Monday, March 07, 2005
Creflo in China
This morning at 6 am, I got up to watch "Changing Your World" with Christian pastor and speaker Creflo Dollar. One display on the lower part of the screen was blurred out, but other than that, nothing else seemed obviously censored. It was mostly Bible teaching from Romans 8 and 12. I was quite surprised to see this kind of Christian programming here in China, but this was on ATV, too, so it might be only available in Guangdong.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
the wrong bus!
Today was mostly staying at home and unpacking and cleaning some more. I've been craving some American food all day. After 3 weeks straight of jiao-zi (potstickers), noodles, fried rice...i just wanted a burger. S. was fine, but he obliged me (what a sweet man!). The only things "western" available around here are McDonalds and KFC - and since we don't do McDees, it was KFC.
S. wanted to take a bus, which was fine, since getting a taxi at this time from out here in Boonieville is impossible. There were a lot more accidents than we'd ever seen in such a short period of time, even in the U.S. We didn't see one accident all the time we were in India. Fortunately, most car accidents aren't the twisted carnage one might find in the US, probably because folks drive slower around here.
On the way back, we decided to save some money and take a bus as well. There are only two buses that stop by our campus (509 and 523). We saw a 523 and climbed aboard. Our campus is off of a little side road left of the main road. This bus shot right past the left turn and kept going straight, much to our (mine mostly) trepidation. The next stop, where we got off, was at least 2 km past the intersection and i had never been to this part of the city.
It was quite deserted at the bus stop, with a couple motorbike taxi guys hoping to provide a ride. We headed for a footbridge that would take us across the road and hopefully back to our campus. It was pretty late (around 10:00 p.m.) and very dark. On the other side of the bridge, there were a couple restaurants. On a whim, S. and I decided to explore (since we were there anyway and probably wouldn't come back)...we saw an entire alley of shacks selling everything from blankets to shoes. It was a whole 'nother - quite alive - world out there. I would have never guessed even just standing at the bus stop, a hundred feet away. This market was much more dirty and it was outdoors. We picked up a couple items because they were unbelieveably cheap. After walking about half way through the alley, i was done, but S. saw some blinking lights at the end that he was curious about, so we decided to walk the entire length of this place.
The "lights," we discovered, were decorations for karaoke bars. There were about 15 of them with no doors sitting right next to each other (i.e. sharing a wall), forming a giant "L" shape. It was horrendous! Incredibly dissonant sounds eminating from each bar as tone-deaf singers tried to drown their neighbors, in order to hear themselves. Stick 15 tone-deaf people in a room, all singing a different song, in Chinese, at the top of their lungs and it's close to what we heard that night. My ears are still ringing. (There's an oxy-moron: a tone-deaf Chinese. You'd think they'd be really good since Chinese is a tonal language.)
We took a taxi back. The whole thing (the bus ride and taxi) ended up costing more than had we just taken a taxi back. So much for "saving money" - but then again, we would have missed out on the karaoke bars.
S. wanted to take a bus, which was fine, since getting a taxi at this time from out here in Boonieville is impossible. There were a lot more accidents than we'd ever seen in such a short period of time, even in the U.S. We didn't see one accident all the time we were in India. Fortunately, most car accidents aren't the twisted carnage one might find in the US, probably because folks drive slower around here.
On the way back, we decided to save some money and take a bus as well. There are only two buses that stop by our campus (509 and 523). We saw a 523 and climbed aboard. Our campus is off of a little side road left of the main road. This bus shot right past the left turn and kept going straight, much to our (mine mostly) trepidation. The next stop, where we got off, was at least 2 km past the intersection and i had never been to this part of the city.
It was quite deserted at the bus stop, with a couple motorbike taxi guys hoping to provide a ride. We headed for a footbridge that would take us across the road and hopefully back to our campus. It was pretty late (around 10:00 p.m.) and very dark. On the other side of the bridge, there were a couple restaurants. On a whim, S. and I decided to explore (since we were there anyway and probably wouldn't come back)...we saw an entire alley of shacks selling everything from blankets to shoes. It was a whole 'nother - quite alive - world out there. I would have never guessed even just standing at the bus stop, a hundred feet away. This market was much more dirty and it was outdoors. We picked up a couple items because they were unbelieveably cheap. After walking about half way through the alley, i was done, but S. saw some blinking lights at the end that he was curious about, so we decided to walk the entire length of this place.
The "lights," we discovered, were decorations for karaoke bars. There were about 15 of them with no doors sitting right next to each other (i.e. sharing a wall), forming a giant "L" shape. It was horrendous! Incredibly dissonant sounds eminating from each bar as tone-deaf singers tried to drown their neighbors, in order to hear themselves. Stick 15 tone-deaf people in a room, all singing a different song, in Chinese, at the top of their lungs and it's close to what we heard that night. My ears are still ringing. (There's an oxy-moron: a tone-deaf Chinese. You'd think they'd be really good since Chinese is a tonal language.)
We took a taxi back. The whole thing (the bus ride and taxi) ended up costing more than had we just taken a taxi back. So much for "saving money" - but then again, we would have missed out on the karaoke bars.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Our Colleagues
This evening we had dinner with the rest of our "foreign" colleagues, hosted by the university. There are over 60 this year - quite a gathering. It was lovely colleagues who had become friends over the course of last year. We, along with another newlywed couple, were congratulated on our recent nuptials and presented with a gift. We also heard the clinkling of glasses suggesting we kiss - the other couple did (he was from the States and understood what the "clinkling" meant), but we didn't. I'm not sure everyone would have wanted to see that. It was interesting to hear what "clinkling" meant in other countries, for ex: in England, it meant asking for a speech, instead of a kiss. Well, anyway, i'm glad we did neither.
It was great to catch up with folks on their summer, previous semester and spring festival break... We'll have to start planning for our summer break...
Tonight's TV break:
NBA basketball, Houston vs. Washington
"60 Minutes" featuring American combat stress teams serving American soldiers in Iraq, connection between Howard Hughes and Richard Nixon, and Saudis fighting terrorists in Saudi Arabia.
"Just For Laughs"....a Canadian "Candid Camera" of sorts. We saw this show in India as well. A riot!
It was great to catch up with folks on their summer, previous semester and spring festival break... We'll have to start planning for our summer break...
Tonight's TV break:
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
First day of classes
L. went to teach classes for her first day of work. I stayed home to clean hangers and wash dishes, while watching NBA game highlights. There don't seem to get a lot of live NBA games, instead just broadcasting possession-by-possession clips.
M. the computer guy, came by with a colleague to install DSL broadband - which didn't take. M. and I talked a bit about his work and school. He graduated from a university in Guilin, which is his hometown, and he's been in GZ only 3 months to do his job. When we initially met M, he seemed standoffish, but he's turned out to be a pretty nice guy. He watched NBA basketball with us, while his colleague was trying to install the broadband connection. L. was yelling enthusiastically at the game as usual....she’s more of a fan than anyone I've ever known (so cool :-). M's favorite team is the Minnesota Timberwolves and his fave player is Kevin Garnett. He taught us how to say some of the players' names in Chinese (Michael Jordan's last name sounds like "fried egg" --- "chao dan". He seems impressed that I once worked for Microsoft. He thinks I could get a job easily here and pointed me to some local websites. If only I could read Chinese. He'd like to get better at his English, he says, if he had more money.
L.'s classes (she had three today) are made up mostly of women. One class has only 2 men out of 30-40 students. If the one-child policy and families' desire to have boys over girls has indeed created a shortage of women that the news reports, it sure ain't obvious here at XM (the name of our campus)!
Still cold, still dreary, still overcast. No end in sight, it seems. :-P
M. the computer guy, came by with a colleague to install DSL broadband - which didn't take. M. and I talked a bit about his work and school. He graduated from a university in Guilin, which is his hometown, and he's been in GZ only 3 months to do his job. When we initially met M, he seemed standoffish, but he's turned out to be a pretty nice guy. He watched NBA basketball with us, while his colleague was trying to install the broadband connection. L. was yelling enthusiastically at the game as usual....she’s more of a fan than anyone I've ever known (so cool :-). M's favorite team is the Minnesota Timberwolves and his fave player is Kevin Garnett. He taught us how to say some of the players' names in Chinese (Michael Jordan's last name sounds like "fried egg" --- "chao dan". He seems impressed that I once worked for Microsoft. He thinks I could get a job easily here and pointed me to some local websites. If only I could read Chinese. He'd like to get better at his English, he says, if he had more money.
L.'s classes (she had three today) are made up mostly of women. One class has only 2 men out of 30-40 students. If the one-child policy and families' desire to have boys over girls has indeed created a shortage of women that the news reports, it sure ain't obvious here at XM (the name of our campus)!
Still cold, still dreary, still overcast. No end in sight, it seems. :-P
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
...wear space-age goggles to make you taller!
I thought American media had gone infomerical-crazy....some of the Chinese TV channels, for an entire morning, broadcast infomercials selling lotions that enlarge breasts, whiten skin, remove age spots, pills & racks & space-age goggles (I kid you not) to make people grow taller, straighten spines, and electronic devices that strap around waists to trim fat. One informacial showed a woman interviewing 3 men asking if they prefer women with white skin or dark skin. They all said they prefer white skin, which, of course, is why women should "buy their product". The "before/after" shots of the women's faces would've been convincing had the "before" shot not been shot in the shade. Not surprisingly, like the U.S., much of China is becoming obsessed with looking good.
Let us know if you find any mistakes in our postings. We can post, but curiously we can't view what we post. Blogspot.com seems to be blocked here.
Let us know if you find any mistakes in our postings. We can post, but curiously we can't view what we post. Blogspot.com seems to be blocked here.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Happy B'day
Today is S. b'day. Fortunately we had the day off, so we could go into the city and explore a bit. We went to a Brazilian restaurant for lunch. The food is great and the price is quite reasonable - S. enjoyed it and it's one of my favorite places to eat out here.
After, we walked to a park commemorating martyrs. It was actually quite large and we weren't able to explore all of it, but it's definitely something to go back to and/or take friends. The park consisted of a children's play area, paths going everywhere, birds in cages, a lake with peddle boats, pavilions, memorials, and flowers, shrubs, and trees of all kinds. There were several people playing Chinese chess, cards, doing Tai-Chi, playing cards, reading, a couple people were being instructed in some kind of sword tai-chi performance and we even saw one person jogging. It was pretty fun, but we had to leave early since it was a bit cold (though not windy) and got dark rather quickly.
Happy Birthday, honey!
Thanks, sweetie!
A bit on the Martyrs' Memorial Gardens --- it cost rmb 3 each to enter. The gardens, I learned, commemorate the 5000 or so Communists who were killed by Nationalists on December 1927 during the failed Autumn Harvest Uprising. Many of the dead are buried under a large, grassy mound. The park consisted of a childrens play area, a roller rink, paths going everywhere, birds in cages, a lake with peddle boats, pavilions, memorials, and flowers, shrubs, and trees of all kinds. Elderly folks were everywhere playing Chinese chess, cards, or doing tai chi. A nice, tranquil place to bring the family. Still, to have it all found over the site of a massively bloody uprising was kinda weird, if one thought about it enough. Imagine, if you will, a roller rink on American Civil War memorial battlegrounds. The weather cooperated a bit, with no rain or wind, just overcast.
After, we walked to a park commemorating martyrs. It was actually quite large and we weren't able to explore all of it, but it's definitely something to go back to and/or take friends. The park consisted of a children's play area, paths going everywhere, birds in cages, a lake with peddle boats, pavilions, memorials, and flowers, shrubs, and trees of all kinds. There were several people playing Chinese chess, cards, doing Tai-Chi, playing cards, reading, a couple people were being instructed in some kind of sword tai-chi performance and we even saw one person jogging. It was pretty fun, but we had to leave early since it was a bit cold (though not windy) and got dark rather quickly.
Happy Birthday, honey!
Thanks, sweetie!
A bit on the Martyrs' Memorial Gardens --- it cost rmb 3 each to enter. The gardens, I learned, commemorate the 5000 or so Communists who were killed by Nationalists on December 1927 during the failed Autumn Harvest Uprising. Many of the dead are buried under a large, grassy mound. The park consisted of a childrens play area, a roller rink, paths going everywhere, birds in cages, a lake with peddle boats, pavilions, memorials, and flowers, shrubs, and trees of all kinds. Elderly folks were everywhere playing Chinese chess, cards, or doing tai chi. A nice, tranquil place to bring the family. Still, to have it all found over the site of a massively bloody uprising was kinda weird, if one thought about it enough. Imagine, if you will, a roller rink on American Civil War memorial battlegrounds. The weather cooperated a bit, with no rain or wind, just overcast.
Sunday, February 27, 2005
like-minded folks
This morning, we taxied over to the GICF, an international fellowship for ex-pat Christians. It's quite a colorful gathering, with people from Asia, North America, Europe, and Africa there. You'll find on their website what they're all about and even sermon outlines and recordings. After service, many of us gather for a buffet one floor below....a great deal at 20 rmb (about $2.25).
This evening we had dinner with several like-minded folks associated with our university. It was pretty cool. I'm sure it was much more fun (and comprehensible) for S. conversing in the native tongue, i was pretty much lost most of the time, despite the occassional interpretation. But it was still a good time of fellowship. We were meeting to discuss a time of regular fellowship.
We are also back in our flat on the other campus - back to reality... We've spent the last few days on the main campus because it's been freezing here and the power has been out in our flat for the entire week.
School is supposed to start tomorrow, but i have neither schedule nor textbooks - this should be fun...
Maybe some of you wonder what passes for TV entertainment here in China. Well, Guangzhou is lucky in that it gets "Pearl" and "ATV" from Hong Kong. This probably isn't so in provinces outside Guangdong. So we get to watch "Late Night with David Letterman" a lot. He comes on every night on ATV, but comes on twice on Saturday. They love him in Guangdong, apparently. We also get NBA basketball. It's pretty popular here, of course in large part to Yao Ming. They play a lot of Houston Rockets games on CCTV - Channel 5, a kind of ESPN for China. Non-Rocket games get aired as well. There are several other CCTV stations here as well, all with different types of programming. Much of Chinese TV consists of Chinese soap operas (modern and classical), game shows, variety shows, old opera, and sports.
This evening we had dinner with several like-minded folks associated with our university. It was pretty cool. I'm sure it was much more fun (and comprehensible) for S. conversing in the native tongue, i was pretty much lost most of the time, despite the occassional interpretation. But it was still a good time of fellowship. We were meeting to discuss a time of regular fellowship.
We are also back in our flat on the other campus - back to reality... We've spent the last few days on the main campus because it's been freezing here and the power has been out in our flat for the entire week.
School is supposed to start tomorrow, but i have neither schedule nor textbooks - this should be fun...
Maybe some of you wonder what passes for TV entertainment here in China. Well, Guangzhou is lucky in that it gets "Pearl" and "ATV" from Hong Kong. This probably isn't so in provinces outside Guangdong. So we get to watch "Late Night with David Letterman" a lot. He comes on every night on ATV, but comes on twice on Saturday. They love him in Guangdong, apparently. We also get NBA basketball. It's pretty popular here, of course in large part to Yao Ming. They play a lot of Houston Rockets games on CCTV - Channel 5, a kind of ESPN for China. Non-Rocket games get aired as well. There are several other CCTV stations here as well, all with different types of programming. Much of Chinese TV consists of Chinese soap operas (modern and classical), game shows, variety shows, old opera, and sports.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Going bananas
So, day before yesterday we tried to buy some bananas. The banana lady was squatting up on a flower bed wall type thing, and when she saw us come up to her cart, she got off and climbed on the bike, that the cart was mounted on, and drove off. It was the strangest thing. And then the little "meat on a stick" guy next to her hopped on his bike and drove off quick and the phone card lady next to them got up and started gathering her things. Upon inquiry, she said something about the "restaurant police" and how it was time to get out of there. I guess they didn't like "vagabond" vendors. (Our phone card lady had been there over a year...but i guess she was vagabond) So, we lost our bananas...
We continued walking toward the taxi stand, when we heard a voice behind us...it was the banana lady again! In hurried gestures, she motioned us over and pointed to the bananas, all the time making furtive glances over our shoulders to see if the "police" would emerge. I looked at S. with the "well, how many illegal bananas do we want?" look. I didn't have time to make up my mind, because the "police" must have showed up. Before i could react, right there, in the middle of another "banana-money" exchange she grabbed the bananas from my hand and darted off...
There are banana vendors everywhere, we just never know which ones carry the "legit" bananas and which are just a cart ready to escape at the sign of "restaurant police".
PS: The next day, the banana lady was back at her original post as if nothing had happened. She smiled at us as we walked by...we looked around for any moving vehicles in the vicinity. With amazing subtlety and speed, the bananas were picked, weighed and the money exchanged. They tasted good...we'll be back...
We continued walking toward the taxi stand, when we heard a voice behind us...it was the banana lady again! In hurried gestures, she motioned us over and pointed to the bananas, all the time making furtive glances over our shoulders to see if the "police" would emerge. I looked at S. with the "well, how many illegal bananas do we want?" look. I didn't have time to make up my mind, because the "police" must have showed up. Before i could react, right there, in the middle of another "banana-money" exchange she grabbed the bananas from my hand and darted off...
There are banana vendors everywhere, we just never know which ones carry the "legit" bananas and which are just a cart ready to escape at the sign of "restaurant police".
PS: The next day, the banana lady was back at her original post as if nothing had happened. She smiled at us as we walked by...we looked around for any moving vehicles in the vicinity. With amazing subtlety and speed, the bananas were picked, weighed and the money exchanged. They tasted good...we'll be back...
...same bat channel
Continued from the last entry...
[LAST PARAGRAPH - The power was turned on early the next morning (2:00 a.m.) which delighted us (it doesn't take much) only to be turned off again by 8 a.m. and lasting the rest of the day. It was pretty miserable that morning...we tried to get things done, but with no heat whatsoever and whatever candles availble being used at a pretty quck rate, we had no choice but to quit and...]
...call for help. Which we did - to the international office on the main campus. I must have sounded pretty pathetic, i know i looked it, so they took pity on us and put us up at some guest flats they have on the main campus. Hooray!!! We were very excited (me mostly) since we'd heard that there'd been heating there, and it was confirmed by other teachers.
So, that night...be turned the aircon on to the "heating" option, only to learn that the guestrooms didn't have that available. It was once again a miserable night! I couldn't get the chills to leave my body and i lay there for hours, just shaking, while poor S. tried desperately to do everything in his power to keep me warm. It was a very long night...
Things are a bit better now. The weather did warm up for a couple days, although it's a bit colder again. We've bought several hot water bottles and are wearing a few layers of clothing. We'll have to leave the "guestroom" tomorrow and return to our flat. We still have all that unpacking and cleaning to do, but we're off to a good start. (We went back a couple days ago and cleaned the balcony - it looked lovely when we left it) We're pondering swapping flats to one downstairs, haven't fully decided yet. We're to take a look at it sometime next week, so we'll see...
Classes start Monday. I had a meeting with my department to get the textbooks and schedules...it was a short meeting, since they had neither. Ahhh...it's good to be back =D So, i'm supposed to start day after tomorrow, but i don't know where, when and how...
Tune in to find out how i pulled it off, or IF i did...
[LAST PARAGRAPH - The power was turned on early the next morning (2:00 a.m.) which delighted us (it doesn't take much) only to be turned off again by 8 a.m. and lasting the rest of the day. It was pretty miserable that morning...we tried to get things done, but with no heat whatsoever and whatever candles availble being used at a pretty quck rate, we had no choice but to quit and...]
...call for help. Which we did - to the international office on the main campus. I must have sounded pretty pathetic, i know i looked it, so they took pity on us and put us up at some guest flats they have on the main campus. Hooray!!! We were very excited (me mostly) since we'd heard that there'd been heating there, and it was confirmed by other teachers.
So, that night...be turned the aircon on to the "heating" option, only to learn that the guestrooms didn't have that available. It was once again a miserable night! I couldn't get the chills to leave my body and i lay there for hours, just shaking, while poor S. tried desperately to do everything in his power to keep me warm. It was a very long night...
Things are a bit better now. The weather did warm up for a couple days, although it's a bit colder again. We've bought several hot water bottles and are wearing a few layers of clothing. We'll have to leave the "guestroom" tomorrow and return to our flat. We still have all that unpacking and cleaning to do, but we're off to a good start. (We went back a couple days ago and cleaned the balcony - it looked lovely when we left it) We're pondering swapping flats to one downstairs, haven't fully decided yet. We're to take a look at it sometime next week, so we'll see...
Classes start Monday. I had a meeting with my department to get the textbooks and schedules...it was a short meeting, since they had neither. Ahhh...it's good to be back =D So, i'm supposed to start day after tomorrow, but i don't know where, when and how...
Tune in to find out how i pulled it off, or IF i did...
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
in Guangzhou
Well, we've finally made it to Guangzhou and found an internet cafe here...
Hope you've enjoyed our updates so far, especially S' experiences and perspectives thereunto in India.
We were hoping to spend this week unpacking and cleaning up our flat, but that is all on hold right now. It's been absolutely frigid this week, from the time we arrived into Guangzhou until now. Unpacking was been pretty awful, since every few minutes i'd have to go stand by the glorified blowdryer we were given, to thaw out my toes and fingers. S. was lovely during the whole thing...he lit all the candles that were available and tried to keep things as warm as possible. I was freezing, of course. A few days later, our power was shut off and has been shut off since. We still have no clear idea why, but have received several theories...none of which are encouraging as to when we'll get the power back.
We were able to barely endure one day...and spent most of it in front of a candle trying to warm our hands or heating water over the stove for the couple hot water bottles that we had. After about 5 p.m. it got pretty dark, so we had the added burden of providing light as well...needless to day we went to bed fairly early the first night (around 7:30) with nothing else to do.
The power was turned on early the next morning (2:00 a.m.) which delighted us (it doesn't take much) only to be turned off again by 8 a.m. and lasting the rest of the day. It was pretty miserable that morning...we tried to get things done, but with no heat whatsoever and whatever candles availble being used at a pretty quck rate, we had no choice but to quit and...
Oops...have to go...
If you want to know more...check at the same bat channel, same bat time???
Hope you've enjoyed our updates so far, especially S' experiences and perspectives thereunto in India.
We were hoping to spend this week unpacking and cleaning up our flat, but that is all on hold right now. It's been absolutely frigid this week, from the time we arrived into Guangzhou until now. Unpacking was been pretty awful, since every few minutes i'd have to go stand by the glorified blowdryer we were given, to thaw out my toes and fingers. S. was lovely during the whole thing...he lit all the candles that were available and tried to keep things as warm as possible. I was freezing, of course. A few days later, our power was shut off and has been shut off since. We still have no clear idea why, but have received several theories...none of which are encouraging as to when we'll get the power back.
We were able to barely endure one day...and spent most of it in front of a candle trying to warm our hands or heating water over the stove for the couple hot water bottles that we had. After about 5 p.m. it got pretty dark, so we had the added burden of providing light as well...needless to day we went to bed fairly early the first night (around 7:30) with nothing else to do.
The power was turned on early the next morning (2:00 a.m.) which delighted us (it doesn't take much) only to be turned off again by 8 a.m. and lasting the rest of the day. It was pretty miserable that morning...we tried to get things done, but with no heat whatsoever and whatever candles availble being used at a pretty quck rate, we had no choice but to quit and...
Oops...have to go...
If you want to know more...check at the same bat channel, same bat time???
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