Parents + Hengyang = Happiness

Hello dear family, friends, and fans.
Recently, I've been busy preparing for...my parents visit to China. They will arrive this Friday (June 4th) in the international city of Hong Kong. If all goes as planned, I will be waiting for them at the airport. We will enjoy 2-3 days playing in Hong Kong before heading inland to Hengyang.
My parents have not traveled overseas much, and this is their first time to visit China. I can't wait to take them around and show them off. They will come to class with me, meet my friends, taste delicious food, see the alley rats, check out the varieties of "meat" at the supermarket, drink my favorite bubble tea, and just chill. I don't know what they'll think about the life here, the way that everyone takes a nap from 12:30 to 2:15, the way that people stare and point at foreigners. I'm trying to remember what I thought about Hengyang when I first arrived. I just remember feeling tired and overwhelmed for about a month. Hopefully dad and mom can speed through that feeling in a few hours.

Plans Can't Keep up With Changes

“计划没有变化快”
"Plans Can't Keep up with Changes," is a common saying here in China. As a type A person who likes to know what the next day will hold, I don't do so well with this concept. I like schedule, routine, meeting times, and daily planners. I make a list every night before I go to bed of the next day's tasks; I'm wired tight.
But, living in this culture where there are frequently last minute dinner invitations or changes in teaching schedules the week before classes begin, I've had to adjust. But it still doesn't settle right within.

Thursday's are my days off from teaching. On these days, I usually meet with 2 or 3 sisters at two different times. We spend time studying, cooking, talking, and hanging out. Today is Wednesday. Within 3 hours, all three of these sisters have called me to tell me that they are leaving Hengyang either tonight or tomorrow morning. Just like that, Poof! A free day lurks before me. I like free days, but I don't like that I have no plans for the free day. Free days with no plans can be a little daunting; I'm starting to think of all the people I should call or visit, the rooms and corners I should clean, the lessons I should prepare, and the papers I should grade. How about a real "free" day, Portia.

Addendum to "Blog followers"

This post is an addendum to my previous post "Blog Followers." It seems that there are enough people out there who read this blog. Furthermore, I think blogging has important benefits for myself. If I don't blog about it, I forget about it. And it's almost as if it didn't happen at all, and then I wonder if it did happen. And, if it did happen but no one knows about it, does it even matter? But, I do think that these experiences are important, and so I share them here for all or none of the world to read.

Insomnia

Insomnia

Some say it’s a curse,
I say a curse can be a blessing.
After a week of rough nights, I’m blessed.

Early morning hours
limitless in their potential
Chinese dramas about cops in their big jeeps
changing out winter clothes to summer clothes
sitting on the couch, staring at the floor
drinking yogurt,
cleaning the fridge,
throwing stuff away,
laying upside down on my bed,
writing silly poems about nothing
Blessings

Shout out to the Bday Girl

My team-mate and friend, Caroline, will celebrate her Birthday tomorrow! It's been great getting to know her, and I look forward to another year of friendship.

Rat alley

Today, I was walking with a friend, when suddenly, she gasped, reached her hand toward her neck and froze. I quickly asked her what was wrong; she was unable to speak. The situation was kind of freaky, and I had two thoughts: either a bee had just stung her neck where she was holding her hand or she had seen a ghost. She also looked at me strangely as though maybe I were the ghost. I felt my face to see if it had morphed in some way. My face felt normal. Finally, she was able to point to a rat that was about 12 feet in front of us and quietly breathed out the word "Rat." Sure enough, a fat rat in all its disgustingness was awaiting us on the sidewalk.
"I can't stand rats," she continued. "Why didn't it run away from us?" My mothering nature kicked in at that point and I took her by the arm and turned her around to walk the other way out of the perilous danger. I don't like rats either, but they usually don't render me speechless; I just feel angry at them like they have no right to live in the same place with us. But no one tells the rats about how they don't have this right. So they continue to live and thrive here. Which reminds me of a little alley-way near our apartment called "Rat alley." It's called this because apparently one of the former foreign teachers was taking this short-cut home when a dead rat was flung from an apartment window above him and landed a few feet in front of him.

Blog Followers!

Do any of you check this blog once a week, once biweekly, or even once a month and find it somewhat stimulating and profound? Why not take the plunge and become a follower. I have recently been pondering the reason why I have this blog in the first place, and I think it might have something to do with my sanity. If that's the case, then I likely have an unhealthy dependency on blogging. I only want to depend on one thing in life. On the other hand, if the true reason I keep this blog is to keep friends and family back home and here in China up to speed with life, then it's a blog not wasted. So, all this to say, I want to have at least 25 followers by the end of June. If this goal is reached, I will consider it a blog not wasted. If this goal is not reached, I will bid adieu to blogging.

Bananas

I like bananas. I like to eat half a banana for a snack or have one, sliced and served on toast with peanut butter for breakfast. Bananas are also great for making banana bread, smoothies, and parfaits. But this appreciation of bananas is nothing compared to my Chinese friends' love for bananas. My friends can sure eat those bananas. Frequently, they will consume a whole banana right before eating an entire meal. The other day, a friend was at my place for about 3 and a half hours; in that time, she consumed two bananas and lunch.
I used to feel extremely frustrated that the fruit sellers would never sell me small quantities of bananas like 3 or 4; I always felt like I was buying 1/2 a crop's worth. But now, I understand. If I buy 3 or 4 bananas, they probably think that amount will only last me 2 days. And actually, now that I have these banana eating friends, they're probably right!

In Honor of My Mother

My grandmother, mother, and I have a common bond. Other than our sparkling personalities and five foot stature, we also have a hereditary trait displayed on our fingers. As you can see above, our fingers our short and stout. Each of us has between two or three fingers that are missing joints. The result is these fingers are shorter and fatter than the other fingers. When I was younger, I loved looking at my grandmother's and mother's hands, especially their fingers. Toward my own hands though, I was somewhat self-conscious. I would think of those wedding pictures show casing the husband and wife's hands folded over each other so dainty-like, and then I would shudder to imagine at how ridiculous my own hands would look in this romantic picture. Now, I've nearly forgotten that my hands are "special." I'm thankful to be linked with grandma and mom in this special way.


(My mom and grandmother: 2 beautiful women)

On Mother's Day in the US, I like to give my mom extra hugs and usually bake something special for breakfast like coffee cake and scrambled eggs. This year especially, I miss celebrating the day with my mom. But, I'm also thankful for the great examples of mothers around me, especially my two team-mates and one former team-mate (you know who you are). Thanks for giving us a good example of motherhood when we're away from our own mothers. And mom, many thanks. My words are not strong enough, but I want you to know I think of you often and thank the Father for you!

(Photo from Christmas 2006)

Do you remember when I was rebellious and naughty? Hopefully you don't remember too clearly! Thankfully most of those qualities have been snuffed out. Yet even in my worst days, I knew you loved me and would do anything to help me walk in the light. Your upward thoughts, continual forgiveness, and unconditional love have not been in vain. I can't thank you enough. May you feel the love today from across the ocean. The ocean is only as big as we make it seem.

Strategy

(A glimpse at the lines for Spain)
Waiting in lines in China is all about strategy. People in general, get a little aggressive here. The concept of a single person line seems lost on the masses. Furthermore, even if some people are lined up, other people are not above climbing under poles, pushing ahead of gawkers, and helping their family of 5 cut in front of 50 other people. In this somewhat stressful environment, my team-mate and I figured that if the rules you are used to playing by no longer apply, then you have to apply the rules of the new culture in order to function successfully in this new environment. So, we did just that. We got real good at aggressively waiting in the lines. It wasn’t easy; it took concentration and perseverance but the end result was worth it. We didn’t lose our cool and had fun making what might be a real stressful event into training for a new type of sporting event that hasn’t even been invented yet.


(Jenn and I waiting to see Israel, the first country we visited at the World Expo. We were so naive; we stepped it up after this crazy line.)

Here’s a sample of our dialogue as we waited in the 40 minute line to see America’s exhibit (America lost big points for its messy line):
Me: “Lady on my left is trying to cut us off at this inside corner.”
Jenn: “Hug the corner; I’ve got this corner covered, but we need to move quick.”
Me: “I’ve got my elbow touching this fence, we’re good.”
Jenn: “Great. She’s really aggressive.”
Me: “Yes, and she’s using her big bag to try and cut me off.”
Jenn: “Is she wearing the house shoes from the hotel?”



Sample from waiting in line for the Australia exhibit:
Jenn: “We’ve got kids running wildly through the line.”
Me: (to the kids in Chinese) “You guys need to wait in line,” as they rush past me.
Jenn: “This lady’s umbrella keeps getting stuck in my hair.”
Me: “Let’s get in front of the two people with umbrellas. It’s ridiculous they don’t realize what a hazard it is to hold their umbrellas at other people’s eye level.”
Jenn: “I’m all in favor of getting past them.”
Me: “They’re moving slow; I think we can cut them off at the next corner.”
Jenn: “Let’s move. Soon we’ll be under the canopy and the misters that Australia has so nicely installed over their waiting line.”
Me: “America should study how to organize their lines from Australia’s example.”

World Expo Review

The second day of visiting the expo, as Jenn and I were standing in our first line of the day, we decided we needed a system to rate the exhibits. We came up with 5 categories giving each category a maximum of 10 points. The categories are as follows: “Cool Factor” which includes the popularity and style of the building, the Spirit exuded inside the exhibit, the lines to see the expo (Were the lines structured in an orderly way? Were the lines in the shade?), culture and arts displayed from the country, and finally the science and technology introduced in the exhibit. We also gave ourselves 5 points to play with if a country had some aspect that didn’t fit into one of those categories. For example, Thailand got a few extra points for having a 3-D movie inside, France lost points for not having any English translations.



Here are the results from our two days:
Italy: 44 (Italy was just pretty amazing. Tastefully done.)
Mexico: 40
Canada: 40 (Friendly and kind of random)
France: 38
Australia: 38 (Fun is the word I would use to describe this exhibit.)
Netherlands: 34
Switzerland: 33 (included a type of ride that winded you up for a great view of the expo)
Thailand: 33
Indonesia: 33 (very educational)
USA: 33 (very commercialized)
Russia: 32
Spain: 30
New Zealand: 28
Israel: 26
Turkey: 25 (Very interesting with ancient artifacts, just low on science, tech, and spirit)
Cambodia and Lithuania: We visited these, but didn’t know how to rank them. 
We also visited South and Central American countries. I had a cup of Guatemalan coffee.

(Please keep in mind we didn’t have a chance to visit all the countries including China. We saw a statistic that only 40% of the people who attended the Expo during the first 3 days were able to see the China exhibit. Also, the opinions here are from 2 people’s perspective, and in no way reflect our feelings about the countries themselves…just their exhibits at the 2010 World Expo. I don’t claim that I could do any better at creating one single building that could accurately capture the spirit of the entire country, but the ranking system did help us keep our sanity in those crazy lines.)

More countries

Crazy coolness inside Canada.


This is the Netherlands. A little crazy, but fun. The name of their exhibit was "Happy Street."


This is the United Kingdom's expo that you see behind my lovely team-mate. We took the picture from the Netherlands.

Photos from Mexico ('s exhibit)

For a pretty penny, you could eat authentic Mexican inside their exhibit. Delish!


You could look in these masks and see Mexico from the perspective of the person or object depicted in the mask.

Sneak Peak of World Expo photos

My team-mate and I had a wonderful week-end in Shanghai visiting the 2010 world expo. I think it might be one of the coolest things I've done in my 20's. Some people in their 20's get married, have babies, buy houses, etc. Not this non-conventional cat! Not that the conventional things don't appeal to me, but what good is it to want apples that are hanging at the top of the tree when the grape vines are producing fruit right in front of your nose? So, I taste and savor!


Israel had a pretty cool multi-media exhibit where they told you all the amazing scientific discoveries there country has made. (more photos and enlightening explanation coming)