Everything is impermanent...especially in China.

Last Friday afternoon, I was looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend.
At 8:00pm that same day, I was on a train to Guilin (but we spent the majority of our time in Yangshuo, just a couple hours by bus out of Guilin) for the long-weekend I found out I had just a few hours before.
Oh China.

The weekend was amazing.

I saw the actual view that is on the back of the 20rmb bill as I cruised down the Li River on a bamboo boat:


I rode a bike along the river, down dirt paths, and through small villages:


I "explored" a cave "tastefully" illuminated by colored lights...


which ended with a relaxing mud bath:


I relaxed in the outdoor seating at a restaurant while I people watched (and was watched by people) and ate apple crumble:


I saw the Longji rice terraces, where, despite the beautiful views, people still found Ashley and me more interesting to photograph:


I ate "Mexican" food...Twice!



Everything in China is subject to change. Things happen last minute and planning is futile. Many times, it drives me crazy. But sometimes it all works out, and you end up with weekends like this. You just have to be ready for anything!

Danny.

In my Thursday English Corner, I have a student named Danny. This kid is a genius, no joke. On the first day, when I asked the class what they would like to talk about during English Corner, he raised his hand and said, “Maybe we can talk about current events and give our opinions. And maybe have a debate.”

Later, he raised his hand again, “Maybe you can have us give impromptu speeches.” Impromptu speeches! Can you believe it? His words, not mine.

On the second day of English Corner we played “Two Truths and a Lie” – where each person has to write 3 things about themselves, two things must be true, one false:

Danny: First – Donkey is my friend. (Donkey is another student in my class).
Second – I don’t like donkey.
Third – Donkey is not in class today.
Me: Ok, which one is false?
Danny: The third one.
Me: Wait…Donkey is your friend, but you don’t like him??
Danny: In the first one, Donkey is the name of my friend but in the second
one, donkey is an animal. I don’t like donkeys.

A lot of my students can’t even understand when I say “What is your name?” and this kid is playing with double meanings and suggesting impromptu speeches. This kid is going places.

And if that’s not enough, just yesterday in class I did a lesson on Aladdin, where I showed a clip from the movie and then asked them what they would wish for if they had 3 wishes. This is Danny’s response:

"If I had three wish I would wish for I can become a English master, because I love English and I hope that I can go abroad or study abroad to become a civilized man. I would also wish for a peaceful world, because I hope everywhere is peaceful everyone is very kind and friendly. Finally, I would wish for money because I want to donate all my money to poor students and poor people. I want all the people around the world can live better."

The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the WORLD

The *Biggest Chinese Food Restaurant in the World* is in Changsha, the capital of the Hunan Province. The restaurant is a "combination mini-theme park and eatery, featuring live entertainment and landscaped pools and pavilions" (here) that seats 5000 people and employs a staff of 1000.

Anyway...guess who ate dinner there last night?

Yeah, that would be me:



And to top the night off...when we strolled back to our apartments at 2:30am (our train was delayed over an hour), we looked into the sky and saw STARS. Yeah, stars! Those bright shiny things in the sky that people in other countries that aren't China get to see on a nightly basis, but here in China we see...pretty much never.

:-)

On a school night???

Every time I am having a bad day or week, there will inevitably be something that happens that makes me remember why I am in China. Whether it is an especially fun class, a successful conversation at the market or store, or getting a phone call at 8:30pm on a Tuesday night:

Ashley - Amy just called and she wants to know if we want to go to the club with her and some of her friends.
Me - Uhh...okay.

We can't get Amy (our liaison) out on the weekend, but Tuesday night? Sounds good!

When Life Hands You Lemons...Eat Oreos!

This past week I have eaten...a lot...of Oreos. There is nothing specific that happened, it's just been one of those weeks.



It's not all bad though. Yesterday I walked to the market where I successfully purchased some vegetables, sugar, cinnamon bark, salt, soy sauce, rice, pork, chicken, and eggs. I wish I could say that it was all due to my amazing Chinese skills, but that would be a lie. It was actually due to my amazing pointing skills. Though, not to brag, I did throw out a few sentences that were actually understood by the poor man who had to deal with me. :-)

Tonight I decided to cook. This is my first home-cooked (by me!) meal in China. I was pretty proud...



(Pork marinated in soy sauce, garlic, and cinnamon bark with cinnamon sugar apples, rice, and green beans).

Yum!
:-)

Macau.

While in Hong Kong, I took a day trip to Macau with two other WT vols and a guy I met in my hostel who is teaching English in Korea. We set out around noon and took the "Turbo Jet" - a high speed ferry - to Macau. Because it was settled by the Portuguese in the 16th century, there is a lot of Portuguese influence and has a completely different feel that Hong Kong or China. Signs are in Chinese, English, and Portuguese. The older buildings are very Western in style.

During our stay we visiting the Ruins of St. Paul's, a 17th century cathedral, of which only the stone facade now remains.



Then, as we walked through the city, we came upon a parade of Buddhas. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but it was fun to see. We eventually made our way to dinner at a restaurant near the beach where I got half a chicken and fries (yum!) and bread and butter (yum again!). The night ended with an hour in a casino where I lost $20 HK dollars in the slot machines after which we hopped in a free shuttle back to the ferry station and headed back to HK.

Hong Kong: Asia For Dummies

I just got back from a week in Hong Kong. It was great. I ate Mexican, Indian, Thai, and Italian food. I spoke English. I met people from all over the world. I went to a hookah bar and an African bar in the same night. I went to a "real" grocery store and bought apples from Washington and cheese and chips and hummus. I also bought BBQ sauce and Pam spray to bring back. I went to a book store where 99% of the books sold are in English where I bought a Mandarin Chinese phrase book and contemplated buying the newest issue of Glamour (but quickly decided against it when I saw the $10 price tag). People bumped into me on the street and said "Excuse me" and "Sorry". No one stared at me. I saw Asian people speaking to each other in English with no accents! For the first couple days I was in shock..."Where am I? Cuz this certainly isn't China!"



Hong Kong feels like a western country that just so happens to be in Asia. Granted, you can stray off the main roads and visit the markets with fresh produce and meat hanging out in the open, and fish, frogs, and turtles chilling in buckets of water waiting to become someone's dinner. You can wander the markets where they sell clothes and other souveniers. You will find people who can't speak English and only speak Cantonese. But it's just as easy to skip all of that and go to the grocery store in the mall and buy your packaged meats and imported cheese, or go shopping at the huge H&M. You can buy your knock-off Louis Vuitton bag off the street or get a real one from the Louis Vuitton store down the road.

It was a nice break from the monotony of life in China. For the past couple months I have eaten the same foods day after day, seen pretty much only Chinese people, have struggled to communicate with broken English (them) and Chinese (me), and have hung out with the same people, so it was nice to experience the diversity of Hong Kong (there is a huge Indian population...who knew!? And lots of black people - I'm not sure where from. And backpackers from all over. And lots of foreigners living in the city). It would be a great place to live...if you can afford it.

I definitely spent more money this week than I make in an entire month. In Zhuzhou, dinners range in cost from 3 to 15 RMB, in Hong Kong, dinner is at least 100 HK dollars (roughly the same value), but it was worth it. And now for the next few months I will be spending as little money as possible. Which shouldn't be too hard. Haha.

Check out the rest of my pictures from the week here.