Volcano Pacaya is located between Guatemala City and Antigua, at about 2,600 meters and its still active! At my first Trivia night in Xela, I learned that there are only 4 active volcanoes in Guatemala. The last big eruption was on August 2, 2000. I was a bit nervous walking ontop of the dried lava, as you could feel heat emanating from the lava underneath the rock. I had images of me taking a step and breaking through the ground and melting in the lava. Nevertheless, it was pretty amazing to see lava coming out of the ground!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Volcán Tajumulco
This past weekend, 3 friends, Michelle, Lisa, and Aaron, and I went with a trekking company, Quetzaltrekkers, up to the top of the tallest Volcano in Central America: Tajumuclo. The peak is 4,223 m (13,854 feet) . Quetzaltrekkers is a non-profit organization that runs a health clinic, school for street children, among other various projects in Guatemala and Nicaragua. The quetzal is a national symbol of Guatemala and is supposedly a beautiful bird. When I was living in Costa Rica, I temporally took up birding and wanted desperately to see the famed bird, but alas it was not meant to be. 
The hike was quite hard due to the altitude rather than the actual trail. I was a bit worried because I had experienced altitude sickness in Perú, which is probably the worst I´ve ever felt in my life. I had a pounding headache, nausea, vomiting, malaise, and I honestly thought I was going to get cerebral edema and die. Obviously, I ended up being fine, but it was still a horrendous experience. Luckily, we hiked the mountain at a moderate pace and I didn´t really feel sick. Although during the night a few times, I woke up out of breath.
Quetzaltrekkers is great, not just because of the work they are doing with the local communities, but also because they have all the gear one would need for camping overnight on a frigid mountain. It was so cold that it was actually hailing when we were setting up our tents.
The following day, we woke up again at 4am, and hiked up to the peak to watch the sunrise. It was an amazing and beautiful experience (rest of the pics are at the link).
Quetzaltrekkers is great, not just because of the work they are doing with the local communities, but also because they have all the gear one would need for camping overnight on a frigid mountain. It was so cold that it was actually hailing when we were setting up our tents.
The following day, we woke up again at 4am, and hiked up to the peak to watch the sunrise. It was an amazing and beautiful experience (rest of the pics are at the link).
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Lago Atitlán
This past weekend, a few friends and I took a short shuttle ride to Lake Atitlán, a peaceful, beautiful lake. Once you arrive, you´re overtaken with serenity and its a fabulous feeling. We headed to Santiago Atitlán, and stayed at this gorgeous hotel with lake views. Five of us shared a ¨cottage¨and it was beautifully crafted with wood, stone and even had a fireplace!
Besides visiting the lake, we had made the trip to go see a benefit music festival for the local hospital. There were various bands including a bluegrass band, a Costa Rican singer, and an all female Guatemalan band. From what I could tell, there were only foreigners there, and a ton of ex-pats I believe. The ticket price, while a donation to the hospital, was expensive for the locals, and many were peering over the fence, watching us crazy foreigners. I thought it was unfortunate that locals weren´t allowed to come in either for free or at a reduced cost, especially because I´m sure that the cacophonous music was keeping them awake until midnight.
The concert had great music and great people watching. As I mentioned earlier, a ton of ex-pats, so many were, let´s just say, hippish and were in full effect during the day. There was one guy that had multiple wardrobe changes, including clothing out of a 80´s female closet (tight colorful spandex pieces). Besides watching (white) people dress up in, what I assume are, indigenous costumes, it was great to see the mixing of cultures. There were indigenous children in their traditional clothing (part of a performace group earlier in the day), dancing around with other children, to bluegrass music.
While there are some towns overrun with tourists, there are still many places around the lake that are less visited and there are still many indigenous people living at the lake. The women still wash their laundry in the lake, which is causing problems in the lake. An expat at the festival was telling me that the soaps are increasing the nitrate concentration and reeking havoc on the ecosystem. So he was learning more about natural soaps and trying to encourage locals to use the more eco-friendly soaps. Its always a sticky wicket when outsiders come to another culture and try to dictate what´s best for them and their surroundings. Thus, I´m not sure what´s the best way of going about trying to work with the community, but making sure that we´re not forcing our ideals and beliefs on them.
One belief that is interesting among the people at the lake is in St. Maximón, ¨an idol formed by the fusion of traditional Mayan deities, Catholic saints and conquistador legends.¨People pray to the smoking, beer guzzling saint for good fortune or to get revenge on others.
Anyhoo, the lake was grand fun and I came home to some great news, I was informed that I matched somewhere, and I´ll find out where I will go for residency tomorrow!
Besides visiting the lake, we had made the trip to go see a benefit music festival for the local hospital. There were various bands including a bluegrass band, a Costa Rican singer, and an all female Guatemalan band. From what I could tell, there were only foreigners there, and a ton of ex-pats I believe. The ticket price, while a donation to the hospital, was expensive for the locals, and many were peering over the fence, watching us crazy foreigners. I thought it was unfortunate that locals weren´t allowed to come in either for free or at a reduced cost, especially because I´m sure that the cacophonous music was keeping them awake until midnight.
The concert had great music and great people watching. As I mentioned earlier, a ton of ex-pats, so many were, let´s just say, hippish and were in full effect during the day. There was one guy that had multiple wardrobe changes, including clothing out of a 80´s female closet (tight colorful spandex pieces). Besides watching (white) people dress up in, what I assume are, indigenous costumes, it was great to see the mixing of cultures. There were indigenous children in their traditional clothing (part of a performace group earlier in the day), dancing around with other children, to bluegrass music.
While there are some towns overrun with tourists, there are still many places around the lake that are less visited and there are still many indigenous people living at the lake. The women still wash their laundry in the lake, which is causing problems in the lake. An expat at the festival was telling me that the soaps are increasing the nitrate concentration and reeking havoc on the ecosystem. So he was learning more about natural soaps and trying to encourage locals to use the more eco-friendly soaps. Its always a sticky wicket when outsiders come to another culture and try to dictate what´s best for them and their surroundings. Thus, I´m not sure what´s the best way of going about trying to work with the community, but making sure that we´re not forcing our ideals and beliefs on them.
One belief that is interesting among the people at the lake is in St. Maximón, ¨an idol formed by the fusion of traditional Mayan deities, Catholic saints and conquistador legends.¨People pray to the smoking, beer guzzling saint for good fortune or to get revenge on others.
Anyhoo, the lake was grand fun and I came home to some great news, I was informed that I matched somewhere, and I´ll find out where I will go for residency tomorrow!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Xelajú, aka Quetzaltenango
Xelajú, shortened to Xela, is my hometown for this month, which in K´iche, means ¨under the ten¨. The ten most likely refers to the surrounding moutains, or it could mean that its always feels like 10 below. It is frigging cold in this city, and in reality, this morning it was 32·, and in buildings with no heat or insulation, you definitely feel the chill. In fact, in my bedroom, I have a wool blanket, a down blanket, and some sheets keeping me warm and I never want to leave it in the mornings.
Xela is the 2nd largest city in Guatemala and is home to a plethora of Spanish language schools. Its been great so far because its not as touristy, from what I´ve heard, as Antigua, where there are also a great deal of schools.
I asked my teacher today about life in Xela and she told me that it is very peaceful and relaxed here. The people are warm and welcoming. After 1 1/2 weeks here, I agree with her and am happy to be living here. Picture of Xela
Monday, March 9, 2009
Its a small glass world afterall
The school has an activity planner, who organizes various outings and activities for the students, which is an added bonus. This past Saturday, we went to Copavie, a place that is known in the area as a recycled glass factory.
Its a great business because its a center of not only recycled glass, but they also recycle newspaper. The workers break up the glass and then melt it in this huge oven. Then they take these long, hollow metal poles and dip it in the vat of liquid glass, which begins the making of glass objects. The process involves blowing the glass a little bit, and then redipping it in the liquid glass and forming it into the shapes desired. Its fascinating to watch them work because they work together without the need to speak to each other. Everyone knows what to do and when to do it.
When the glass is ready to be placed in a wooden mold, there is wet newspaper in the casing to cool down the glass. So in a way, they recycle the newspaper, even if it isn´t reusable after. Its wonderful to see a business thriving on recycled products, since there are many things that are not recycled here. To some extent, this is understandable since the funding and infrastructure is not present and the government is preoccupied with more pertinent issues.
While I was perusing the glass goods, two people entered the room and I did a double take! There was a classmate from UVM! It was totally bizarre to be in this random glass factory on a Saturday morning and run into someone who I knew. He has been here for the past 3 weeks, doing a similar program as me. When I recounted the story to my host mom, she commented, ¨what a small world.¨
Its a great business because its a center of not only recycled glass, but they also recycle newspaper. The workers break up the glass and then melt it in this huge oven. Then they take these long, hollow metal poles and dip it in the vat of liquid glass, which begins the making of glass objects. The process involves blowing the glass a little bit, and then redipping it in the liquid glass and forming it into the shapes desired. Its fascinating to watch them work because they work together without the need to speak to each other. Everyone knows what to do and when to do it.
When the glass is ready to be placed in a wooden mold, there is wet newspaper in the casing to cool down the glass. So in a way, they recycle the newspaper, even if it isn´t reusable after. Its wonderful to see a business thriving on recycled products, since there are many things that are not recycled here. To some extent, this is understandable since the funding and infrastructure is not present and the government is preoccupied with more pertinent issues.While I was perusing the glass goods, two people entered the room and I did a double take! There was a classmate from UVM! It was totally bizarre to be in this random glass factory on a Saturday morning and run into someone who I knew. He has been here for the past 3 weeks, doing a similar program as me. When I recounted the story to my host mom, she commented, ¨what a small world.¨
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Host family
This is the fourth host family that I´ve stayed with over the past several years and things have been going well thus far. I had an interesting experience with my Peruvian host family, mostly with my host mother who seemed to be running more of a business rather than providing a home. Also, it was my first experience with hot water being heated by electrical wires coming out of the shower head.
This prepared me for the electrical rigging of my current shower, but this one is a bit more tricky. When the water is turned on, which is only during the day, and off after 17:00, and I turn the shower on, the ¨heating¨machine makes a loud rough noise. In order to maximize the hot water, I have to turn the dial just right, so that I elicit the loudest noise possible. If I hear the noise dying out, it means that there´s cold water acoming, which is painful, when its surprisingly cold here. Since we are at a pretty high altitude, the weather is relatively cold in the mornings and evening. I realize its nothing compared to the winters in the NE, but there´s no insulation or heating here, so I´m usually wearing jeans and a sweater most of the day.
My host family has been great so far. There is Amanda, with her daughter Karen, and her grandson, Luis. There is also another Guatemalan student living there, who is studying law. Amanda´s son also lives nearby and she babysits her 4 year old grandaugther Wed-Fri who looks like the little girl from Monsters INC, so adorable. The other night, we watched ¨El Patito feo y yo¨ which means ¨The Ugly Duckling and Me.¨ A cute story, about a rat who inadvertently ¨adopts¨the ugly duckling and raises him.
I was placed with this family because Amanda has had a whole bunch of vegetarians, and she is quite the cook. Although, the meals tend to be carb overloaded with rice, beans, tortillas, bread, pastas, but I can´t complain because its all good and I get my full servings of vegetables.
This prepared me for the electrical rigging of my current shower, but this one is a bit more tricky. When the water is turned on, which is only during the day, and off after 17:00, and I turn the shower on, the ¨heating¨machine makes a loud rough noise. In order to maximize the hot water, I have to turn the dial just right, so that I elicit the loudest noise possible. If I hear the noise dying out, it means that there´s cold water acoming, which is painful, when its surprisingly cold here. Since we are at a pretty high altitude, the weather is relatively cold in the mornings and evening. I realize its nothing compared to the winters in the NE, but there´s no insulation or heating here, so I´m usually wearing jeans and a sweater most of the day.
My host family has been great so far. There is Amanda, with her daughter Karen, and her grandson, Luis. There is also another Guatemalan student living there, who is studying law. Amanda´s son also lives nearby and she babysits her 4 year old grandaugther Wed-Fri who looks like the little girl from Monsters INC, so adorable. The other night, we watched ¨El Patito feo y yo¨ which means ¨The Ugly Duckling and Me.¨ A cute story, about a rat who inadvertently ¨adopts¨the ugly duckling and raises him.
I was placed with this family because Amanda has had a whole bunch of vegetarians, and she is quite the cook. Although, the meals tend to be carb overloaded with rice, beans, tortillas, bread, pastas, but I can´t complain because its all good and I get my full servings of vegetables.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Romero and Sunday
Last evening, the Spanish school that Im enrolled in, Miguel Angel Asturias, showed the movie ¨Romero.¨ Its a film that I´ve seen a few times, and wanted to remind myself again about this extraordinary man´s life.
Raul Julia, of Street Fighter fame, plays Archbishop Oscar Romero, a prominent figure in El Salvador in the late 70s. Before he was elected to Archbishop, he had been a relatively quiet, passive figure in the church, which was he was placed in a leadership position. He superiors thought that he would not ¨cause any waves.¨
At this time in El Salvador, there was a great deal of turmoil and the poor were suffering. Some priests advocated for economic justice for the poor and that these people should not have to wait for heaven for salvation, but that salvation can be found on Earth. These priests were labeled as communists and the military and government tortured, kidnapped, and killed many of the people who were speaking out and organizing the masses.
Romero eventually saw the reality of the situation and began to use his influence to speak out on behalf of the poor. The once passive priest was transformed into an active, vocal, and impassioned man. This is a person that I admire and respect, who has been a huge influence on me. One of his quotes has stayed with me ever since I heard it, ¨Be a voice for the voiceless.¨
In the United States, its easy to forget that the Catholic church exists, but like most countries in Latin and South America, the Catholic church in Guatemala has a prominent presence. Most of the pueblos and cities have main plazas where there is a church and its interesting because many of the Mayan beliefs and artificats have merged into Catholic traditions here.
This past Sunday, I was wondering the streets of Xela, when I happened upon a huge procession, with about 50 people carrying a huge casked with Jesus on top, carrying a wooden cross. Here are some pictures.
Raul Julia, of Street Fighter fame, plays Archbishop Oscar Romero, a prominent figure in El Salvador in the late 70s. Before he was elected to Archbishop, he had been a relatively quiet, passive figure in the church, which was he was placed in a leadership position. He superiors thought that he would not ¨cause any waves.¨
At this time in El Salvador, there was a great deal of turmoil and the poor were suffering. Some priests advocated for economic justice for the poor and that these people should not have to wait for heaven for salvation, but that salvation can be found on Earth. These priests were labeled as communists and the military and government tortured, kidnapped, and killed many of the people who were speaking out and organizing the masses.
Romero eventually saw the reality of the situation and began to use his influence to speak out on behalf of the poor. The once passive priest was transformed into an active, vocal, and impassioned man. This is a person that I admire and respect, who has been a huge influence on me. One of his quotes has stayed with me ever since I heard it, ¨Be a voice for the voiceless.¨
In the United States, its easy to forget that the Catholic church exists, but like most countries in Latin and South America, the Catholic church in Guatemala has a prominent presence. Most of the pueblos and cities have main plazas where there is a church and its interesting because many of the Mayan beliefs and artificats have merged into Catholic traditions here.
This past Sunday, I was wondering the streets of Xela, when I happened upon a huge procession, with about 50 people carrying a huge casked with Jesus on top, carrying a wooden cross. Here are some pictures.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Cabón
I only stayed the night in Guatemala City because many of the things that I had read said get out A.S.A.P. To be fair, the hostel guy told me that the archelogical museum is one the best muesums in the country and that there are plenty of things to do in the capital. On the otherhand, another hostel guest, who was a bit questionable himself, advised me to be careful. Regardless, I took a morning bus to Cabón, about 4 hours north, which is set in a higher altitude and is famous for coffee growing and Semuc Champey, a limestone formation over a river.
I visited a coffee farm, which was conviently right next door to my hostel. It was originally started by some Europeans, which transformed the region into a major producer of coffee. I opted for the Spanish tour, hoping to practice and it ended up being not too confusing. Most of the coffee plants had been there since when then farm started and they just keep trimming the plants.
Originally, I was planning to cut across to the west to Nebaj after Cabón, but there had been some major mudslides recently and the road was no longer open. Bummer, but part of traveling is going with the flow and I decided to travel up further north to Tikal, a major Mayan site, instead of going there at the end of March.
This left me with an extra day to explore the surrounding area. Since I was short on time, I went with a tour group to some local caves and Semuc Champey, which was gorgeous.
Estoy aquí
So I never formally finished my blog. I had been meaning to post that I returned to the U.S. and am finishing up my last year of school, but things got in the way and I was too lazy to let you know that I made it back home. For all I know, you might think that I´m still in Bangkok, since that was my last entry.
The past several months have been great, reconnecting with friends, making new friends, living with my mom for a while, and continuing my education. I´ve been fortunate to make it down to Guatemala for a little bit of travel and a medical Spanish rotation in Xela.
I flew into Guatemala City (which is shortened just to Guatemala by the locals) last Thursday and stayed in a hostel 5 minutes away from the airport that is run by a Guatemalan woman and her American husband. He and I chatted for a while, telling me about some of the interesting stories of running a hostel. I thought that one in particular had a good lesson about doing work abroad that I´d like to share with you. A Canadian church group came down to Guatemala with huge bags of gifts for a local village that their Pastor had arranged. They were all excited about the upcoming week and ready to share their gifts. A week later, they returned to Guatemala and the preceding energy had clearly dissipatedand many members of the group were quiet and reserved.
The hostel owner asked one of the members what had happened. She recounted the week´s events with disdain. She explained that they held a big party in the local school, had a nice cake, and gave out all the markers, books, pens and other gifts to all the children of the village. While the Canadians cleaned up after the party, the families left for the weekly market. Upon leaving the school, the Canadians were shocked to see all their well-intentioned gifts spread out on blankets with families haggling over the items!
The church member proceeded to express how disappointed she was that they were selling the gifts and not using it for their education. He pointed out that many of these families are more concerned with eating, rather than learning. She replied that education is important.
All in all, I think while this group had the best of intentions, there´s something to be said about finding out what the local needs are before coming down, instead of imposing what we think is best for them. More often than not, we base our humanitarian actions on our own beliefs and experiences and assume that everyone else also has the same needs and desires. But, as this little story points out, the families pointed out their priorities.
The past several months have been great, reconnecting with friends, making new friends, living with my mom for a while, and continuing my education. I´ve been fortunate to make it down to Guatemala for a little bit of travel and a medical Spanish rotation in Xela.
I flew into Guatemala City (which is shortened just to Guatemala by the locals) last Thursday and stayed in a hostel 5 minutes away from the airport that is run by a Guatemalan woman and her American husband. He and I chatted for a while, telling me about some of the interesting stories of running a hostel. I thought that one in particular had a good lesson about doing work abroad that I´d like to share with you. A Canadian church group came down to Guatemala with huge bags of gifts for a local village that their Pastor had arranged. They were all excited about the upcoming week and ready to share their gifts. A week later, they returned to Guatemala and the preceding energy had clearly dissipatedand many members of the group were quiet and reserved.
The hostel owner asked one of the members what had happened. She recounted the week´s events with disdain. She explained that they held a big party in the local school, had a nice cake, and gave out all the markers, books, pens and other gifts to all the children of the village. While the Canadians cleaned up after the party, the families left for the weekly market. Upon leaving the school, the Canadians were shocked to see all their well-intentioned gifts spread out on blankets with families haggling over the items!
The church member proceeded to express how disappointed she was that they were selling the gifts and not using it for their education. He pointed out that many of these families are more concerned with eating, rather than learning. She replied that education is important.
All in all, I think while this group had the best of intentions, there´s something to be said about finding out what the local needs are before coming down, instead of imposing what we think is best for them. More often than not, we base our humanitarian actions on our own beliefs and experiences and assume that everyone else also has the same needs and desires. But, as this little story points out, the families pointed out their priorities.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
They sure do grow up fast
Do you remember those two little rascals, Wei-En and Wei Min, my nephews, in Bangkok? Well, they both have grown considerably, especially Wei-En. When I last saw him, he was cruising around in his stroller, chewing on his shoelace fascinated with empty plastic bottles. Now, he's walking around, chatting it up with everyone and has 2 nicknames for me, he has renamed Uncle Jimmy as: "Go Me" and "Jimmy-ah" (imitating my Aunt Nancy in a Chinese accent).
As with Wei Min, everyone talks to Wei En in a combination of Chinese, Thai and English. Wei En can correctly identify and say: Flamingo in English, Dog in Chinese, and Elephant in Thai. At first, I thought oh my gosh, that kid is going to be confused when he gets older, but the more I thought about it, the more it seems appropriate. It'll all get sorted out and then he'll be tri-lingual like Wei Min, which is fantastic!
Wei En, following in the footprints, or should I say hoof prints of his older brother , by riding a pony. Wei En is also very into applauding !
Wei Min, Wei Min and Uncle Jimmy
As with Wei Min, everyone talks to Wei En in a combination of Chinese, Thai and English. Wei En can correctly identify and say: Flamingo in English, Dog in Chinese, and Elephant in Thai. At first, I thought oh my gosh, that kid is going to be confused when he gets older, but the more I thought about it, the more it seems appropriate. It'll all get sorted out and then he'll be tri-lingual like Wei Min, which is fantastic!
Wei En, following in the footprints, or should I say hoof prints of his older brother , by riding a pony. Wei En is also very into applauding !
Wei Min, Wei Min and Uncle Jimmy
Monday, July 7, 2008
Catching up
After 2 1/2 weeks of traveling in China, I have a much needed respite with my relatives in Bangkok. Dealing with all of the logistics of getting four people through China, while fun and exciting, can be a bit stressful. It feels like I've come full circle since leaving last year. I started my adventure in Bangkok and am now ending it here.
After we left Xi'an, we went to Chengdu (成都) in Sichuan (四川) Provence to see the Pandas! This is the same Provence where the tragic, devastating earthquake happened, but Chengdu was not effected. Pandas are cute, but they are pretty lazy. Most of their day is consumed with eating because their bodies can only absorb a fraction of the nutrients from bamboo, so they have to spend about 80% of their day eating. Its a hard knock life for them.
We also made a day trip out to Leshan (樂山), where the world's largest buddha is located. This place also happens to be the birthplace of my father, who I thought was born in Chongqing, but was recently informed otherwise. His Chinese name carries part of his birth place, Le (樂), which means "happy."
After a couple of days in Chengdu, we made it to the Yunnan (云南) Provence, which is an area that is worth exploring in China. The scenery is breathtaking and the old towns of Lijiang (丽江) and Dali (大理) are a refreshing change of pace from the generic Chinese cities, especially, since there's hardly any pollution. Also, we hike Tiger Leaping Gorge which was an amazing hike. My mom was a super trooper and hiked the incredible difficult trail without any assistance, namely from the 2 local with horses who were trailing us in hopes of one of us tiring and paying money to ride the horse to the top.
Anyhoo, that's brief recap of our travels, which concluded in Hong Kong with a four day extravaganza of eating, shopping and seeing relatives.
Zach, Jen and I at Tiger Leaping Gorge
The Fam:
Click here to see some cute panda cubs, the world's largest Buddha, and more!
After we left Xi'an, we went to Chengdu (成都) in Sichuan (四川) Provence to see the Pandas! This is the same Provence where the tragic, devastating earthquake happened, but Chengdu was not effected. Pandas are cute, but they are pretty lazy. Most of their day is consumed with eating because their bodies can only absorb a fraction of the nutrients from bamboo, so they have to spend about 80% of their day eating. Its a hard knock life for them.
We also made a day trip out to Leshan (樂山), where the world's largest buddha is located. This place also happens to be the birthplace of my father, who I thought was born in Chongqing, but was recently informed otherwise. His Chinese name carries part of his birth place, Le (樂), which means "happy."
After a couple of days in Chengdu, we made it to the Yunnan (云南) Provence, which is an area that is worth exploring in China. The scenery is breathtaking and the old towns of Lijiang (丽江) and Dali (大理) are a refreshing change of pace from the generic Chinese cities, especially, since there's hardly any pollution. Also, we hike Tiger Leaping Gorge which was an amazing hike. My mom was a super trooper and hiked the incredible difficult trail without any assistance, namely from the 2 local with horses who were trailing us in hopes of one of us tiring and paying money to ride the horse to the top.
Anyhoo, that's brief recap of our travels, which concluded in Hong Kong with a four day extravaganza of eating, shopping and seeing relatives.
Zach, Jen and I at Tiger Leaping Gorge
The Fam:
Click here to see some cute panda cubs, the world's largest Buddha, and more!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Family Vacay
D'oh, its been almost a month since I've last posted. Things have been really hectic for me as the year is coming to an end. Over the past month, I went to my friend Letizia's wedding, which was a beautiful ceremony on the beach and have been trying to say my good-byes to my friends in Jilin. I've also been packing and cleaning; as Kevin points out, I'm a pack-rat, although I think that over the years, I've gotten better about throwing things away.
One of my last nights in Jilin was one of the funnest. Along the scenic, yet slightly polluted, Song Hua River, Snow Beer (Xue Hua 雪華) set up several beer tents with mini kegs and pitchers for sale, combined with kabobs and other small snacks, it was a fun evening. This type of thing is pretty atypical for Jilin as most things are closed early and most people head home around 9pm.
Song Hua River
Jenny's friends, Jenny, Jim and Kevin
Leaving Jilin was bittersweet; while it was sad leaving my friends and students, I was excited to travel in China with my mom, sister, Jennifer, and her husband Zach.
We started off in Beijing, doing all the major tourist sites and then headed on an overnight train to Xi'an (西安). It would have been easier to take a flight, but I wanted to give Jen and Zach a true China experience: the overnight train. They are actually not that bad and quite comfortable, but I think one event is seared into their brains. The morning before our arrival, the water, for some unknown reason stopped working in the bathrooms. This led to no flushing of the squatters (toilets that you have to squat to use, which are ubiquitous in China); consequently, giving my sister and Zach unfortunate views and odors.
Otherwise, its been great seeing a new place and I'm excited for the other places we're going to see.
I'm in the process of uploading pictures, but enjoy the one of Jen and me eating an overly sweet fruit kabob. I recommend getting this only with the pineapple, we had a few tomatoes in ours!
One of my last nights in Jilin was one of the funnest. Along the scenic, yet slightly polluted, Song Hua River, Snow Beer (Xue Hua 雪華) set up several beer tents with mini kegs and pitchers for sale, combined with kabobs and other small snacks, it was a fun evening. This type of thing is pretty atypical for Jilin as most things are closed early and most people head home around 9pm.
Song Hua River
Jenny's friends, Jenny, Jim and KevinLeaving Jilin was bittersweet; while it was sad leaving my friends and students, I was excited to travel in China with my mom, sister, Jennifer, and her husband Zach.
We started off in Beijing, doing all the major tourist sites and then headed on an overnight train to Xi'an (西安). It would have been easier to take a flight, but I wanted to give Jen and Zach a true China experience: the overnight train. They are actually not that bad and quite comfortable, but I think one event is seared into their brains. The morning before our arrival, the water, for some unknown reason stopped working in the bathrooms. This led to no flushing of the squatters (toilets that you have to squat to use, which are ubiquitous in China); consequently, giving my sister and Zach unfortunate views and odors.
Otherwise, its been great seeing a new place and I'm excited for the other places we're going to see.
I'm in the process of uploading pictures, but enjoy the one of Jen and me eating an overly sweet fruit kabob. I recommend getting this only with the pineapple, we had a few tomatoes in ours!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Ice Lake Ditch (冰湖沟)
This past Saturday, my Medical English Students took another teacher and myself on an outing to Ice Lake Ditch (冰湖沟). It's a beautiful place and its easy to forget that there is life outside "the city." Incredibly enough, there was still ice formations at this place, or rather maybe not so surprising since it has been cold up until now. Regardless, it was pretty cool to see ice blocks, on a sunny, warm day. My students are a fun bunch and it was great to hang out with them outside of the class setting, especially since my time here is coming to an end.
I honestly can't believe that my time here in Jilin is almost over. Before I came, I was looking for some kind of connection to China. I think that I can honestly say that I'm Chinese-American with more conviction.
Many students have asked me do you consider yourself Chinese or American? In the U.S., I've always given the standard response, "oh, I'm Chinese-American," but that was more based on appearance than anything. I mean I did know how to use chopsticks and I love to eat Chinese food, but other than some understanding of some customs, I never felt that I was truly Chinese. While living here for a year does not necessarily make me an expert, I have a better grasp of the ideas, customs, culture and more importantly, I can actually order the food now. My reply to the students have been, "I'm both! I'm Chinese-American!"
I'm in an ice pocket
Look at the last guy who littered.
He learned his lesson and now uses the trash receptacle.
Rest of the pictures from my outing.
I honestly can't believe that my time here in Jilin is almost over. Before I came, I was looking for some kind of connection to China. I think that I can honestly say that I'm Chinese-American with more conviction.
Many students have asked me do you consider yourself Chinese or American? In the U.S., I've always given the standard response, "oh, I'm Chinese-American," but that was more based on appearance than anything. I mean I did know how to use chopsticks and I love to eat Chinese food, but other than some understanding of some customs, I never felt that I was truly Chinese. While living here for a year does not necessarily make me an expert, I have a better grasp of the ideas, customs, culture and more importantly, I can actually order the food now. My reply to the students have been, "I'm both! I'm Chinese-American!"
I'm in an ice pocket
Look at the last guy who littered.He learned his lesson and now uses the trash receptacle.
Rest of the pictures from my outing.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
加油! Jia You!
As I ran along the hilly countryside, along the Great Wall Marathon course, many little kids and adults were yelling, "Jia you! (加油!) Jia you!" This literally means "add oil," but translates to "go! go! go!" It was kind of humorous because I would usually hear the crowds yell out "hello" to foreigners passing by, but then when they saw me, they would say, look a Chinese runner, and say, "加油!"
This was a pretty intense course, much of it uphill and on top of that there's the wall. The first time around, it wasn't so bad, kind of nice and my body was still relatively fresh, as it was in the first 5 miles that we "ran" the wall. In reality, its nearly impossible to run along Great Wall, so most of us just walked along, hoping not to fall off or trip and break a bone.
However, by mile 22ish, I was pretty tired and my legs were screaming in pain. I was cursing every step and was wondering if I could stop right there. I kept chugging along until the end of the wall and it was all downhill from there, literally.
It was the greatest feeling to cross the finish line and I got a nifty medal. Overall, it was an amazing, grueling experience, one that I probably will not do again, but highly recommend it!
On the stage with my medal!
You can see the wall along the hills.
In other news, the earthquake in Sichuan province is devastating, as I'm sure you've heard. Thankfully, I am up in the northeast, which very far away from the western province. Today, and the next two days, there are moments of silence at 2:28PM for the victims of the Earthquake. Also, if you would like to donate some money, the following are some good websites to check out:
http://tsinghuafoundation.org/earthquake08/index.html
http://www.us.tzuchi.org/usa/home.nsf/photonews/k11802
http://www.mercycorps.org/chinaearthquake/
May 20th, 10:53PM Addendum
Here is my result from the Great Wall Marathon
May 23rd, 12:37AM Addendum
This website has photos of me along the wall and the course, just click on the Great Wall Marathon on the left side and put in my bib number in the search engine: 544
This was a pretty intense course, much of it uphill and on top of that there's the wall. The first time around, it wasn't so bad, kind of nice and my body was still relatively fresh, as it was in the first 5 miles that we "ran" the wall. In reality, its nearly impossible to run along Great Wall, so most of us just walked along, hoping not to fall off or trip and break a bone.
However, by mile 22ish, I was pretty tired and my legs were screaming in pain. I was cursing every step and was wondering if I could stop right there. I kept chugging along until the end of the wall and it was all downhill from there, literally.
It was the greatest feeling to cross the finish line and I got a nifty medal. Overall, it was an amazing, grueling experience, one that I probably will not do again, but highly recommend it!
On the stage with my medal!
You can see the wall along the hills.
In other news, the earthquake in Sichuan province is devastating, as I'm sure you've heard. Thankfully, I am up in the northeast, which very far away from the western province. Today, and the next two days, there are moments of silence at 2:28PM for the victims of the Earthquake. Also, if you would like to donate some money, the following are some good websites to check out:
http://tsinghuafoundation.org/earthquake08/index.html
http://www.us.tzuchi.org/usa/home.nsf/photonews/k11802
http://www.mercycorps.org/chinaearthquake/
May 20th, 10:53PM Addendum
Here is my result from the Great Wall Marathon
May 23rd, 12:37AM Addendum
This website has photos of me along the wall and the course, just click on the Great Wall Marathon on the left side and put in my bib number in the search engine: 544
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Harder than the Antarctica Marathon?
With about a week and a half left before the Great Wall Marathon, I though I'd peruse some of the articles on the marathon, just to mentally prepare myself. When I came across a comment left by a previous runner who wrote, "I thought Antarctica was tough until I ran the Great Wall Marathon"
I was in a state in of utter disbelief. I mean, come on, we're talking about freaking Antarctica here. Its covered in ICE and Wikipedia has this to add, "Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents." Oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into?
In other news, we were on holiday last week for May Day so a bunch of us went camping at 5 Tiger Island. This island is actually a theme park, so it looked a bit odd that we had all our camping gear, looking for a spot along the beach. One of the tourists yelled out, "do you plan on living there?" Regardless, we had a grand ol' time which was accentuated with 朋友 (peng you, "friend" in Chinese), Michelle's boxer, who was super hyper, but not very good at fetching. 5 Tiger Island photo album here
Peng you "helping" collect firewood:
Matt, Michelle, James, Kevin, Peng You, and Jenny
I was in a state in of utter disbelief. I mean, come on, we're talking about freaking Antarctica here. Its covered in ICE and Wikipedia has this to add, "Antarctica is the coldest, driest and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents." Oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into?
In other news, we were on holiday last week for May Day so a bunch of us went camping at 5 Tiger Island. This island is actually a theme park, so it looked a bit odd that we had all our camping gear, looking for a spot along the beach. One of the tourists yelled out, "do you plan on living there?" Regardless, we had a grand ol' time which was accentuated with 朋友 (peng you, "friend" in Chinese), Michelle's boxer, who was super hyper, but not very good at fetching. 5 Tiger Island photo album here
Peng you "helping" collect firewood:
Matt, Michelle, James, Kevin, Peng You, and Jenny
Friday, April 18, 2008
Childhood pastimes
Winter is becoming a distant memory as the days have become super nice and warm. More and more people are outside, recalibrating their eyes to the sun and, as my students would say, playing outside.
Recently, I've rediscovered 2 activities from my childhood in Century Square, a ginormous square, near the Song Hua River, that has a huge structure called "the boat", a small zoo, a large TV that plays Enya all day long, and throngs of people renting roller skates and flying kites, some are doing both at the same time.
Jenny and Kevin in front of the Boat in Century Square
I think I can count the number of times I've gone roller skating on one hand, but nevertheless it was tons of fun and I didn't fall once! The following day, I went kite-flying with my friend, Ethan, and his girlfriend Linda. I was skeptical of kite flying at first, but I ended up liking the challenge of getting the kite high in the air and maintaining it high above. Its harder than it looks!
Kevin and me keeping balanced
I told my friend Katrin about my recent adventures and she said, "that should be a requirement...to spend an hour a week doing something that you used to do only as a child! minimally"
Octopus kite...
So buck up campers and get on out there!
Look how much this little tyke is having!
Recently, I've rediscovered 2 activities from my childhood in Century Square, a ginormous square, near the Song Hua River, that has a huge structure called "the boat", a small zoo, a large TV that plays Enya all day long, and throngs of people renting roller skates and flying kites, some are doing both at the same time.
Jenny and Kevin in front of the Boat in Century Square
I think I can count the number of times I've gone roller skating on one hand, but nevertheless it was tons of fun and I didn't fall once! The following day, I went kite-flying with my friend, Ethan, and his girlfriend Linda. I was skeptical of kite flying at first, but I ended up liking the challenge of getting the kite high in the air and maintaining it high above. Its harder than it looks!Kevin and me keeping balanced
Octopus kite...
So buck up campers and get on out there!Look how much this little tyke is having!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Indoctrination
So recently you've probably noticed that all the press about Tibet, the Olympics and whatnot, and maybe you're wondering what the sentiment here is in China, especially among the students. I came across this op-ed piece (NY Time Article) which I think correctly assesses the opinions of most Chinese here.Understandably, students are taught to love their country, nationalism is part of any country's curriculum. For example, the U.S. text books have glossed over our own malicious behavior towards American Indians and Japanese text books have underplayed their war atrocities in China and even have made some of the army leaders into war heroes. This is all done in order to paint a rosy picture of history and an attempt to avert any type of shame or disdain for one's country. Regardless, history is supposed to explain the truth and even knowing the truth, one can still love their country.
Thus, one can still love their country and at the same time be critical of their actions.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Trip to Freedom's Home
Yesterday was Qingming Festival, as we did not have any classes, my student, Freedom invited me to his home in the countryside, near the town 天北 (Tian Bei). He wanted to show me the countryside and introduce me to his parents', as well as his mother's cooking. I think in this past 24 hour period, I've gained 5 kilos from all the food that she made for us.
Can you pick out the ones I made?
The stove in the kitchen is connected to the bottom of the house. Since there's no central heating, the heat from the ongoing fire in the stove heats the tiled floor, which heats the room. It's an innovative system, so I was nice and toasty on the floor as there was literally a fire under my bed.
Freedom's parents were incredibly nice and always giving me food and inviting me to come back whenever I had free time. In fact they were trying to be hospitable and offered me a beer today, with breakfast! I politely declined and replied that it was too early (8am) for beer. However, evidently, it was not too early for "kegs and eggs" for one of the bus passengers today on the ride back to Jilin.
We took the 2pm bus back to Jilin, and there was a man who was obviously drunk standing in the aisle of the bus, keeling over. He eventually got a seat, but then proceeded to vomit in the aisle. It REEKED of this crappy alcohol called "bai jiu," which is this home-style liquor that smells just awful, especially after its been ingested and then regurgitated. We vacated the bus and I was so disgusted with the whole mess that we ended up walking and taking a cab the rest of the way home.
The episode of vomitus did not ruin the day and a half trip and it was a great adventure into the countryside.
Life in the countryside is pretty simple, but its also strenuous. There's always things to be done around the farm and the house, but the cows have it pretty easy. They just plop themselves on some hay and eat all day.
We spent the afternoon, walking around his small town and I met a cute, old family friend who lives in this pretty cool mud/straw house that he built. 
I was excited to help with dinner and make some dumplings. But after a few minutes, it became evident that I was more of a hindrance than an asset. Freedom's mom made the most impeccable dumplings and mine came no where close to her's. Also, not only did they look funny, many of my dumplings did not survive the ravaging effects of boiling water. Though, they still were tasty.
Freedom and him mom.
We spent the afternoon, walking around his small town and I met a cute, old family friend who lives in this pretty cool mud/straw house that he built. 
I was excited to help with dinner and make some dumplings. But after a few minutes, it became evident that I was more of a hindrance than an asset. Freedom's mom made the most impeccable dumplings and mine came no where close to her's. Also, not only did they look funny, many of my dumplings did not survive the ravaging effects of boiling water. Though, they still were tasty.
Freedom and him mom.
Can you pick out the ones I made?The stove in the kitchen is connected to the bottom of the house. Since there's no central heating, the heat from the ongoing fire in the stove heats the tiled floor, which heats the room. It's an innovative system, so I was nice and toasty on the floor as there was literally a fire under my bed.
Freedom's parents were incredibly nice and always giving me food and inviting me to come back whenever I had free time. In fact they were trying to be hospitable and offered me a beer today, with breakfast! I politely declined and replied that it was too early (8am) for beer. However, evidently, it was not too early for "kegs and eggs" for one of the bus passengers today on the ride back to Jilin.
We took the 2pm bus back to Jilin, and there was a man who was obviously drunk standing in the aisle of the bus, keeling over. He eventually got a seat, but then proceeded to vomit in the aisle. It REEKED of this crappy alcohol called "bai jiu," which is this home-style liquor that smells just awful, especially after its been ingested and then regurgitated. We vacated the bus and I was so disgusted with the whole mess that we ended up walking and taking a cab the rest of the way home.
The episode of vomitus did not ruin the day and a half trip and it was a great adventure into the countryside.
Monday, March 31, 2008
替考 Replace Test
I was having dinner with a student of mine the other day, and we were making plans this coming weekend because we have Friday off. Its Qing ming (清明节) Festival, which is also known as, Tomb Sweeping Day. This day is for remembering and honoring ones' ancestors, which includes visiting their tombs.
My student invited me to his home in the countryside, but we have to come back on Saturday because he has to take a test. I prodded a bit and found out that the test he's taking the test for someone else! The non-test taker works at a company and is looking to get a promotion. In order to accomplish this, he has to take a test and pass to get a certificate to help him obtain this advancement at work. He is paying my student to take the test for him since it is in English and my student's major is English. Here, they call this 替考 (ti kao), which literally means replace test.
I was pretty amazed at this underground business, but then again, I was not that surprised because cheating on tests is rampant and everyone and their mother manages to sneak in a crib sheet or blatantly take someone else's paper in the middle of the test and copies it (this happened in my class last semester).
It was actually very amusing. I went up to the student and said, "Oh, where's your test paper? Are you finished with it already?" She was a little verklempt but managed to spit out a few lame questions about Thanksgiving, hoping that I didn't notice that the boy behind us had her test paper. I let it go since I don't want to fail the students out of school.
Anyhoo, back to this 替考 business. It pays well, compared to the living standards here and I thought, oh my goodness, I would rock an English test (not that I support cheating, but I get easily excited). But then, I found out that there's a translation part. Um, yeah, I'm going to have to pass.
My student invited me to his home in the countryside, but we have to come back on Saturday because he has to take a test. I prodded a bit and found out that the test he's taking the test for someone else! The non-test taker works at a company and is looking to get a promotion. In order to accomplish this, he has to take a test and pass to get a certificate to help him obtain this advancement at work. He is paying my student to take the test for him since it is in English and my student's major is English. Here, they call this 替考 (ti kao), which literally means replace test.
I was pretty amazed at this underground business, but then again, I was not that surprised because cheating on tests is rampant and everyone and their mother manages to sneak in a crib sheet or blatantly take someone else's paper in the middle of the test and copies it (this happened in my class last semester).
It was actually very amusing. I went up to the student and said, "Oh, where's your test paper? Are you finished with it already?" She was a little verklempt but managed to spit out a few lame questions about Thanksgiving, hoping that I didn't notice that the boy behind us had her test paper. I let it go since I don't want to fail the students out of school.
Anyhoo, back to this 替考 business. It pays well, compared to the living standards here and I thought, oh my goodness, I would rock an English test (not that I support cheating, but I get easily excited). But then, I found out that there's a translation part. Um, yeah, I'm going to have to pass.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Running with Sand
Well, as Matt pointed out, I really need to post something. But to be honest, there's not much happening these days. Time has been passing quickly and part of the reason is that I'm quite busy. My days have been filled with class hours, both teaching and Chinese class, tutors, meeting with students and lastly running.
I'm happy to report that training for the Great Wall Marathon is going pretty well. I just did long run of about 1 hr 40 minutes this past Saturday. I had been nervous about the marathon since I had a little bit less than 3 months to train for it, but I've had a nice time running in Jilin. I have a pretty good running path for my long runs along the Song Hua River, but I'm unsure of the distances, so just to be safe I've designated a mile to every 10 minutes that I run. While we've had some bouts of cold and snow, the weather hasn't been too shabby. Unfortunately, we are the throws of "sand storm season."
The way I look at it is that Mud Season:Vermont :: Sandstorm Season: Northeast China. So instead of seeing mud flaps everywhere, I'll see random people, especially children, with their heads engulfed in a weird pantyhose-netting type thing to block out the sand. I actually could use some sort of mask, since sometimes after finishing a run, I'll feel like I've tripped over someone buried in the beach and fallen face first into the sand. You know that gross feeling of bits of sand in your mouth, getting stuck in the crevices of your mouth and rubbing against your molars and gums, ugh!
Anyhoo, the run is less than 2 months away, yikes! I'm looking forward to it and hopefully I don't trip and fall off!
I'm happy to report that training for the Great Wall Marathon is going pretty well. I just did long run of about 1 hr 40 minutes this past Saturday. I had been nervous about the marathon since I had a little bit less than 3 months to train for it, but I've had a nice time running in Jilin. I have a pretty good running path for my long runs along the Song Hua River, but I'm unsure of the distances, so just to be safe I've designated a mile to every 10 minutes that I run. While we've had some bouts of cold and snow, the weather hasn't been too shabby. Unfortunately, we are the throws of "sand storm season."
The way I look at it is that Mud Season:Vermont :: Sandstorm Season: Northeast China. So instead of seeing mud flaps everywhere, I'll see random people, especially children, with their heads engulfed in a weird pantyhose-netting type thing to block out the sand. I actually could use some sort of mask, since sometimes after finishing a run, I'll feel like I've tripped over someone buried in the beach and fallen face first into the sand. You know that gross feeling of bits of sand in your mouth, getting stuck in the crevices of your mouth and rubbing against your molars and gums, ugh!
Anyhoo, the run is less than 2 months away, yikes! I'm looking forward to it and hopefully I don't trip and fall off!
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