example, just two weeks ago, they served rattle snake (freshly killed by one of the family). On Wangfujing Jie, you find booths lining the street selling all kinds of "xiao chi" or snacks. Some of the things they sell are items that I would not be surprised to find on Morris and Teresa's table. So when the vendors offered me snake on a stick, I thought to myself, "that's not so bad. I have had it before!" (Thanks Teresa) But they also sell things that I think even the inlaws would shy away from. See the pictures below.

- Frank

Our Last Weekend

On our last weekend in the US, some friends took us to an amusement park called Six Flags Over Georgia. It had been about ten years since Amanda and I had last been and we had Lexi, Amanda's niece, with us and it was her first time to any amusement park, so we were really looking forward to going. Superman-the Ultimate Flight, Batman - The Ride, and The Goliath are a few of the featured roller coasters. These rides are not for the faint of heart. After the park, one of my closest friends, took me to Turner Field to watch the Braves play. For those who don't know, I love baseball, and there is something special about being at the ballpark. Where else can you see the Home Depot tools race? I uploaded video of Superman, Goliath, and the traditional singing of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch. On our last weekend, we had a great time. Thanks to all who made it special. - Frank

Classtime Fun

One of the things that I find absolutely amazing is the fact that we were able to find work, when so many others have been unable to. Not only that, but we are doing the same thing that we did in China. We are teaching English. In our class, we have students from Mexico, Russia, Guatemala, and Turkey. We have really enjoyed teaching adults, instead of the children that we usually teach. We enjoy both groups but this has given us a different set of challenges, and we have had to come up with other methods of teaching. We have been asked many times "How can you teach English to someone when you don't speak their language"? Well, the methodology that we use is based on the way that children learn to speak. Our TESOL instructor holds to the belief that if the students are not having fun, then they are not learning, so we always administer a healthy helping of play in every class. It takes energy, imagination, and a lot of repetition, but we have seen results. I wish someone would use these methods to teach me Chinese. -Frank

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.
Gail Godwin

Move Over Alice...

We have been back in the US for almost a month now. In that time I have experienced a whirlwind of emotions. Our relationships with family and friends have been like a favorite pair of jeans, so comfortable that you can wait to get back into them. In this month, I have been able to spend more time with my parents than I was able to when we lived in Batesburg. So many of our friends have taken us to dinner, invited us over, or come to where we are staying. In so many ways we are made to feel at home. Then there are days when I feel as if we have stepped through some sort of looking glass, into a world where things are not quite the same as they have always been, into a world where things are just slightly out of sync. When things are this way, I often look around to see if I can catch a glimpse of the fleeting tail of the March Hare or the Cheshire grin of a cat perched in a tree. I remember how I used to fit in perfectly. I knew my place in all settings, and I didn’t have to struggle for integration. We stepped out of that life, though, and having gotten off that merry-go-round, you can’t just jump right back on. In every country there is a rhythm to life, an ebb and flow that you get accustomed to with the passage of time. Eight months and eight thousand miles have gotten me acclimated to a different rhythm. I guess I am experiencing a kind of cultural jet lag. Where it takes a week or two to get over real jet lag, I don’t know how long this will last. I do know, however, since we are planning on going back to China, we are still only on the outside looking in.

These feelings don’t last too long because usually someone does something to reach out and pull us in. Our first week back, our friend Chuck, had us out to his place on the lake. Two weeks ago, Amanda and I celebrated our thirteenth wedding anniversary. To celebrate it with us, my parents, her parents, and our close friends Mark and Sharon and Mike and Jeanie all took us out for nice dinners. Our friends Mike and Kelli even put us up in a hotel for the weekend. At a big three day event that was held in Columbia, we could barely walk around without friends coming up to us and welcoming us back with open arms. Then just two days ago, the Smith family had a big cookout at their place so that we could be with more friends. The love and acceptance has truly been overwhelming. - Frank

Cheshire Cat: If I were looking for a white rabbit, I'd ask the Mad Hatter.
Alice: The Mad Hatter? Oh, no no no...
Cheshire Cat: Or, you could ask the March Hare, in that direction.
Alice: Oh, thank you. I think I'll see him...
Cheshire Cat: Of course, he's mad, too.
Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people.
Cheshire Cat: Oh, you can't help that. Most everyone's mad here. [laughs maniacally; starts to disappear]
Cheshire Cat: You may have noticed that I'm not all there myself

I Passed. Really!

Just a quick follow up on my exam. I passed. I really did! I actually made an 86. A solid "B". That is the good news. The bad news is that after making all of that progress, I am returning to the US where I will not get to use my Chinese as much. Unfortunately, speaking a language is not like riding a bike. If you don't use it, then you lose it. So, even though being home is going to be great, I hope I don't forget the things I have learned. So I guess that will be the true test. Let's see how I do in three months. - Frank

Class is Out

Today, I taught my last class for the semester. It was one of my best days teaching, not becuase it was my last, but because of my students. There is something amazing about the brains of children. The capacity that they have for learning is truly astounding. I have only had these students for about four weeks, but in that time I have seen their confindence in the use of English grow. When I first began teaching them, they knew a few of English words but they seldom used them due to being somewhat shy around a foreigner. Today, however, they seemed to come out of their shell. I broke the class up into groups of four, put a picture on the board, and gave the groups ten minutes to write down ways to describe the picture and what they saw. After the time was up, one member of each group had to stand in front of the class, and talk about what they saw. We all know the old saying that a picture says 1000 words. Well, my students impressed me with their vocabulary and descriptive thinking. For example, the picture was of a man sleeping in a bed. One of the students said about the picture "I think he is having a good dream". I asked why he said that, and he told me "because the man is smiling". Another said that the man had a cheap bed. In explanation he said "it was because the bed was bowed". I was very impressed. In the span of a few weeks, they have began to take the vocabulary that they knew, added it to the new vocabulary that I taught them, combined that with the grammar patterns that they were taught, and then use it in abstract thinking. I am looking forward to the fall semester. Working with them and seeing their progress encourages me in my efforts to learn their language. - Frank

Should I Get In the Hot Tub?

Last week we were invited to join some friends as they visited the nearby hot springs. I was sick all week so I really didn't feel up to going but then I realized that we will soon be leaving China and I had better seize the opportunity while I have the chance. Going to a hot spring, spa, and resort is definitely not something we can afford in the US. Also, if I didn't go I would be passing on the opportunity to relive a classic SNL (Saturday Night Live) skit; James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub. (If you have never seen this skit, check it out at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdjv5ZwQcdQ) So on an overcast, cool morning we made the hour long trip to the spa. Once we arrived, it didn't take long for me to realize that I had made the right decision. The resort had over twenty pools, filled with different types of water. There was a coconut milk pool, a green apple pool, and a pool with rose petals. One pool had tiny fish in it to eat the dead skin off your body. Basically, the fish serve as a glorified loofah. In Japan, this is a very popular and very expensive treatment, but we got to experience it with the price of admission (which was less than $20 US). One of my favorite pools was filled with red Kool Aid. Don't worry, I know it looks like I tasted it but that was all staged for the picture. As I settled into the water, however, I did say the obligatory "Oh Yeah"! We finished our visit to the spa with a dip in a traditional hot tub. One of our friends said it looked like I was in the pot of some hostile natives, slowly cooking. Thankfully though, the natives were friendly and the only thing they were cooking was good Chinese food for a good price. Five of us ate for around $15. All in all, I am very glad that I listened to my friends and accompanied them. We now know of a nice place to visit this winter, when it is cold what can be better than being in a hot tub. - Frank

Exam Angst

This week we will finish our second Chinese textbook. We have been studying a book called Hanyu Jiao Cheng 1 Xia. We will move into HJC 2 Shang next week. Before that, though, we have to take an exam. Just the thought of it fills me with much angst. The last time we took a test, I failed miserable. It left me on the floor, in the fetal position, rocking back and forth asking over and over again "为什么,为什么 wèishénme,wèishénme" (why,why)? OK, so that is a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much. I was really upset that I did so poorly. Amanda was not much help either. She passed with a grade in the high eighties and afterward kept saying how disappointed she was. Which only made me feel worse as I sat there with a grade that was closer to my age than it was to 100. Aiya!! This time I am determined to do a much better job (can't do much worse). One of my students has actually been helping me with my homework, so I am hoping that that will give me the push that I need. He is a young, teenage guy who recently told me that he thinks I have a gift for languages. Did I also mention that he is delusional? Well, soon we will know what I am made of; the exam is coming. I will keep you posted if I am not catatonic. - 付伟国

You Can Never Go Home Again or Can You?

Although we have been back in China for less than a month, we also have less than a month in China before we return to the US . After that we are planning to return to China for another year at the end of August. Thinking about all that there is to do in the next few weeks to get ready to go home, reminded me of the saying "You can never go home again". What does that really mean? Most of us think, "of course you can go home again", but can one really? Obviously, one can go back to the house of their parents, and in a sense, that is going home. However, what makes a house a home is not the collections of bricks, sticks, mortar, and tile. It is the people and the memories. Memories are in the past, and people are transient, both physically and emotionally. Therefore, the idealistic memories that we have can never be recaptured, and we ourselves and the people we remember have all changed. The home of our mind is gone forever. I know that that is a rather bleak assessment of things, but it does not have to be. Let me give you an example. Have you ever watched an episode of one of your favorite TV shows from years ago? How often does the show in actuality live up to the memory? Often time distorts the true nature of things. It causes us to forget about the bad acting, weak script, or lame special effect i.e. "The Greatest American Hero". Now, that show will always hold a special place in my heart, but I would not want modern shows to look just like it. Instead, I can appreciate it for what it was, and yet still recognize the merit of some of my new favorite shows. Time can also have a different effect though. It helps one to see things from a different perspective. The fact that we are transient can be beneficial. As we grow older, we are constantly adjusting to the circumstances of life. Everyday, all of us are refined, shapened, and molded little by little. I remember when Star Trek the Next Generation premiered, many didn't like it because it was not the Original series. Becuase of advances in special effects and more sophisticated writing, the franchise was helped. In fact, I think it was improved. Kirk and the Crew were great, but the Next Gen was more polished. The effects of time are not always bad. So it is with us, just because we can't return to the home of our mind, doesn't mean we can't return to a home. When I think of how supportive our friends and families have been, always with kind words of encouragement, always anticipating our return, I think that although the home we left no longer exist, the one to which we return to will be even more special. It will be new, better, and even more polished than it was before. So in a since we will not be going home again, we will be going home for the first time. Again. - Frank

Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home - Bill Cosby