Xin Nian Kui Le

New Year (Xin Nian) Shin Neean

Spring Festival (Chun Jie) Chewin Gee-a

We got a week off for the Chinese Lunar New Year (as opposed to the Gregorian New Year which is also celebrated here), or Spring Festival, which was nice, despite the cold. The shops and stores closed early in the week. So we had to make sure to have our groceries picked up from the super market by Tuesday. Linda and I went together to make sure that we got everything that we would need. Linda went when she was hungry and ended up buying half the chocolate in the store, along with every other heavy thing that she could find. So our walk back to the flat was a bit strenuous, but I feel it was my workout for the day.

The celebration has, it seems, been going on since I before I got here. Small explosions can be heard throughout the day followed immediately, of course by car alarms. The week of the Lunar New Year the explosions began to pick up. The street corners were filled with packages of fire crackers stacked as tall as I stand. Little boys and grown men had smiles on their faces as they would bend over with a lighter igniting the fuse. The sizzle and sparks were the only warning to passers-by of any danger ahead. Linda and I were grateful if it was just a small pop of the equivalent to our Black Cats.

As we left for our coworkers flat we walked the two blocks to the bus stop (I will go into how great public transportation is in a future entry) pausing or speeding up to avoid the explosions along the sidewalks. We came to the bus stop just as a man was igniting the fuse of a mortar round. We paused in wonderment as he was dong it in the middle of a packed parking lot of a restaurant. The man was obviously an employee of the upper class restaurant which had Mercedes and BMW’s and other automobiles sitting in the parking lot waiting for their owners to finish their meal so that they could themselves get in the safe underground parking lots that protect them most nights. The first mortar round launched high into the air exploding in a brilliant green that reflected off the curved glass of the restaurant to the delight of the diners inside. The second launched, but only went up maybe three meters and exploded with a thunder so massive that our ears were left ringing and unable to hear what were most likely tremendous echoes off the near by buildings. The red “stars”( http://people.howstuffworks.com/fireworks.htm) came shooting out of the shell in what seemed to me like slow motion. They careened into the fancy cars with white sparks trailing in their wake. One star split the distance between Linda and I as we stood near each other in awe at the danger all around us. We quickly made our way to the street and behind the protection of the bus stop glass.

The busses had stopped running by this time, but the taxis were out in full swing. In fact, aside from a few private vehicles taxis were the only thing on the roads. Our driver made a left turn onto a road in a canyon of tall apartments just as two men were lighting the fuse of a small mortar round in the middle of the street on to which we turned. They simply proceeded toward the right (east side) curb as the men scurried to the west. The fuse hit the charge just as my widow came parallel with the small cardboard cylinder. The flash was blinding and the bang deafening in the small car. The projectile shot up out of sight while sparks burst out in an inverted cone from the barrel. Light from the star burst above us reflected off the glass on the canyon towering over our back seat perches.

It was like something out of I am Legend, driving down the empty roads of Xian. People were at this time inside enjoying time with their families (Lunar New Year is like our Christmas.)

The apartment that we went to is on the 28^th floor with a wonderful unobstructed god’s- eye view of the ancient city. The wall that protects all four sides of the old capital was decorated with white rope lights outlining the parapet that once protected archers from attack. The battlements stand ready to be used to defend the city once again, but for now host a display of red lanterns and other decorations along the wall walks. (Sorry, I have been reading The Once and Future King again).

The fireworks had been going on since the day I got there, but they picked up the first day of the 15 day holiday period. More impressively they picked up even more starting at about 11:00pm. Explosions were echoing across the city at about 1 audible bang every 3 seconds. At 11:45 something that I have never experienced and will never forget happened. The entire city began to light up with a rainbow of colors from every street corner. I do not think I am exaggerating at all when I say that there were fireworks launching from every street corner in the city.

I am normally not very impressed with a fireworks display. The best I had seen up to this point were in Madison on June 28 of 2003. The second best, of course were the Independence Day fireworks put on by North Riverside in 2001. The lights and sounds were of Xi’an on breathtaking. The buildings inside the city wall are all under 6 floors. So the view was only limited by the pollution which was thankfully low that night. If China were at war I would have thought that we were being bombed. The bursts of light reminded me of those I saw on television in war zones. It occurred to me several times throughout the hour long non-stop aerial display that what I perceived as large explosions are actually tiny. These explosions were from small shells when the air force uses at a minimum a 250 pound bomb. I can only imagine what goes through the head of someone in those situations. Sorry for the digression.

The fireworks were launching between the high rises. The shots generally made it over many of the shorter buildings. Since we were on the 28^th floor, we were actually at a wonderful altitude. The firework rounds actually exploded outside of our windows. On several occasions we had to move out of the way of stars that actually shot into the apartment. I wish I had brought my bullet resistant sunglasses to the party. I will have to remember that for next time.

The next morning Linda and I were jarred awake by the wonderful reverberation of (literally) thousands of firecrackers echoing in our courtyard. The detonations continued through out the day. They have become less frequent, but are not expected to ever stop.

Xin Nian Kui Le (Happy New Year)

Things I do not see

I was walking to work today hoping that it would warm up a bit more when I saw something peaking through the haze I had not seen since I was in Chicago, the sun. Part of the reason I had not seen the sun has been the cloud cover. It was raining in Hong Kong, and snowing when I got to Xian. The other part is the pollution though out China.

As you walk around the cities here you might say, “Wow, it sure is foggy here. The buildings begin to get fuzzy just half a block away, and they are completely enveloped by the fog about a kilometer away.” Well, this is not fog. It is pollution. Along with not seeing the sun in China you will rarely see planes, helicopters, clouds, stars, or blue skies.

You are probably thinking to you self, That is crazy Rick you are exaggerating. No city could be that polluted all year round with only a few “blue sky days.” Where can all of this pollution come from? In fact not only this city can be this way but many cities are this way. Planning for the Beijing Olympics, which will be occurring this summer, has included removing much of the industry from the city and moving it elsewhere in the country, some to my beautiful city of Xi’an (which was already one of the industrial capitals). Power plants in the area will be shutting down in the weeks ahead of the games to help clean the air. Millions of trees have been planted around the city of Beijing. The government was thrilled that this last year had 246 “blue sky days” beating their goal for the year by a day. China “blue sky days” are a bit different than US some of theirs would actually be “ozone action days” in Chicago where the sun’s ultra violet light activates some of the pollutants in the air and forms the haze that we see often only on the hottest of summer days.

The pollution has many sources. Similar to the North America the wind blows from west to east on most day. It picks up pollutants from Europe and now the fast developing Eastern European block countries and carries it across the continents while picking up more pollutants. A study released a couple years ago (I saw the article on the BBC News or MSNBC and don’t feel like finding the link now) found that much of the worst air pollution in the world actually comes from rural China. The farmers burn their garbage and their fields after the harvest. This releases amazing amounts of chemicals into the air. Additionally rice farming in general produces large quantities of methane gas. All of these pollutants are picked up by the winds as they proceed east. They combine with the pollution given off by the factories that supply the world with goods, and the vehicles that move those goods and the laborers that produce them. The Chinese economy has been growing at better than 10% per year for the last 15 years, that means that they double their economies size in less than 7 years(many times in less than 5 years).

If you are a science teacher you can do an environmental impact experiment (also an example of diffusion) using a large beaker of water, milk, and eye dropper. Take the milk in the eye dropper SLOWLY putting one drop of milk in the beaker, and say that “each drop of milk is one year’s pollution.” (If it is a smaller beaker say it is 10 years) Do 100 years or just 20 years and you will see the difference. Also you will see how the pollution lingers in the spot that you drop the milk. Variations include wind (simulated by stirring before you put the milk in) and emerging markets by adding drops in different areas of the beaker. I don’t know if you can do it at different altitudes (depths) but that might be fun too. Oh, and try putting it over a heat source and see if convection currents distribute it differently.

Just so everyone knows I am sorry if the format of this blog is not very good I am allowed to post my entries, but I am not allowed to view them. China blocks blogs and my BBC news L so I can not see what it looks like.

Just an update

Well, as you know I have moved in to my new apartment. Linda and I finally went out and got some stuff for it. I needed a humidifier b/c it is very dry and I have a cold. We also went to a market and got 20 or so DVD’s.( they are about $1 or 6 kuai). Guitars start at about 200 kuai and violins at 400 kuai. So I might pick up one of those and try to learn. Oh, I got a watch or 68 kuai. I did it because there are no clocks in the class rooms and I think it would be rude to be checking my mobile to see how much time is left in class. Anyway, it is shiny and seems to keep accurate time. Oh and a travel tip for anyone planning on visiting China. Do not try to catch a cab between 4:30 and 5:00 as that is shift change time and the driver just wave for you to get out of their way.

We went to the super market as well and got some food stuffs. It is kind of like a two story tightly packed Wal-Mart but with non food stuff (no automotive section that I saw). The food section is the interesting part though. It is upstairs and is at times overwhelming. It took me a while to see exactly the system that they use to organize everything. One of the reasons it took a minute to adjust is actually because it has a very large imported foods section. So I can get Pringles and some Barilla pastas and Skippy crunchy peanut butter and olive oil. I am not going to get these things very often as they are a lot more expensive than the local foods of which there are many.

The local products area is a kaleidoscope of colors. Many of the things sold are bottles with sauces and flavorings which I guess is what US super markets are like too but to me it seemed a bit overwhelming because there are simply so many of them. It is like the barbeque sauce isle time 1000.

The fruits and vegetables are in the back of the store and are for the most part very similar. There are lemons, peaches, and watermelons, apples of all sort, potatoes and onions. The carrots are HUGE and actually deep red/orange in color. There are of course many new vegetables and fruits that I do not know the name of, but I will make sure to try them and let you know if there are any good ones.

I went for my medical exam today. They took my blood and started running tests on it less than a minute after they took it. After they took blood I went and got an ultra sounds examination to check my liver and kidneys I guess. The weighed me and at the same time used sound or lasers or something to measure my height. After that I went for X-rays of my chest and finally blood pressure. All of that took about 30 minutes it was great.

Then I went and got a new cell phone for local use only, its red.

I start teaching class Friday. My first class is with the 4 to 6 year olds. Mostly it is a lot of singing and repeating phrases. A lot of my time this week has been spent observing the teachers in a variety of classes. It is a lot of fun and I am learning a lot. That is all for now I will take some pictures soon and post them to Picassa. Sorry for not being on top of things I have been busy, and our internet is intermittent at best.

Flat and job description

I have made it to my new residence in Xian. It took me a while to get the wireless hooked up and even when I did I waited to post this report till I had some pictures. The pictures had to wait till I cleaned and organized everything. As you can see it is actually a spacious flat (I have to use flat because it is easier for my students to say than apartment). The flat is has wood floors throughout except in the bath and kitchen which have tile. The walls are toupe, according to Linda.

We are on the tenth floor and luckily there is an elevator. The lights in the hall ways are sounds activated so all you do is stomp your foot when you are coming in at night.

The door opens up to a 20’ X 12’ish living room that includes a sofa; two chairs a television set and an empty 4’ long fish tank. Adjoined to the living room just as you walk in is a 10’ X 10’ish dining room. The dining room is furnished with a 4 legged glass table big enough to sit 6 and a small refrigerator and freezer combo. There is a sliding smoky glass door that leads into the kitchen which has cabinets that come up to about my mid thigh, a sink, a two burner stove, microwave, and a toaster. The cabinets are stocked with a wok and some other pots kitchen essentials. There is a tank less water heater on the wall that supplies hot water for our sink and our shower. The temperature control knob is located on it so if it is too hot or too cold we go to the kitchen to adjust the temperature for the shower. Across the room from the water heater is the gas meter. There is a credit card shaped slot in the gas meter for our prepaid gas card which we have to add credits to at the community lines supermarket which is down the street a ways. We have a similar slot for our electricity card outside our flat. I asked Lind how we know if we are getting low on either. She said, “Our electricity turns off, or our shower is cold.”

As I make my way out of the kitchen, and through the dining room I see the door to my room. The spacious bed room comes complete with a full size lumpy and hard bed, a bed side table, an ironing board, a desk and chair, a wardrobe to hold my clothes. Hanging between desk and the wardrobe is a metal bar which I use to dry my clothes after I take them out of the washing machine. The washing machine is located just off of the living room and right in front of the bath room. A tube runs through the wall and allows the washing machine to drain onto the floor of our bathroom which also happens to be the shower floor. The toilet is thankfully a western style toilet, but as in many places around the world we are not allowed to flush the toilet paper, so that goes in the rubbish bin between the toilet and the sink.

Out the bathroom, and down a short hallway to the left is Linda’s room which has a similar layout and furnishings to my own but hers cam with a slightly comfier bed and all in one weight lifting machine.

Ok on to work. The language institute that I work at is about a 20 minute walk down 3 roads. As you step out of the elevator onto the 4^th floor you will see the big glass doors that have written on them in smoky block lettering EF. The walls behind the reception desk are yellow and actually very cheery. All of the offices have modern looking glass walls (like something in Alias if you remember that TV show). The teachers are in two large offices so that we can help each other out and get to know one another. I will describe the people more at on a future date, but they are nice and welcoming. On the other side of the building there are15 class rooms most of which have 18 chairs lining the walls facing in towards the front of the classroom where there is a white board and a small desk for the teacher. There is also a computer lab with games for the students and a small library mostly with children’s books. The toilets at work are actually the Turkish toilets or squatters not the most pleasant thing, you can look them up as I will not be providing pictures.

Stop over in Hong Kong

Well, I am in Hong Kong, I went 24 hours without eating, but that is because my last meal was of course a Portillo’s Italian beef and Hamburger. I have to say that I do not want to take a plane ride of that length for at least 8 months. It did give me time to think however. In fact the flights are when it hit me. At first it felt like any other flight that I have taken in. A few (23) hours in some plane and I get off and do my thing. Then I said, “Wait, this is not normal flight I will be gone for 8 to 9 months. “ Anyway I am more excited than ever so bring it on.

My First Blog Entry

Well I am boarding the plane for LA then Hong Kong and finally on to Xi’an. The trip should take about 34 hours. My roommate, Linda Jo, whom I am sure all of you will be hearing about frequently, left two weeks before me, and has said that the outside temperature is in the 20’s and the heat in our apartment does not work the best. I have brought more extra warm clothes than I had originally planned in order to compensate. I have still managed to squeeze everything into my traveling backpack and my garment bag. I am, however, forced to check in my garment bag due to the fact that I am bringing my notebook. Additionally, I thought it was a good idea to bring along some English language posters for the classroom, so since I am checking a bag anyway, I have decided to check the posters as well. This has ruined my no checked baggage when traveling streak. But, since I will be there teaching for 8 months, I am giving myself a reprieve.

Linda Jo passed through the Hong Kong Airport a couple of weeks ago and found a “Travelers’ Lounge” where I can shower and sit in a comfy chair and get Wi-Fi access. It cost around $50, she said. But I have a 9 hour layover there, so I think it might be worth it to arrive at my destination at least a little awake and coherent – not to mention smelling better.

My starting weight for this adventure is 169 lbs. When I was in Asia last spring for 3 weeks I lost about 15 Lbs. Not on purpose. Just the things I ate and the walking for up to 10 hours a day was a bit of a change. As I will be spending a lot of time teaching and preparing my lesson plans I do not expect to do as much walking, so I am curious what my end weight will be this time.