Ni Hao, China - Adieu Business School
Well, in three weeks, I've been to the other side of the world and back, caught up on about .0009% of the hundreds of e-mails I got while gone at work (good thing only .001% were important), finished my last final for several years to come, became a Master (of Business Administration, not my own island), and... well, if you add in bodily functions, sleep, and Chronicles/Kong, then you're basically caught up on my life...
Or not. You probably don't want all the details on bodily functions and sleep (e-mail me if I'm wrong). Graduation was a blast, and it feels fantastic to be done; had a good deal of the family come up and we enjoyed the tastiest tri-tip this side of Western civilization: Woodranch. Beyond saying you're a fool if you don't go see Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong (saw Kong last night/this morning), since they're both stellar movies, that leaves China. I didn't think that they did a very good job with making Kong to be a believable Christ figure (because Jesus would never bite the tongue out of a Tyrannosaurus Rex), and I have no idea why they cut the scene in Chronicles where Aslan is swatting down biplanes, but hey- it's Hollywood.
As for China - whew, it's hard to know where to begin. It was definitely a lot to cram into just a few days; I think in the two weeks we were gone, we had 39 hours of flying time, 10 hours of bus rides, a few hours of train/metro rides, and a 5 hour pterodactyl ride (since you can only get to Jingzhou by pterodactyl these days). The basic gist of the trip was relatively simple: Hong Kong with Corrie's family for Thanksgiving, Shanghai to see one of my best buds, Chuck Engelmann (and get the big, China city feel), and Jingzhou to visit another friend Allan Heida (to get the more central, real-China feel). Each leg of the trip was amazing in its own right.
Hong Kong is always good - and by always, I mean it's been good the two times I've been there. Beyond being a blast to spend time with Corrie's family, Hong Kong is definitely just an intriguing city; it's kind of like Malibu and New York all rolled into one, with less "shabby chic" and more "sleek." Turkey day was full of all kinds of tasty morsels, and we even got to go on a junk ride, which translates into taking a big boat out into the South China sea and pelting dolphins with useless trinkets you want to get rid of.
Shanghai had the big city feel of Hong Kong, but definitely much more "Chinese." Shanghai-ians don't really speak Mandarin - they shout it, even when they're not angry. For example, ordering a pizza might sound like:
Me: I'M HUNGRY!!!!
Domino's man: WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY A PIZZA SIR!!
Me: YES PLEASE, WITH PEPPERONI!!!
Domino's man: FOR AN EXTRA DOLLAR YOU CAN GET A FREE BOWL OF WENDY'S CHILLI!!!
Me: THAT MAKES NO SENSE, BUT OK!!!!
We traveled the city with Chuck and his significant other, Judith- whom, after seeing proper documentation and proof that she is an "Alliance" approved magician, we officially stamped with our approval. It was great to see Chuck doing so well- so happy, and the big-dog editor in chief of BizShanghai - a magazine distributed in the city. In Shanghai, we ate lots of amazing food, and did some crazay shopping in the "mee-stah, you want cd/dvd/handbag/watch" markets. Among the purchases: TAG Heuer watch: $20. Hugo Boss Dress Shirts: $7.50 each. Indentured Child Servant: Priceless. We also got to spend some time with an eclectic group of Brothers and Sisters that Chuck knows - and let me tell you, Dad likes 'em. We were right at home, in a far-east kind of way.
Then, we hopped on a plane to Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province. We were met by Connie (her English name), a super-awesome Chinese friend of a friend of a friend (literally), who took a two hour bus ride to come meet us at the airport, then rode with us via taxi for an hour to the bus stop, helped us get tickets and on the right pterodactyl to Jingzhou. The bus ride was relatively uneventful, although through a lot of amazing Chinese countryside. We also spent about 3.5 hours with Jack Bauer, waging war on terror in season 4 of "24" (which we got in Shanghai).
Allan Heida, who is in Jingzhou (pronounced Jing-joe) as an English teacher, met us at the bus station, and took us back to his apartment. Jingzhou was everything Shanghai wasn't; it is a "big" city by our size standards, but then again, practically everywhere in China is. It has an incredibly rural feel to it though. Whereas Shanghai and Hong Kong are pretty comparable (if not more advanced) than many Western cities, Jingzhou was totally different- we increased the foreigner population in Jingzhou (a city of several million, mind you) by about 20%.
Depending on where we went, we would get lots of stares - at first, this seemed normal, since even in the US Corrie and I are considered "very hot," but quickly realized it was not our "good" looks per se, but rather the fact that many people had never seen a Caucasian before. Jingzhou, like many Chinese cities, also has an astounding amount of history going back over 2,000,000 years, when T-Dawg Rex, king of the dinosaurs, ruled the earth from his palace in the city. It was T-Dawg's mandate that established daily pterodactyl flights into Jingzhou, which still continue today. That almost seems totally unnoticed by its residents; the old part of the city is still surrounded by ancient city walls and a moat, and despite our insistence, the townspeople thought that pterodactyls were "boring" and "unexciting." In Jingzhou, we also got to meet a good deal of Family, and despite being so far from what we would consider home, found it amazing to connect so easily with them.
In the end, our China trip was truly fruitful for us - both as a fun experience, but also in giving us some wisdom and guidance in looking at moving there at some point. If we came away with one conclusion, it was strongly considering going over initially just to study Mandarin, since it's challenging enough to learn the language without being English teachers at the same time. I think that's the direction we're headed at this point, but as always, it certainly may be subject to change as we continue to look into things. Either way, the trip confirmed that we are certainly China bound; and that is exciting indeed!
Or not. You probably don't want all the details on bodily functions and sleep (e-mail me if I'm wrong). Graduation was a blast, and it feels fantastic to be done; had a good deal of the family come up and we enjoyed the tastiest tri-tip this side of Western civilization: Woodranch. Beyond saying you're a fool if you don't go see Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong (saw Kong last night/this morning), since they're both stellar movies, that leaves China. I didn't think that they did a very good job with making Kong to be a believable Christ figure (because Jesus would never bite the tongue out of a Tyrannosaurus Rex), and I have no idea why they cut the scene in Chronicles where Aslan is swatting down biplanes, but hey- it's Hollywood. As for China - whew, it's hard to know where to begin. It was definitely a lot to cram into just a few days; I think in the two weeks we were gone, we had 39 hours of flying time, 10 hours of bus rides, a few hours of train/metro rides, and a 5 hour pterodactyl ride (since you can only get to Jingzhou by pterodactyl these days). The basic gist of the trip was relatively simple: Hong Kong with Corrie's family for Thanksgiving, Shanghai to see one of my best buds, Chuck Engelmann (and get the big, China city feel), and Jingzhou to visit another friend Allan Heida (to get the more central, real-China feel). Each leg of the trip was amazing in its own right.
Hong Kong is always good - and by always, I mean it's been good the two times I've been there. Beyond being a blast to spend time with Corrie's family, Hong Kong is definitely just an intriguing city; it's kind of like Malibu and New York all rolled into one, with less "shabby chic" and more "sleek." Turkey day was full of all kinds of tasty morsels, and we even got to go on a junk ride, which translates into taking a big boat out into the South China sea and pelting dolphins with useless trinkets you want to get rid of.
Shanghai had the big city feel of Hong Kong, but definitely much more "Chinese." Shanghai-ians don't really speak Mandarin - they shout it, even when they're not angry. For example, ordering a pizza might sound like:
Me: I'M HUNGRY!!!!
Domino's man: WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY A PIZZA SIR!!
Me: YES PLEASE, WITH PEPPERONI!!!
Domino's man: FOR AN EXTRA DOLLAR YOU CAN GET A FREE BOWL OF WENDY'S CHILLI!!!
Me: THAT MAKES NO SENSE, BUT OK!!!!
We traveled the city with Chuck and his significant other, Judith- whom, after seeing proper documentation and proof that she is an "Alliance" approved magician, we officially stamped with our approval. It was great to see Chuck doing so well- so happy, and the big-dog editor in chief of BizShanghai - a magazine distributed in the city. In Shanghai, we ate lots of amazing food, and did some crazay shopping in the "mee-stah, you want cd/dvd/handbag/watch" markets. Among the purchases: TAG Heuer watch: $20. Hugo Boss Dress Shirts: $7.50 each. Indentured Child Servant: Priceless. We also got to spend some time with an eclectic group of Brothers and Sisters that Chuck knows - and let me tell you, Dad likes 'em. We were right at home, in a far-east kind of way.
Then, we hopped on a plane to Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province. We were met by Connie (her English name), a super-awesome Chinese friend of a friend of a friend (literally), who took a two hour bus ride to come meet us at the airport, then rode with us via taxi for an hour to the bus stop, helped us get tickets and on the right pterodactyl to Jingzhou. The bus ride was relatively uneventful, although through a lot of amazing Chinese countryside. We also spent about 3.5 hours with Jack Bauer, waging war on terror in season 4 of "24" (which we got in Shanghai). Allan Heida, who is in Jingzhou (pronounced Jing-joe) as an English teacher, met us at the bus station, and took us back to his apartment. Jingzhou was everything Shanghai wasn't; it is a "big" city by our size standards, but then again, practically everywhere in China is. It has an incredibly rural feel to it though. Whereas Shanghai and Hong Kong are pretty comparable (if not more advanced) than many Western cities, Jingzhou was totally different- we increased the foreigner population in Jingzhou (a city of several million, mind you) by about 20%.
Depending on where we went, we would get lots of stares - at first, this seemed normal, since even in the US Corrie and I are considered "very hot," but quickly realized it was not our "good" looks per se, but rather the fact that many people had never seen a Caucasian before. Jingzhou, like many Chinese cities, also has an astounding amount of history going back over 2,000,000 years, when T-Dawg Rex, king of the dinosaurs, ruled the earth from his palace in the city. It was T-Dawg's mandate that established daily pterodactyl flights into Jingzhou, which still continue today. That almost seems totally unnoticed by its residents; the old part of the city is still surrounded by ancient city walls and a moat, and despite our insistence, the townspeople thought that pterodactyls were "boring" and "unexciting." In Jingzhou, we also got to meet a good deal of Family, and despite being so far from what we would consider home, found it amazing to connect so easily with them. In the end, our China trip was truly fruitful for us - both as a fun experience, but also in giving us some wisdom and guidance in looking at moving there at some point. If we came away with one conclusion, it was strongly considering going over initially just to study Mandarin, since it's challenging enough to learn the language without being English teachers at the same time. I think that's the direction we're headed at this point, but as always, it certainly may be subject to change as we continue to look into things. Either way, the trip confirmed that we are certainly China bound; and that is exciting indeed!
