FINALLY FINALLY AN UPDATE

I am finally getting around to updating this blog. I am watching the movie "Bucket List" while I do this, so it may take a while to complete.

I am settled at this school. I said this before, but it bears repeating, when things get comfortable, things go wrong.

A few weeks ago I came to the realization, for the second time, that foreign teachers care more about their student's education than do they. The hurts your motivation. I find it hard to concentrate only on the students that want to learn. I like to see the light come on for the recalcitrant ones.

I teach a part-time job at a local private college. Private colleges accept students that did not pass the test for a state university, and they cost a lot of money. So, I am teaching a bunch of rich kids that did not care enough to work hard to get into a state school. Tell them to speak only English in class and they can do it for 3 seconds (on a good day). They have been learning English for no less than 6 years and all they can do is read from a text. In an effort to show them how poor English speakers they are, I took them out on campus and had them describe what they saw. They were able to say I see green grass, I see a bench, the leaves are brown. They finally understood they need to work. That understanding lasted for 1 week.

My full-time job is at a state university. This school is probably a second tier school. We had a Scottish guy here that was asked to leave. I think he has a mental illness. He acted inappropriately with the students, and (wait for it) he physically attacked me.

This man is not right. I went to Ganzhou in early October, when I returned he called me and said he wanted me to share his apartment, I artfully dodged the issue while still declining. One week later he was telling his classes that he hates Americans. He verbally attacked and abused his students. He told one class that he would only talk to 5 specific students: He found out that several students (both male and female) complained to the school about his hugging. Returning to school one day I was scuttling down an auxiliary roadway and I called out to him. He made an obscene gesture to which I responded that was "rude" whereupon he charged me and attempted to intimidate me while poking his finger in my chest.

The point of that story is that I am teaching sophomores oral English; that is in addition to teaching 16 hours a week of intensive reading comprehension to seniors. I had my oral English students learn a song, the song is "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." They sang it last week and did quite well. The top two groups won a free dinner at a good restaurant.

cont. days later, January 2, 2009.

A big problem with a hangover in this city is that there is NO PLACE to get a cheeseburger. I want to go to Toons for greasy meat.

I give a final exam next week, after I am done grading them I will leave for the Chinese version of Hawaii. It is called Hainan and is an island on the southern coast of mainland China. Then I go to two other large cities.

I have been back to Shanghai this year and appreciate the civilization that can be found there. However, that civilization is based on conspicuous consumption. In Shanghai there are HUGE glittering shopping centers everywhere. It seems like they are sometimes only a kilometer apart. Shangqiu has no large shopping centers.

Shangqiu is in Henan Province. This province is culturally 20 years behind the large metropolitan areas of China. Women hold their babies over the curb to perform all bodily functions, grown men step to the side of the road to urinate, dishes are cleaned by dipping them in a bucket of water then dried, and people not covering their mouth when coughing is the norm.

I went shopping yesterday and three young boys, about 8 years old, saw me secure my bike. They then proceeded to follow me throughout the store, they appeared utterly fascinated by my presence. See, in rural China everyone looks the same anyone that looks different is an oddity. I explain to friends and students that the west is much different. Particularly in America, where almost everyone has come from a different country, so seeing people of different races is the rule and not the exception.

I am done writing for now. I will post a video that shows the street corner at the gate of my school. I hope it gives you an idea of common life here in Shangqiu and other smaller cities.

TTYL

Terry





The above is common in smaller areas. By smaller I mean Shangqiu is the size of a Rockford or Madison. Without the cultrual advantages of either.

GANZHOU

I am very happy I do not teach in Ganzhou; this is the most unfriendly place in China I have visited. They hate Indians and cannot tell that I am not from India.
More later.

Terry

NEW CITY AND SCHOOL

Holy f...king crap.

This new city is so small I want to call it "backwater". I think I can walk the enitre place in an hour. By place I mean the city proper. The county has 8 million people but the city only about 500k.

I have learned that all schools are the same in China. Short term thinking and little to no planning.

I have not put together what I want to write about where I am and changing cities but, I wanted to let all know I have not forgotten about this blog. I will try to make it more intersting than it was in the winter and spring.

I am waiting for the internet, cable and other features of my hovel to be repaired. When the internet is up I will sit back and put some organized thought on the screen.

In the meantime remember how good Americans have it in the United States. The indigenous people have a hard life here but, they do try and not work hard....they try to do as little as possible. And, if they are a member of the party they have a job for life. Unless they get caught in corruption; not that I am planning on ratting out a couple of people from a different school that are taking kickbacks from as company in Hangzhou.

Terryu

NEW TOWN

I have moved to Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province, China. A new school for this year. This town is much smaller and much "slower" than Nan Chang. But, like a lot of middle size cityies in the states it seems to have crime troubles. From the first day here I felt it had the element of bored teenage and early twenties males that created problems. Besides that it seems to be nice town. Not as small as I think but not nearly as large as I am used to, sort of like Rockford.

I have spent two days at fish farms watching them harvest fish. I will post the pictures when I get access to my usb drive, I am not on my computer. My friend, Lai Zhou, family rents two lakes/ponds and raise fish. Last night I went to another fish farm and wathced them harvest the fish and then went to the fish market. At the fish farm they use large barrels to haul the fish from the water to the truck. The barrels were carred by men that appeared to be 70 years old. The muscles on their backs were bulbous from years of hauling things around on poles strung over their shoulders.

They harvested about 1,200 kilos of fish and it took 5 hours to load. Watching this was boring but interesting. The lake is in the mountains and the sky was clear so there were lot of stars to see and I think I say satellites. I was surprised by the amount of air traffic there was at this time of night.

The amount of fish I have seen pulled out of the water over those two days was incredible, considering that there are many others that do the same. And, all of the fish are sold the next morning to middle men that sell it to the markets. In China fish is a not a staple but a delicacy.

I will be home soon and will see some of you then.

Terry

LEAVING NANCHANG

It is 10:45 and the temperature here in Nan Chang is 87 degrees, the low tonight is projected at 84. The heat index now is 100. This place is hot and I am glad I am moving to a new city tomorrow. I am not just glad because of the heat but most of my friends have left and a new batch of teachers are coming in. I am moving to a city in south Jiangxi Province called Ganzhou. It is smaller than this place but is supposed to have better air and less arrogant people.

I finally let student friends know I am leaving, I was surprised at how unhappy they were. Their displeasure made me feel good.

I will be in the states soon so I will see some of you then.

In the mean time, enjoy the cooler weather in the USA.

Terry

DONE WITH THIS TERM

. I am finished with this term and will be heading home in a few weeks. In the meantime, I will teach three weeks of summer camp and see a little bit of China. I am going to Ganzhou tomorrow about a job. I don't want to leave here but I may have to go there to work.

Here are some recent pictures. The sleeping guy is Laizhou, a good friend. The lady with the hat is a parking lot attendant, the room is the teachers lounge at my current school on the new campus (cleanliness is not important here) the others are general scenes around town some of the Olympic torch relay. I rode my bike across town and it was longer than I thought it was and I got lost













May seem boring but, I will be home soon and get to tell you in person how this year went.

This is Terry, looking forward to pasta, an Italian Beef dipped with sweet peppers and a real steak. And, of course Jaegermiester.

Terry

LATE SPRING IN NAN CHANG

Well well well things have gotten more interesting, confusing and hot here.

Interesting: A new bar has opened and it is fun. It is like the Baton in Chicago. Interesting about bars here, most close at midnight. The people are so used to early closing time that by 11:30 they start to leave.

Confusing: I will not have a job at JUFE next term. Seems that the African teacher that was leaving is not leaving and he satisfies their quota for that skin color. I may go to an Army national defense school 4hours away from here. A friend recommends it highly, only no overnight guest and security is tight.

Hot: 33 yesterday, that is 93 in normal numbers but, it gets up to 44, 40 is 104. And, I will be here until July 29th. I will experience a long period of oppressive heat. The women/girls here carry umbrellas for 10 months of the year. In S. California I was surprised to see people with umbrellas in the sun, here it is common. Following this entry are some umbrella pictures.

TTYL

Terry







This is the only time I have seen a male carrying one.

WEATHER

It has gotten hot here. The sun is much more intense, I think it has something to do with the sun's declination (hope I used that right). The pictures are of the umbrellas women (well mostly) use to protect their skin from getting darker. Some of them look like they should be for women's under garment.

Here is a picture of a friend, his name is Lai Zhou, he smells and has never had a girlfriend but, he is cool anyway (he just said that he has had not girlfriend because he is ugly, he forgot to add that he smells). Here is his picture.




So that is Lai Zhou. He is a good friend. Jack and I are corrupting him, we took him to a club with lots of women and he was shy...but, we will get him a girlfriend

EARTHQUAKE

I experienced one earthquake in California, it happened at about two in the morning and really freaked me out. The one that occurred here this week I did not feel.in fact, I did not know about it until I got home at seven that night and read about it on the Internet. For two days it was an abstract concept then, I talked to a student that I know and learned how people here in Nan Chang at affected by it.

The student told me about a meeting/rally by the student center for the students from that province, Sichuan. There are one hundred students from that area here and many of them have not been able to talk to their families and do not know if they are okay. Luckily the student I know family is okay.

What would it be like to have no way to reach your loved ones after a major catastrophe. I do not want to find that out.

The west has so much more going for it. Until Thursday the government had just 20 helicopters in that area, since then they have sent 90 more. This made me think about our society. We have so many companies with the resources to help. Those resources are not available here. I was thinking of the companies I have worked for and thought they would have sent the equipment to help immediately.

I am going to do some research and find out how to send money here to help. The people here live without indoor plumbing, heating, air conditioning and many other things we consider basics. I want to help, the government is only allowing the Red Cross to deliver items but no outside presence is being allowed. This means any thing we give has to be directed to the right organization.

While this has been going on I have been having A LOT of fun. I am seeing someone, going out and enjoying the great (hot) weather. The torch was here today and I got to see it. Friends laughed at me because I wanted to see it. They were right, it is just a burning stick. The parade was filled with local politicos and hanger ons. The night before I was at a dance club and a local cop that was to be a torch bearer was swigging beer and dancing on the bar, when he left he said his wife would be mad if he was not home soon.

I will post pictures of the Green Bamboo Forest, people at the torch rally and some friends this weekend.

All is good for me here.

Terry

HELLO

I am having a hard time thinking of things to write in this blog; one friend told me to just make up funny things because no one would know the difference I can't do that. So, instead I post less frequently.

I have become more comfortable meeting the local people of China. I told you about my Qing Ming experience and how interesting and enjoyable it was, now I have a new one.

I teach part time at a private English school. The students live at the school and study only English. I teach 4.5 hours a week there. I have started using tongue twisters in all of my classes. I was surprised that this tool has not been widely used, students like them (particularly when I mess them up) and it seems to help their pronunciation. One class at this school has 25 students and I gave them the Peter Piper...twister to practice and I told them I would take the best male and female student to lunch. They had a week to practice. Not all of them practiced and I was surprised that Josh and Bu Bu won. For two weeks we could not get our schedules to match for lunch. So instead of lunch Josh and I went to Bu Bu's grandparents home for dinner.

Their home is a condo in a very large complex. The grounds of the complex are well maintained and have many amenities (Bu Bu says the pool is too small, I think she means shallow). The buildings are 8 to 9 stories tall and have no elevators. Her families unit was on the 5th floor, I am tired of stairs and my calves are the size of Popeye's forearms.

Their unit was very modern. Neo-modern, a lot of sharp corners, a wrought iron stair case to second floor. It was furnished with plush furniture and glass and brass tables and, the dining room table was in the Ikea style. The decorations were also Ikeaish.

Her grandparents are 75 and 68. I was the first foreigner they had ever eaten with, at one point Bu Bu told her grandfather to relax that I was a nice foreigner. When she told me they were nervous I put aside my nervousness and asked them questions about their life. Turns out they travel quite a bit. They are off to Hangzhou soon to visit a daughter.

There were five of us eating and their were seven dishes, plus dessert. I did not like the dessert but everything else was very good. The grandfather made a soup that had dumplings made from fish paste, flour and egg, it had a lite taste and was good. Bu Bu was very happy we like the dishes she made. It was funny, they were surprised to see me using chopsticks. They offered utensils after I fumbled a couple of times but I refused. They were impressed I was able to use the chopsticks to eat chicken wings, you never use your fingers here, chopsticks for all.

I have been invited back, I told them I will make a western dish. I am thinking of fried chicken or lasagna. I would need to find an oven to make the lasagna.

Well I am boring myself so I will talk to you later.

The drought is over, yeah.

I am thinking of buying a scooter. Some of my Chinese friends are fearing for my life.

Terry

Qing Ming (Pure & Bright in Chinese)

Today is a holiday, not an official one but the universities are closed anyway and we have to make up the day of classes we miss.

I visit an area of food kiosks across the street from my main school. I only eat at one of them. I have become friends with the husband and wife that run this particular kiosk. I was invited to their home during the break between the fall and winter terms; unfortunately I was sick and could not go. Yesterday I was invited to go with them for Qing Ming. I accepted.

I met the wife at the kiosk at 13:00 hrs, from there we went to their home. I did not realize that it was for lunch and then the event for the holiday. I sampled some of the food and was forced to drink beer with the other men in attendance. Everyone there, except me, was a family member. I met the grandmother, an uncle, their children and, some neighbors stopped by. It was interesting.
The homes in China very small, often just a couple of rooms. There is no carpeting, drywall, heating or cooling. The older ones are all brick with maybe a layer of concrete on the inside. The living area of the home had one wooden table and four benches. The windows and doors do not have screens, while we were eating birds flew in and out of the apartment. There is no running water which means there is an outhouse. I am trying to be objective, these are people I consider to be friends so I am not trying to say how they live is bad: It is just the way they live.

Now on to Qing Ming.

This holiday occurs two times a year. It is the time when they honor their ancestors by going to their graves and conducting a ritual. On one of my bike rides I rode up the side of mountain. On the mountain I saw several crypts, headstones and burial sites. The pictures are ones I took then, I did not think it appropriate to take my camera today. We drove about 15 minutes the foothills of Lu Shan Mountain (Shan means mountain in Chinese pin yin). I think I can safely say that the remains of most people are buried on mountainsides in this region. It is not farmable so it is used for that purpose. Most people are cremated and their ashes/urns are buried, this seems to save quite a lot of space.

The family brought fireworks, incense, fake money, paper that signified money, spiritual paper and decorations. All the members of the family burn the money and paper. Their family plot is about 50 yards long, it was begun in the 1800's. Only the man's father, his father and uncle and, grandfather have headstones. Those three are were most of the things brought with are burned but, some is placed at every "grave". In this plot the graves without markers had bricks, new ones, marking their spot. the last 4 or 5 had no markings at all but incense, money and paper were placed at them and burned. The three with headstones are prayed to by kneeling in front of the headstone, then the descendants bow three times and tap their heads to the ground three times. The children and I were sent down the hill while the others stayed behind for a private ritual, when the remaining fireworks were it they joined us.

The family laughed and had fun. As this is a tradition there were many other families doing the same thing at other grave sites. No sadness, no sorrow, simply honoring their ancestors.


This is the rainy season so when I got home I had to stripped to my shorts in the hall so as not to drag red dirt all through my apartment. Writing this and thinking of the apartment I am provided makes me happy to be Lowaii.

Take care,

Terry

China

Now that I am into the third week of classes for this term things are settling into place. I think I have started to learn and maybe understand.

First an admission: When I arrived in China I was overwhelmed. I did not realize it then but, in December I realized that a lot of my reactions to things around me were aggressive. I think I used aggression to combat the feeling of not being in control AND not understanding what was happening. Don't get me wrong, I still think things here are not normal but that is based on my perception of normalcy (and my friends know I am not normal.)

Now I am starting to see some structure to the madness. I still have not figured out why most things are completely backwards from the western world (e.g. light switches are backward, up is off and down is on, meat at markets is left in the open air for hours and straight men walk intertwined) but, I am starting to go with the flow.

The following is from a book I am reading and it applies to China, where there are no secrets.

"..he explained the concept of space... and how it differed from that in the States. Space is shared, not protected. Tables are shared, the arid evidently is shared because smoking bothers no one. Cars, houses, buses, apartments, cafes-so many import aspects of life are smaller, thus more cramped, thus more willingly shared. It's not offe4nsice to do nose to nose with an acquaintance during routine conversation because no space is violated." Even though this country is huge, the cities are cramped and families live together for many years.

The concept of children being raised to leave and be self sufficient is unknown here. Parents keep their children home and under their control until 25 or 26 years of age. If the parents have the money they buy their kids their first home (the male that is because the girls have to find a husband). In return the children bring their parents into their home when they get old and care for them. The children are very devoted to and beholding to their parents. the college students do not choose their course of study, the parents decide what will be best for them.

In colleges here in Jiangxi province, students are required to live on campus (there are a few exceptions) and have the same dorm mates for all three years. They act like they are great friends but, on more than one occasion I have been told that dorm mates are just "common friends." Another thing is that the dorm mates show no compassion each other. An 18 year old freshman was in a singing competition and bombed. He called me and we talked for a while, he wanted to never try again. The next day I sent him a text asking how he felt. He called me almost crying saying no one had ever asked him how he was doing after a traumatic experience before.

I am teaching 32.5 hours a week this term so I do not think I will not be updating this often.

Write to me, I need to hear from the States more often.

TTYL

Terry

NEW TERM

Hey,

Seems I can post when I am at a different campus of my school.

Things have changed here. Christal left and a new teacher arrived. If you recall, Christal is my friend that I spent a lot of time with last term (that is her in the picture at the bottom of this page).

Winter is over and school has started. I am teaching 32.5 hours this term, that is actual classroom time. I am lucky that all but one of my classes this term are oral English. My school is paying me big (Chinese) money to teach oral English because the seniors in the International Education Program told them they did not want any more foreign teachers. Of course the school said ok. Now I only teach two senior classes, the rest are freshman.

I am also teaching a Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics. That school is a real state university, it has much better equipment and the students are not all from farming and/or small rural communities. At my main school a bell rings to end and start classes: At JUFE they serenade you with music.

Now that the holidays are over, those people from out of town that have never seen a black man before have returned home. That means the people around town are used to seeing me now, for the most part, some do still stare. And, I am so used to being here now when I see another foreigner I do not know I don't bother to say hello, it is just another foreigner.

Adam, the new teacher Jack and I rode our bikes in Nan Chang a week ago. While we were in a store a guy came running up to us and, in Chinese, told us someone was stealing our bikes. Jack, being new, did not react quickly but Adam and I ran out the door in the direction the guy was pointing. This was at 3 in the afternoon on a Saturday and the streets were jammed with cars. Without thinking I ran in a traffic lane while Adam was on the sidewalk about 20 feet in front of me. He ran past a rack of bikes and a guy looked up and started to run. I chased him then stopped to look at what he had been doing and there was my bike. He had the locked almost completely cutoff when Adam and I got to his location. However, Jack's bike got away. Seems the guy had a key to his U-lock. Bike thefts have been in the news a lot lately. Something like a million are stolen monthly. Bikes are still a primary means of transport.

This is getting long and I don't have a lot of interesting things to say. Well, this is interesting, I think. Prostitution is against the law but brothels operate in the open. While looking for Jack's bike down side streets and alleys we found a whole lot of them. They do not beckon you from doorways like in Germany but scantily clad women sit behind large glass windows and smile and wink. Spas have upper floors where happy endings occur. All in the open.

Well that is it for now.

When my laptop is up and running again I will post some pictures.

TTYL
Terry

HAPPY LUNAR/CHINESE NEW YEAR

Until I got here and then began to notice stuff, I never realized that the Chinese New Year and Mardi Gras are at the same time and coincide with the lunar new year. I only focused on what happens in America. I am glad I am learning to open my eyes.

I call a lot of things mundane or minutiae. But really, life here is interesting. I am learning a lot about how the rest of the world operates. Some examples.

When you go to a restaurant you do not get a chance to sit, relax, have a drink and talk with your companions. The server hands a menu to one person and waits for the order. No asking if you want something to drink, no chance for everyone to review the menu and no chance to relax. Some restaurants are different; they have a display case full of food and, before you are shown to your table you must order your food.

Another big difference is that the ordered dishes do not come at the same time. The food comes in dribs and drabs. I think it has something to do with the way the food is consumed. Everyone shares every dish. People take the chopsticks they use to eat and pick food from the communal dish. It took me a while to get used to it, but now I do it freely. I do object when someone touches something and does not take it. Most Chinese do not say anything but appreciate it when I chastise the person that makes that mistake. I am not mean about it but, I do let them know it is not right.

An aside. I went to Mc Donald’s the other day. While waiting in line a young woman dropped her apple on the floor, she then giggled/whined to her friends about the apple she dropped. She failed to pick up the apple. After a few minutes I tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the apple, two of her friends giggled and told her to pick it up. She picked it up and put in the trash. I have followed the lead of government television commercials and let people know they should not litter. Another thing I do is give up my seat on the bus for women with young children, older adults and others that appear to need the seat more than do I.

One other thing about Mc Donald’s and KFC (I don’t go to KFC often, once since in this country) customers do not clean up after themselves. People walk around and clear your place after you leave. When I try to throw something out I am stopped and an employee takes it from me. I still try and sometimes I get away with it.

Back to restaurants. There are few to no bars here. When people go to a restaurant the restaurant expects the people to stay FOREVER. And they do, people sit and continue eating and drinking for hours.

Another aside. If patrons do not like the dish it goes back to the kitchen and the server pays for the dish.

What else do I take for granted? The frequency of buses.

There are a lot of buses. Two routes are the 211 and the 517. The buses on this route seat no more than 25 people but, they accommodate up to 75. Anyway, these buses run a short route yet, they run every ten minutes. You wait 15 minutes for a bus maybe 1 time a week. The buses look decrepit but I am told they are no more than 2 to 5 years old.

The lunar new year is Spring Festival here. It is like our Christmas or Thanksgiving. People go home to see family. Nothing stops them: Until this year.

We have been in the midst of a severe winter storm. More snow and colder than it has been in 50 years. I was on may way to an interview and saw 200 hundred army soldiers cleaning the street. They have no snow or ice cleaning machinery here, it is all manual labor. Tanks have been on the expressways in southern China packing down the snow or breaking up the ice. 1,000,000 people have been stuck in Guangzhouz, unable to get home for the lunar new year.


I think that is it for now. I may update it later but I will post this on the 5th of February.

Terry

Ok, an addition. I am eating kelp and noodles. Separately but, kelp and noodles are what I eat. I forgot, I am eating a lot of rice. I do not make it every day because of the carbs. I am loving rice, I t was a discovery to find that different rice tastes different, and I don’t just mean brown and white rice. There is sticky rice and dry rice. There is rice with pearl like grains. Long rice, short rice and medium rice. I made dinner for a friend and his favorite part was the rice. Tells you something about my Chinese food when the best part is the rice.

The salt consumed here is out of this world. I will not talk about MSG. I tell them to hold the salt and MSG and they look at me as if I am nuts. Now a meal with peppers is dull, I am getting into the spicy food in Jiangxi Province.

TTYL

Oh yeah, I went to the interview with JMC and learned that they were looking for someone younger. I later learned that the company is on a big get younger kick. It is ok to officially acknowledge that here. I am still in the running but, now I know how far away it is I am not going to be unhappy if I do not get the gig. (They would give me a driver and that would be fun)

the following is a link to a story about the weather: http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/02/03/china-lunar-new-year-approaches-with-tragedy-growing/

Winter on campus

WOW, it is cold here. The temperature is higher than Chicago is but it feels much colder. It has to do with the water content of the air. I hope that is one of the last times I whine about the cold.

The updates have been less frequent because I am feeling like life here is almost normal. I am trying to look at things differently because I know that everything is different here but, I do not want to bore you with the mundane (wow, I am calling things in China mundane, I am acclimating myself to this country) and uninteresting.

I now find it mundane to see a mother holding her child over the gutter and allowing it to shit or piss. It is now mundane to see women walking down the street in bed clothing. It is now mundane to see two guys intertwined as they walk down the street. I now find it mundane to see a full city bus driving down the wrong side of the road. I now find it mundane to see people spitting bones on the restaurant table while they eat. I now find it mundane to not have water for several days in a row. I now find it mundane to see restaurant cleaning the dishes on the sidewalk outside of the restaurant. I now find it mundane to see grown men step 20’ away and urinate whole waiting for the bus. I now find it mundane to hear and watch a good lucking woman hork up a luggie and spit on the bus floor. I find a lot here mundane.

This winter has been the coldest in 50 years. There are coal and food shortages. Thanks to the New York Times website, I know that 24 people died when a bus plunged 40 meters (130 feet) off the side of a mountain. The Chinese government predicts 600,000 people will be stuck at the train station by Monday of next week, 170,000 in Shanghai and the expressway and airport out of Nan Chang been closed since Saturday the 26th of January. I think I am stuck here until next week. Oh yeah, we have not had water in our building for three days, well most, my water was turned off today. The water lines have frozen and hot water does not defrost them. I am going to the health club to workout and have a hot shower tomorrow.

Life here is interesting. Because of a falling out with one of my travel companions to Shanghai, I did not go to Guangzhou. I told this guy that when I first met him, something about him scared me. I could not put it to words. However, age grants something you. And, when he exploded at me over the phone, I figured it out. The problem is that I started not liking the guy two weeks before the trip to Shanghai. My desire to make money made me put it aside. I am glad he thinks I am passive/aggressive and would not be good with children because, I have had several job opportunities that would not have arisen if I had left town. And, all my friends know I am not passive/aggressive, I am always aggressive.

I took many pictures of the campus today. I woke up to at least three inches of snow. When I went outside I found many frozen tree limbs and a frozen pond (they call it a lake). The pictures that follow are of my campus.

I have inexpensive accommodations in Hangzhou next week. If I can get there, I will be in what the Chinese call a very pretty city. Some pictures of that later.

Thanks for reading.

Terry.

Shanghai

Shanghai is a BIG city, very BIG. It makes Chicago look like a town in Podunk Iowa. Moreover, it is cosmopolitan with a diverse population. There are so many westerners that, unlike in Nan Chang, you do not acknowledge their presence. The downside of that is that some exude arrogance that is probably a result of their jobs.

The city has many western restaurants including Subway Sandwich shops. Wu Shuai and I went there for lunch. The only western food we have eaten together that I know he has enjoyed. In fact, when we were next in the area he bought a sandwich to take home for his dinner.

I went to Shanghai with Rodney, Aaron, Rodney is a teacher at my school, and Aaron teaches at a university on the other side of town. We stayed at a hostel; this place was economical, clean and convenient. However, it makes one of the worst pizzas I have ever eaten; the pizza had pesto sauce as its base topping.

Like Hong Kong, Shanghai has a large, clean and efficient mass transit system. The system is used by a significant portion of the 1 million people that live in the city (14,000,000 is the number I was given this weekend, like the population of this whole country that number is probably understated). The system has large monitors that provide news, sports and transit information. The display indicates how long until the next train arrives at the stop and, the trains tend to arrive within 15 seconds of the displayed time.

The bus system appears to be large and efficient. The buses are wide and clean. In addition, people do not hork up a luggie and spit on the floor as they do in Nan Chang. On some of the buses, they do not have automatic fare machines. Instead, there is a person sitting by the rear door, after people get on the bus that person walks through the bus (as best as they can because of the number of people on the bus) and collects fares. This is China dealing with so many people and doing its best at full employment.

Prices in Shanghai are lower than in Nan Chang. An example is the price of pork: It costs 24 Yuan per kilo in Nan Chang and 14 per kilo in Shanghai.
I was able to locate the first 7 years of The Simpsons; it cost about 8 U.S dollars. In addition, I found the 7th season of West Wing, which cost about 9 U.S. dollars. I have been watching West Wing since I got home.

Note that I used the word home. I find it interesting that I am calling my residence in China home. The PSB issued my residency permit; I am now allowed to live in China for more than 30 days. Yep, you figured out that I have been living here illegally for several months. I love this university.
Well that is it for now.

I will not be going to Guangzhou to work the winter camp.

From Shanghai, PRC

this was in my draft box, that means there are two entries today. I will review the posts to see if I put up pictures from Shanghai.

This is cool traveling around China.

When I left Nan Chang the weather was warm, my students were returning to campus to take more finals and the pollution was so bad our running group could not run. I was ready for a break from that city.

Rodney, Aaron and I took the hi-speed train to Shanghai. The train left on time, was clean, quiet and arrived early. Some services for the general public are better run as a not for profit organization. A train system like this in the US would be a great benefit to all socio-economic levels. I only saw part of the train station here but, what I did see reminded me of an airport.

My friend, WuShaui, met us at the station and we took the mass transit train to our hostel. Like Hong Kong, the inner city train system is large, clean and efficient. They have clocks on the was counting down to the next trains arrival. They seem to arrive within 5 - 10 seconds of the the clock time. This system makes sense because of hte number of people in this city. It is huge.

Hello Everybody (well those of you still checking this site):

Pictures are not posting from this computer i am using here. Maybe soon I will get an internet connection in my home. This school lies.

Classes ended on the 28th of December and I graded my last exam a week ago. Only four students failed, one out of pure stupidity and the others because they just are not smart. I was given my first class assignment for next term. That is unusual because normally this school does not tell teachers what they will teach until a day or two before classes start.

Classes do not start again until the 18th of February. A few of us are going to travel around China. Tomorrow we are off to Shanghai and come back here on Wednesday. Then next weekend it is Hong Kong (one of the other teachers needs to get a new Visa), then to Guangzhou for a week of teaching at a winter camp (the weather will be warm) then we may go to the Chinese version of Hawaii. The island is Hunan, that spelling is probably wrong. We plan on being back in Nanchang around the 10th of February.

I think my term will be done in mid to late June, I will come to the states until mid-August. Plan on going to Chicago first, then S. Cali., then back to the Midwest with a visit to Madison and the balance of the time in Chicago.

I started a little running group here. However, sometimes the air is so bad we don't run.

I got nothing else to say right now. I do not have internet at home, still. I use an internet cafe and it is akward using these machines.

I will have a lot to write about the next month. I will try to update this while we are traveling and post the occassional picture.

I am trying to repost the pictures FAS posted, they are the last ones of Christmas.

Hope all is well.

Terry

FAS

Hi, I am FAS, the picture above this is me. Don't ask me about the name, Terry gave it to me.

Terry has been busy with finals, the “holidays” and being himself, so he has not updated his blog in a long time. Now he is out somewhere with his friends, doing who knows what so, I am doing it for him.

I came to China about a month after he did. I know he bitched about his trip but mine was worse. You trying being fondled by American and Chinese postal workers; I will not mentioned what happened with the baggage handlers on the different planes I was thrown onto. I was very happy when I was put in the same place for a few hours.

I remember when Terry picked me up at the postal station. I had been sitting by what I think was the front desk for quite a while. While I was there I heard these two ladies talking and they kept saying Terry White over and over again. I found out later that Terry had been awaiting my arrival and was not happy with the postal service, I thing he said they stole his shit. One of the ladies called someone else and said Terry’s name, about an hour later I heard this strong masculine voice say something about a package for him. That was Terry. He carried my container to where he lived, I remember he had to walk up a lot of stairs (anytime anyone takes me someplace we have to use stairs, does not seem like fun) but, he seemed happy.

When I was taken into my new home my container was jostled and I began to see sunlight, then I saw a big smiling face (I figured it was Terry). The guy took me out of my box and started tossing me up into the air and running around my new home. I thought good, I am being used like I am supposed to be used. Next, I was taken across the hall and given to a guy called Rodney and he did the same things Terry did with me. I was happy. That is how the rest of my first day went. But, at the end of the day I was put on this big hard thing called a mattress and Terry got in next to me, I don’t know why he used that big fluffy thing and I did not get one.

The next day was strange.

Terry went somewhere for a long time then, he came home and tossed me around, changed clothes and took me outside. (Someone please tell him not to have me in the room when he changes clothes.) Terry and Rodney took me to something called a soccer pitch. They started tossing me around and the next thing I knew there are all of these other guys talking in some strange language I did not understand. I know I was made in China but, I never thought I would come back here so I did not pay attention to the language. Next thing I knew Terry and Rodney are organizing a football game and I was the only ball. Wait this is supposed to be about Terry. Damn, its always about him. Well not this time because I am writing this entry. They played with me for a couple of hours then I was taken home.

The first day there were only 9 people playing football and it seemed like Terry was trying to tell them, and Rodney, how to throw the ball and play the game. I thought it was funny because , the Chinese guys have watched a lot of Australian Rules Football and every time they would catch me they would throw me to someone else. By week 4 they learned that was not the correct way to play with me. After we were done that first day Terry took me home and lounged around for a while; he held me most of the evening.

The first week I was here I spent the night in bed with him. Oh, the horror story I could write about that week. The pictures following this show what my life is like at this school in China. The ones he took of the basketball courts really irritate me, since when does basketball think it is a real sport. The skateboarders don’t bother me much, we all know about those types. I hear him coming into the apartment so I gotta go. I will tell you more about my time in China later.

TTYL,

FAS

(f'ing American sport)

Sorry there is no picture, Terry is leaving for Shanghai this Friday and forgot to put one on here.