I swear...

By the moon and the stars in the skies
I'll be there
I swear like the shadow that's by your side
I'll be there
For better or worse, 'till death do us part
I'll love you with every beat of my heart
And I swear...

These wonderful lyrics touched our Chinese hosts, our fellow Japanese and Korean teachers, as we, Kevin, Matt, Jim and I represented America, bellowing out "I swear" by Boyz II Men. It was quite the scene, especially since the song was sung to a backdrop of 5 Asian sisters running through a gambit of emotions.

Tonight, our hosts took us out to dinner to officially welcome us and to promote good relations between the foreign teacher and Chinese teachers. The meal was filled with great food, most of it vegetarian friendly (yay for me), and many toasts, followed by gan bei's (bottoms up). Its a rather early night for us, but that's because we have a 7:30AM train to catch.

Unlike my pack for the Machu Picchu Trail, this trip will only consist of a small backpack and my merse. I think its the lightest I've ever packed for a week long trip. Anyhoo, I'll try to update during my trip, but I might not be able to until my return the following weekend.

Train Station

Today, Kevin and I met up with our friend Eric to buy train tickets for upcoming holiday. Originally, National Day was a day off, but now its gradually developed into a week long vacation for the country. We're heading to Yanji and then to Chang Bai Shan near the North Korean border. Since its a national holiday, needless to say, the station was flooded with people, waiting in orderly lines.

I was a bit surprised because prior to coming here, I was informed that its pretty much everyone for themselves. Just try to imagine 1.3 billion people trying to travel and then throw us non-Mandarin speakers in the mix for a good comedy show. Luckily, our friend, Alec is a native speaker, who speaks English very very well. Kevin mentioned that there was some sort of national campaign to deter people from shoving and to respect the LINE. (something that Americans are surprisingly good at)

Nevertheless, as we got closer to the ticket booth and the cashier made an announcement that he was going on lunch break in 3 minutes, a small pocket of chaos ensued at our line. A random guy came up to me and started asking me questions and of course my level of Chinese is still pretty basic so I passed him to my friend, Alec. He was asking us to him a favor of buying his ticket with his money for him.

Plus, there was this woman was trying to shove her money under the ticket window, in front of us, as we're getting standing there, trying to acquire tickets. Thankfully, the ticket man shooed her away and we were the last customers before his respite. There were tickets available only for the standing section, but they were so cheap, only 45 kuai ($5.50). So, Kevin, Matt, and I will be on our feet for about 7 hours. Its going to be an adventure and build character!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! (Zhong Qiu Jie Kuai Le!)

The past few weeks, Jilin, as well as the rest of the country has been inundated with delicious treats called "Moon Cakes," in preparation of today. In the lunar calender, today is the 15th day of the 8th month which coincides with the Full Moon! Oddly enough, it also has coincided with the weather turning quite chilly. *tear* There have been a plethora of moon cake stands all over the city and we're posing with, I presume, a traditional family strolling down the streets of Jilin with some moon cakes.Families gather tonight and share a meal together, taking in the glorious full moon. They munch on moon cakes. I think most are pretty good, but there are some that warrant being thrown in the trash.

We've been invited to Jenny's apartment for a pot-luck dinner to celebrate the day. We've done a pretty good job of cooking up an international menu. Matt whipped up some garlic mashed potatoes, Kevin made some Mediterranean Salad, and I made some Thai vegetable curry.

Today in class, my students taught me a famous Mid-Autumn Festival Poem by Li Bai that everyone memorizes.

静夜思

床前明月光，
疑是地上霜。
举头望明月，
低头思故乡。
by 李白

While I am not a certified translator, I'll give it a shot:

Thoughts in a Silent Night
Bright moon light falls in front of my bed,
frosting the ground beneath my feet.
I tilt my head towards the bright moon,
then I lower my head and think of my homeland.

*tear* (place your finger near your eye and imitate a tear drop falling) Many of you know that I do this as a comedic action, so don't worry about me!

But seriously, all of you are in my thoughts and I hope that you have a fabulous Mid-Autumn Festival Day.

Dragon Pool Mountain (Long tan shan)

On Saturday, I went on my first hiking adventure with the guys, Joo, Jenny, Michelle, and her two dogs: Peng You (Friend) and Xin-xin. I was excited to get out of the city and get some fresh air. I soon discovered that the trail was a hybrid of nature, religious experience and amusement park. The hike first passed some Buddhist temples and then made its way into a mini-theme park. They had everything from "riding the bull" to archery. Matt picked up the bow and arrow and shot as if he had years of experience hunting buffalo on the range. He got a bulls eye on his second try!

The trail passed by a reflecting pool, which legend says that a White-tailed dragon flew out of and thus the mountain is named Dragon Pool.


(L-R: Joo, Jenny, Matt, I'm holding Xin-Xin, Michelle, Peng You, and Kevin)

Joo mentioned, after seeing a sunflower on the roof of a temple, that in Korea, giving a sunflower to your significant other means that "you only have eyes for them."



Last night, I was by the Song Hua River and the trees are decorated with Icicle Lights, awaiting for the real thing in a few months. Anyhoo, its not super clear, but at least you can hear me narrating!



On Sunday, I asked Jenny if I could sit in on her English Class for her 5/6 year olds. There were 7 students and quite adorable. I thought it was interesting that when she was teaching the youngsters how to write A, B, and so on, she was doing it based on how many strokes are in each letter. This totally makes sense as Chinese Characters revolves around strokes.

Well, Tuesday, is the Moon Festival, so you better run out and get some Moon Cakes for the Full Moon!

Bone Marrow Stew

In my medical English class today, I learned an interesting tidbit of information about one's diet during an illness. One of the dialogs focused on a fracture and the patient asked, "Is it okay, if I have some soup with bone marrow, so that I can heal faster?" The doctor's response is, "Yes, it might speed up your recovery." I made a side comment to the class that this is probably not true.

However, my students informed me that when a patient has a health issue, be it liver dysfunction or heart problems, it is widely believed that eating the analogous part of an animal aids in the healing process. Thus, when you break a bone, you should eat bone marrow as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.

I think many American are finicky eaters and would never fathom eating the liver or heart of an animal. Also, I'm not sure how many would even believe that this type of diet would help cure their illness, as we live in a culture of pills and prescriptions.

My right thumb is numb

This past Sunday, Matt, Kevin, Jim, Jenny and I went to the underground arcade to bowl. We walked below into a haze of cigarette smoke and our faces were bathed in neon flashing lights and the soothing glow of various videogame screens. They had all types of fun things to do like pool tables, ping-pong tables, and a myriad of videogames.

Remember the arcade game with the big claw and you try to win a cute, stuffed teddy bear? Well, we saw a variation on this idea, that included both children and adults: Note the pile of cigarette packs in the lower right corner, so that children can't see them, oh wait, they're right at their eye level...

I recently read a statistic that 1/3 cigarettes made in the world are consumed in China. Its ubiquitous around Jilin and everyone smokes, everywhere. Its quite a shock to the system after being in a smoke-free environment for several years. I asked the doctors that I worked with about smoking cessations aids. The consensus was that there weren't any types of medications like Wellbutrin, patches or even gum. Assuming that people would want to start quitting, there'd be a huge market for smoking cessation tools here.

Anyhoo, the five of us bypassed the lure of the cancer sticks, and made our way to the bowling alley, where we had a grand time. Unfortunately for me, after a few frames, I noticed that the distal part of my right thumb became oddly numb. I think I compressed a small sensory nerve or something. It currently is still slightly asensational (is that even a word?) but I'm not too concerned as it'll probably take sometime for it to recover. I ended up bowling a decent game so the people who did not bowl so well had to buy Kevin and me ice cream.

We made our way to the McDonald's where I had my first encounter with a Chinese Ronald McDonald. It was kind of bizarre. Moreover, my friend pointed out they seem to be recycling ad campaigns from the past. Remember the suave McDonald's Moonman? He's been resurrected and making a full comeback in China!

Triple Birthday and a trail of Donkey carnage

Last night, we met up with foreign teachers and Chinese friends to celebrate Matt's and two Japanese teachers' birthdays, Mikao and Sannei. We had a private room with a gi-normous table for 16 people with a lazy susan. We ended up ordering a set menu and thus a myriad of dishes came to us. Often in Chinese cuisine, certain dishes are not recognizable and require one to ask about the content. I totally understand this predicament, as I try to avoid meat. However, last night during the meal, there was quite a spectacle.

One of the guests, aptly with her chopsticks, picked up a pita pocket thing, filled with meat and started to eat it. She has been a teacher in Jilin for about 2 years, I believe, so I would expect her to have some cultural sensitivity or at the very least good manners. So when someone asked what was inside and the response was Donkey, she immediately hurled the pita pocket which landed on the table and made a huge commotion by spitting out the food and screaming. I sympathize with her that she had donkeys on her farm growing up and couldn't fathom eating a childhood friend, but at the same time, if I had accidentally eaten a furry friend, I certainly would not throw, spit or scream. I, as my other friends, were horrified and felt awful for this show of disrespect towards our friends who had planned this wonderful evening. As we strolled along the trail of Donkey Carnage, others stopped and enjoyed the pita pockets and hopefully made some small amends towards our hostesses. Matt ingeniously placed his camera on the edge of the lazy susan and set it to video (can you find me!?)

The candle on the cake was also quite spectacular and we took a video of the show, as it blasted the Happy Birthday song and blossomed:

Imagine in China, using chopsticks to eat cake!

Settling in

Its been 2 weeks since I've arrived and things are beginning to become familiar and I'm inching towards somewhat of a routine.

I usually schlep to Chinese language class in the mornings, if I don't have to teach. Otherwise, I'm either preparing lessons for my medical English class or constantly writing Chinese characters, hoping that they imprint on my brain. I try to go for a short run every other day, usually by the Song Hua River, which has some beautiful scenery and is an escape from the polluted roads.

Most meals are eaten out, as my culinary skills are not being employed. Its fairly cheap to eat out and the food is great.

I'm enjoying teaching immensely. Whenever I arrive to class, I have bounding energy and the 2 hours fly by. The classes here are usually 2 45-minute periods with a 10 minute break. Also, it helps that I'm teaching medical English, so I find it all very interesting. On Friday, I gave out some American candy, Jolly Ranchers, so that my students wouldn't fall asleep during my lecture on Hypertriglyceridemia. They enjoyed the candy, the lecture, not so much.

While I was studying Chinese this morning, I discovered another quirk in the language. So apparently, the same character can have 2 totally different pronunciations, for example, in English imagine if you said bank, but it could mean post office depending on the context. I'm not sure if I'm explaining it clearly enough, but that's representative of how difficult this language is! Or its my shoddy explanation skills :)

Anyhoo, some more pictures of us at dinner and at the Park:
Kevin, Me, Elena, Natalia (Russians), Matt, Ashley, and Joo