3 day "Holiday"

Yesterday was Saturday. Yet it was Monday... class wise. Over the last few years China has been pushing more Nationalistic Holidays. Qing Ming Jie 清明节 has always been celebrated in China yet in the last 3 or 4 years it has been instituted to have a national holiday. Now... the funny thing is that national holidays are not quite what they seem.

I was told we would have a 3-day holiday.

My response: "oh cool, when?"

Their response: "Sunday, Monday and Tuesday."

Me: "Who teaches on Sunday?"

Them: "Well we will teach Monday's class on Saturday."

Me: (no response)

So there you have it. Our 3-day "holiday."

So basically we get Tuesday off. And our weekend is messed up. Also... Tuesday classes are now a week behind the rest of the week. I am not sure the logic behind it, but I am going to wait until the next national holiday before trying to get my classes to realign.

In other news, the weather has been getting a lot nicer and the basketball courts and soccer fields have been filling up. However spring is also the time of insane winds in Siping. There is a saying in Siping, "The wind only blows two times a year. But each time it blows it lasts for half a year." Well, our Chinese version of the windy city has unleashed the wind's spring session. Yet despite the wind finally being able to say goodbye to the ice and snow has been warmly welcomed. (pun not really intended...)

my alternative (online) universe.

For those who don't know about China's online world there are basically 3 things things you need to know.

1. China has about as many people online as the US has people.

2. China has a firewall. And it blocks pretty much everything we use on an everyday basis in the states. Okay that might be an exaggeration, but basically no facebook, twitter, youtube and most blogs. If you want to see what is blocked, check here.

3. Yet how has China appeased all of it's netizens? China has a pretty much all the same stuff that the US has... kind of. China has a copy of each popular program that the US has.

For example:

a. They blocked facebook, and then suddenly this website called Xiao Nei 校内网 appeared. (now called Ren Ren 人人网).

b. Youtube was blocked and then I learned about Youku.

c. Tweeting in China? Forget it. But you can always micro blog! 微博 (wēi bó)

d. Did I mention Google?? yeah they have Baidu.

So what is an American in China to do? Fight it with VPNs or proxies? Or... just join them?

Here is my renren and microblog accounts. Now I just have to find a way to link my facebook with my renren and my twitter with my microblog...

The Madness of March

I am pretty sure the biggest contribution I made to the Central High School Panthers' basketball team was a hole in the wall. I was a overanxious short 5'7" kid who was quick to pick up on "D" and foul out. (3 fouls in under a minute was my record if I recall.) I really do love basketball and I think I have good looking form when I shot... however, the ball rarely went in if I recall most of my high school basketball career. So I will probably be most remembered for the day I got kicked out of practice for attempting a flip off the wall over Sean Deadorff on the new gym wall.

The whole thing was going so well. I got plenty of height on my lift off, Sean was right behind me as I was running. How was I to know the wall was made out of just plaster? My size 12 foot went right through it. On the upside I still made it over Sean with no injury to neither him nor me. The bad news... coach walked in immediately after that. He wasn't too pleased. (did I mention that I may or may not have accidentally kicked a hole in the Library wall messing around with the team earlier that week? Seriously why the thin walls for new school buildings?) So i got kicked out of practice and that is pretty much where my basketball legacy ended. Sure I still played a lot, but I think that was my "highlight" of playing high school basketball.

Which brings me to today, I just started coaching my third men's basketball team in China. Who knew all those drills I did for hours after school would actually come in handy 13 years later? I have been going over plays and of course my Chinese Vocabulary for basketball terms. Go figure that the best website for college term was done by Kansas University. Now lets see if those Jayhawks can live up to their #1 seed this year. So as you follow your brackets for March Madness know that Coach "hole in the wall" Halligan will be running his boys at the wee hours of the morning getting ready for the school wide tourney next month.

blog-worthy

I am still not in the habit of weekly blogging. I was once reading a site that talked about how to maintain a good blog. I think out of all the recommendations given I did... none. But I will try to keep to one: Voice.

I was talking to my fellow expat teachers and we were discussing how our everyday activities might actually be interesting. I have been in this country to close to 7 years now and I forget how different every little step of life is here my home in the states.

So, for example, in the winter this is my common day walking to class:

As I come out my revolving door to tear-causing, then tear-freezing cold air, I slide on the black ice / frozen snow to class as I narrowly miss cars and bikes that, while also sliding on the same mix of ice and snow, are engaged in their constant game of "how close can I get to you while I pass you" that is common of these Northeast China streets.

As I balance my coffee, overstuffed bag (my students always comment on how the foreign teachers bring too much stuff to class), and whatever third object I always seem to be taking to class for some reason, I think through the days lessons as I walk through the small frozen park that sits in between my apartment building and the main building on campus. I am usually in front of or following a local teacher who seems to always be wearing the highest heels I've ever seen...on the ice and snow. If following, I always am asking my self, “It is a cultural faux pas to pass her or not?”

After passing her (this is usually my course of action... I blame driving in LA for 4 years), I find myself in the main teaching building asking the elevator operator (actually he just makes sure that students take the stairs) if he has eaten. He always has. After the awkward elevator entry and exit with other teachers. (You have to make sure you let the older and higher position teachers get off first. Who knew Confucian principles applied to the elevator?) I get to my best part of the day... the moment I walk into the classroom and see my students. They are usually waiting with smiles and then proceed to tell me I need to wear more clothes and I drink too much coffee.

Babies and more

I just wanted to share how thankful I am for all the new life that has come or is coming into my friends and family's life in the recent months. My prayers are also with those who are still waiting, I can't wait to meet everyone this summer.

I have also posted some pictures on my flickr site of my trip around some of the old Beijing houses that have are being torn down. After the Military Museum Anthony and I headed out in search of the Beijing Underground, a large connected tunnels that were built during the 1970s when the Soviet-Sino relations were not so good and China was anticipating a nuclear war. We did eventually find the entrance but had no luck getting down underground. Here are a few links that talk about it:
Wikipedia
China.org
Beijing Olympics

Suzhou to Shanghai

Today I find myself in the modern city of Shanghai. Arrived on the bullet train, started the morning watching the National Championship game at the Bamboo Sports Bar. (great game, heartbreaking end...) Then eating Burger King for lunch, shopping at the GAP, drinking Coffee Bean coffee and deciding which Art Museum to visit. Shanghai is a truly international city. I heard rumors there were more expats than nationals living here... could be just a rumor but it feels true.

The last two days Anthony and I spent in Suzhou, a city known as the Venice of China. There are supposedly more bridges than roads in Suzhou. We spent our days exploring the old city and viewing ancient gardens. We were also fortunate enough to meet up with the lovely Ms. Kelly whom I taught with before on the rooftop. She was with a couple teacher friends and treated us to a wonderful dinner.

Suzhou was a beautiful city but the weather was been cold. Not the dry cold that I am used to in northeast China and Oregon, but a wet cold. You just never seem to get warm. So although we loved Suzhou, we were not sad to head off to warmer cities.

Tomorrow we will head to Xiamen to visit an old student as our slow trip down south continues.

Nanjing pt. 2 Taiping Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion

I am currently finishing up God's Chinese Son by Jonathan Spense. It is a fascinating book about the largest uprising in History. This book chronicles the rise of the Heavenly Kingdom where Hong Xiuquan started a following saying he was the younger brother of Jesus. The tale is fascinating and unbelievable. While the US had its own internal struggle between the North and the South. China's last dynasty was struggling to keep power against Hong and his "heavenly forces." Hong's armies were so successful that they captured the former Capital city Nanjing (South Capital) which he renamed Tianjing (Heavenly capital). I was curious what this looked like in the historic city of Nanjing so Ant and I went explored

This included two sites. The first site was the actual museum of the rebellion. This included lots of maps, weapons, drawings, coins and various documents from the movement. It was a little run down and hard but still very fascinating. I was left wanting more but it still was a very interesting museum.

The next stop was the Presidential Palace. This was the former capitol of the KMT and the Ming Dynasty. The Presidential Palace was the house of so many different ruling parties of China.

What fascinated me more was how both museums showed the Taiping Rebellion in a favorable light. It was the beginning of the movement that changed China from dynastic rule to a republic. Yet as more wise people than I also noted, it gave China proof of why they should be careful of religious influence on their citizens. It is not that the original intention of the religious teachings was revolutionary, but that the revolutionaries could use those teachings as a revolutionary tool.

History is still alive today. Sometimes it hinders...yet, other times hopefully we can learn from it and be enabled.

Nanjing

Museums. History. Culture.

Nanjing

I have been to 4 museums in the last 2 days. 3 today.

Yesterday was the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Museum. It was packed with information and pain of past atrocities. I read the Rape of Nanking a few years ago and was reminded of all the pain. I was especially interested in the angle and message of the museum.

The theme seemed to be: The more injustices are exposed and brought to light can bring a sense of justice from an unjust incident. The story that seemed to come full circle was the two Japanese leaders who had a "Kill Contest." These exploits were highlighted earlier in the museum and the trail and execution of these two leaders were presented towards the end as a kind of finale.

The next museum was the John Rabe house. It is in the midst of skyscrapers and busy metropolitan life. A small courtyard surrounds the early 19th century house. As you enter the courtyard you are no longer on a crowded Chinese street but instead you are whisked back to a different time and world. The house is wonderfully preserved and tells the story of the "International Safety Committee of Nanjing." A group of brave and selfless expats who risked their lives to save Chinese lives and dignity during one of the middle kingdom's darkest hours.

The message of this museum seemed to be one of the goodness of the people involved and as you walked up to the higher floors of Rabe's former resident turned into something of a memorial to the good relationship China has formed with Germany.

Although I was a little put off by the top floors, I felt honored to be at the spot where such brave individuals took a stand against such evil and injustice happening around them. To put life in perspective of what really matters...

May their braveness inspire numerous others in generations to come.

May we remember John Rabe, Minnie Vautrin and the all the others who stayed behind to stand up against injustice during those awful times.

For those who are interested more in this topic please read:
Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
The Good Man of Nanking
There is also a documentary that is well done which reads many of the diaries of those involved in the Nanjing Safety Committee simply called "Nanking" released in 2007.

Crazy for Siping

After two years teaching on the rooftop of the world and using google's blog I find myself back where I started. Siping, Jilin in what was formally Manchuria. As I reacquaint myself to the city, I am reminded what the city is famous for:

1. da rou bing: meat stuffed in a sort of biscuit. I believe either Mao or Zhou En Lai came through town years ago and said, "it wasn't bad." I need to check on that next time I eat at the restaurant.

2. and a mental institution. To call some one a "Sipingren," (person from Siping) is to call some one crazy. However rumor is the original mental institution was moved to Changchun. So perhaps the reason is gone, but the phrase remains.

So call me crazy but I am back where my China experience started and I am looking forward to discovering the always developing city with fresh eyes and renewed energy to explore the Chinese language and culture of the northeast. Year 7 here we go...

In other news... I am trying to update my xanga page because it is no longer blocked in China... unlike blogspot which is harder to update.