Ho Ho Ho

Christmas in China...never thought I'd be starting out a Christmas card with those words :) My apologies for waiting so long between posts. A lot has been happening since early October and I guess we've just been too busy living it to take a second and write about it. So now that we're on Winter Break and have plenty of time...here goes my attempts at highlighting some of our life and adventures in China over the past few months.

Let's move backwards...we spent Christmas Eve trying to conjure up some Christmas spirit in Ningbo. The Chinese do put forth some great efforts to try and make it feel like the holidays, despite the fact that almost none of them celebrate Christmas and the Chinese New Year is still another month away. The hotel we stayed in last night had a huge Christmas tree, staff in Santa hats and "Silent Night" on repeat all night long. Of course we missed all the Christmas traditions of the U.S. and our families/friends, but hats off to the Chinese for making our holiday memorable...we had a gingerbread house, chocolate santa, cookies, hot tea and a card signed by the entire staff delivered to our room...and we had a beautiful view of the city to keep us company all night long. I guess if you think about it, it's like if American hotels were asked to decorate, prepare foods and celebrate Chinese New Year in Jan/Feb. I have a feeling we would not do half as good as the Chinese do at pretending we embody all that the festivities mean.

Earlier this month, the local government also had an "Overseas Experts Friendship Party" for all the expats in honorof the holidays. This video is of Adrienne and George whenthey were brought on stage for part of the traditional Mask ChangingPerformance. Very cool. I was also asked to do some drumming for a "hot potato" type game, there was some hand shadow art and plate spinning ceremonies to ring in the holidays :) The Chinese do know how to entertain!

The snow gods also blessed us with an unusual gift for Beilun...2 inches of white, powdery loveliness that caused school to be closed for a day! Fortunately, we were able to welcome this winter "el nino" with several friends over many, many drinks and proper celebrating. After we all called it a night, Erich and Travis snuck out to the school grounds and built this massive snow man to greet the staff/students when we returned. The guards werethoroughly entertained as they watched the guys use a cardboard box to pack the snow, find a plastic vacuum attachment for the nose, and "borrow" some ornaments from the school xmas tree for finishing touches. We will be lucky to see this much snow in Beilun again this year, so we cherished the sight and feel of "real" winter for a few days :)

Amidst the cool and sometimes rainy days of winter, we've also had some really beautiful, sunny days to explore the surrounding area. I would never have the courage to blindly ride bikes, hike, or take the bus to these places by myself...but with Erich and friends as my guides, we have uncovered some amazing spots around Beilun. We took an amazing and breath taking bike ride into the mountains one morning...riding along the lakes and bamboo forests outside of town. I snapped this photo as Erich and Tim took a break to help a local man move huge poles of bamboo down the street. This other photo is us in front of one of our favorite temples/pagodas that we've explored. It is so peaceful, quiet and has so much to see and think about there...definitely a great place to spend a few hours and relax.

We're constantly stumbling upon surprises as we walk the streets and chat with locals. Little bits of American pop culture sneak into our lives in ways that sometimes we don't realize how weird and out of place they are. Take for example this...as we meandered out of the grocery store towards our bikes awhile back, we both began to sing the words to a familiar song. "Hey Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind..." huh? Where the heck is that coming from? As we turned around, we were greeted by a lovely show of song and dance. Three Chinese girls in cheerleading uniforms adorned with pom poms were doing high kicks and "spirit fingers" on a stage in front of a small crowd. I have no clue what the purpose of the staged performance was...Selling bloomers? Chinese "So You Think You Can Dance"?...we will never know.

The world is full of mysteries and we are lucky to be uncovering so many of them here :) We miss and love you all...Merry Christmas and cheers to a peaceful New Year...

China vs. Korea

First off let me start by saying that most schools in the states are missing out on a little thing we call "fall break". In China it's a 7-10 day celebration/holiday where everyone is off work and traveling and I am in love with it :) We just returned from 2 days in Shanghai and 5 in South Korea and I feel like a million bucks. American public schools could learn something by giving teachers a week off in October to refresh and regroup.

But back to the topic at hand, China vs. Korea. During our stay with Ryan, Erich's brother, in Suwon, we found that our 2 months in China have given us the ability to differentiate just what China has to offer and why we love it so much. Let me share our findings:

1. Hygiene. From the minute we stepped off the plane in Seoul, the first thing we both said was, "Man,this place is clean." It's like we had forgotten what a good mop (with cleaning agents instead of just water) and some windex could do for a place. Well groomed people all around us in Korea made us feel like farm folk in the city. The "phantom smell" that lingers around corners and whafts out of pipes in China could still be found in Korea, but not nearly as often or as potent. To round up the hygiene category, my bum had a toilet seat at every place I stopped to pee in Korea...and my first day back in Shanghai, I was welcomed by the squatting trough toilets with nothing separating me from my neighbors "business" except a thin stall and broken door. I want to give Korea a point here for creature comforts, but at the same time I am kind of loving the simplicity of China's ways...you gotta go when you gotta go...trash can, middle of the road, in a plastic bag in the check out line of the grocery (yes, it's happened, i'll let you decide if i did it or watched it).
2. Food. Meat is king in Korea, that is for sure. I have not seen more pig carcass in my life. Those people love their BBQ, screw the veggies and the rice. Pickled everything and lots of vinegar. Erich was in hog heaven, pun intended, and I learned to appreciate that I know how to say eggplant, potato, tomato, pumpkin and all kinds of fruits in Mandarin...but unfortunately they don't speak that in Korea :) Even the "vegetarian" items had a fishy taste and I learned to love rice and nuts for a few days. Neither country really understands what "vegetarian" is, and I still get slices of meat on my "no meat" noodle bowls in both places. China's foods (in our area) are a bit oily, but the veggie choices are hands down better and more plentiful.
3. Big people, Little people. China has one size person really...small. I have yet to see an overweight Chinese person unless it's a baby with some chubby cheeks. I am the average size and most locals are only a little taller than me or my height. One walk down the street in Suwon and I saw loooong legs, skinny emo college students, bulky wrestler looking men, and women with boobs. A totally different variety than we're used to. There is a lot more style in Korea too...mohawks, trendy fashion, boots...plastic surgery is common too. A far cry from little Beilun in China.
4. Price. Abit more pricey in Korea...I'm sure that has something to do with China devaluing the RMB to about 1/3 of it's actual price, but we have gotten used to a heaping mound of homemade food for $1/person and Korean prices aren't far from those in the U.S. We arespoiled and now we know it. That 10 cent steamed veggie breakfast bun will taste a lot better here now that we know it would cost 10 times that anywhere else :)

So I'm a little biased...I've been in China longer than I was in Korea and I love me some China. Really though, Korea was amazing and relaxing and we had a blast chilling out with Ryan. Hiking an ancient fortress wall, eating octopus for breakfast (Erich, not me), sitting in on Ryan's English university class (where I practiced my Mandarin with a Korean girl who also knows English), making our own patio and drinking beers in frontof the convenient store, cruising the markets to find all kinds of fun things, amazing cool and crisp fall-ish weather, and meeting some fun and interesting friends. Thank you Ryan for living in such a cool place and sharing a week of life in Korea with us...we loved every minute.

Beach, Bikes and Bare Chests

Just when we think we've found the best places in China, we find another. This weekend we ventured out to a chain of islands off the coast of Beilun. We spentmost of our time on Putoshan Island. From what I gather, this island is a popular destination for the Chinese as it is a Buddhist retreat and the only place in which the Buddha is represented as a woman? Because of this, Buddhists can pray and ask for things here, which is not the case at other temples. So there were many people with offerings and incense climbing the stairs to the temples to ask for their prayers to be answered. We were told that devout Buddhists will climb the stairs (about 1000 of them to the top of the main temple) and stop every 3rd step to kneel/bow down to the ground. We saw some monks around, but no one performing this ritual.

We also found refuge in the beaches of Putoshan. Interestingly, there were few people in bathing suits and most everyone (except some young kids, old men, and Ariana) was fully clothed just hanging out. The sound of the crashing waves, warm sun on our skin, sand in our toes and the feel of the water in the air was perfect. Erich and Rachel (the business administrator from our school) rented a four-wheeler on the beach and we all took a spin too :)

In a few weeks, there will be some kind of giant sand sculpture display, so I'm sure we will be back again soon.

I know the "bare chest" part of this post is what you're all really waiting for, so I thought an accompanying photo was in need to explain. Ariana, Matt (PE teacher), Jacky (Chinese staff at school), Erich and I have developed a kind of eating/drinking ritual on the weekends...this is when we have the best meals I can remember so far. Jacky can translate and knows the goods and we always leave fat and happy. Anyway, I digress...why does Erich have his top off? Simple, there was a Chinese man at the table next to us doing the same and Erich didn't want him getting ALL of the attention :) No really, it's not uncommon to see shirtless men any and every where here. But I think Erich struck up a bromance with this man the moment his chest hairs joined us for dinner. I'm sure we were entertainment for the whole restaurant that night.

With all the eating and drinking that's kept us busy, we decided bikes were a must. We just returned from purchasing the 2 beauties you see above. We are in love. Erich and I decided that if nothing else, Fort Collins turned us into beer and bike snobs. Those are the only 2 things we've really been picky about since arriving. We've found some good substitutes to the watered down Chinese beers to keep us satisfied...and we spent at least a week shopping around and then found the store we wanted to buy from and spent a good hour or two looking at, riding, testing and finding the bikes that were the perfect fit for the streets (and hills, and mountains, and half-constructed sidewalks) of China. Riding them home may be the most uplifting feeling I've had all weekend. Freedom from the hot humid air while WALKING everywhere. Now we will have a breeeeeeze :) Erich even worked his charm and got us some freebies to go with our rides (bells and lights). So many more adventures are now at our fingertips...

Jiu Feng Hike

A quick blurp about our weekend day trip to Jiu Feng Mountain Park outside of Beilun on Saturday. Couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. We woke up after a week of bright sun and hot days to a morning of fog, a breeze and overcast skies...perfect for a long hike :) We visited a small hill in Beilun with some pagodas on top first, then headed to Jiu Feng. The word of the day was "stairs" here. We were in the middle of the forest, going up and down little valleys and peaks on hundreds and hundreds of stairs. It was a great workout for the calves and there were some beautiful overlooks. It reminded me of Colorado to be amidst all of the nature and peace and quiet. We hiked to the waterfall in the park, which is just a trickle right now but we're hoping to go back at the beginning or end of rainy season to see more of a show. On the way back out of the park, there was a local man who had beehives and fresh honey for sale, so we bought a jar. I can't believe I ever called anything else honey...soooo good. It was a great weekend, just what we needed...an escape from the hustle and bustle of crowds and cars/e-bikes in town. We'll definitely be back again...or on a mission to find similar places of refuge and nature.

A Week of Firsts

Many firsts for Erich and I to share...if we can remember them all. I have been meaning to carry my sketchbook with me more oftento write down all of the new things we're learning and experiencing, but typically we just pick up and go before Ican remember. So this week, you're getting what's on the top of my head and what I have photos of to jog my memory.

This is our apartment complex...we're on the 7th floor and just off the photo to the right is the school I work at. Our neighborhood is peaceful and quite...large magnolia trees everywhere and a little stream running through it with some koi looking fish. We walk everywhere and have the maturing leg muscles to prove it :) We're hoping to purchase bikes with our first paycheck this week to get further in shorter timeand explore more of the city.

Last weekend wasfullof art experiences, thanks to some great friends we've made. Brian (HS teacher at AIAN) and his wife Lauren (an amazing fabric artist) arranged a feast at a local restaurant Saturday night and invited many of the Chinese friends they've made over the past year in Beilun. The food was abundant and tasty...here everything is treated like family style eating in the states. We just order a bunch of plates, they goin the middle and there's a huge lazy susan most of the time that you just swing around to try it all. Brian and Lauren know all of the best plates too, so we're never disappointed when they order for everyone...tofu and hot peppers, battered pumpkin chips, steamed cabbage, a spinach/kale-like veggie...my mouth is watering just talking about it :) Anyway, after our bellies were full, they invited us back to their apt to share in a collaborative art experience Lauren was planning with a local Master Calligrapher, Robert. This photo is of Robert painting a Chinese passage onto a scroll of hand-dyed fabric that Lauren created and printed text from an old report from a ship that freed slaves in the Caribbean I believe. It was gorgeous. Lauren is an incredible artist and we're planning to take some calligraphy lessons from a local artist together!

As if that weren'tenough for one weekend, Rachel (AIAN's business manager who is a local from Ningbo) invited us on Sunday to visit and tour her/her husband's Art and English School called The Colorful School. This photo is of one of their painting studios. They have courses in oil and watercolor painting, calligraphy, drawing, and English for students of all ages. It is an amazing facility...I think there were about 10 art studios and 10 English classrooms in the building and the work I saw from students blew my mind. It made me want to take classes there! We were lucky to sit with Rachel and her husband Dave to talk about their school, future expansion and the possibility of Erich and I helping out there in different ways. We also got to hand out prizes to 3-6 year olds at the end of the day for English competitions they had been participating in while we were there. The incredible thing is that there are several other schools just like this (the English part, not the Art) all around Beilun that we've been introduced to. There is such a high demand from parents to have their children tutored in English and be ahead of their peers in this field. Yet, when walking around Beilun, not many people speak English. Maybe it is this up and coming generation that will be more comfortable and fluent...I guess Erich and I should be trying to talk with kids when we have questions we don't know how to ask in Mandarin.

Our first week of school was this past week and I had first day jitters like I was in kindergarten again. This is a photo of my elementary/middle school art room. The doorway in the middle opens up to a boys/girls bathroom just for art class (with 4 sinks...yay!) and you walk right through the bathrooms into my high school art studio. I am so excited about having 2 art rooms...we will be creating some fun art this year! I have to admit though that the middle and high school classes which I was most nervous about, are so far my favorite classes! They are so interested and engaged and I have some kids that are very talented and creative in whatthey've done just the first few days. I have 3 AP art students who I think will impress meas the year continues and I hope I can challenge them in ways they will find rewarding. Most of my classes are about 10-15 students, a very manageable size and hopefully that will lend to us doing some more interesting, messy and more intensive projects. Keep looking as I'm sure student work will be posted later in the year.

We went out with several teachers to dinner at a "hot pot" restaurant this week too. This is a photo of just some of the spread...more came later...mmmm. Basically, think Asian style "melting pot". Each person gets their own pot and burner filled with whatever type of liquid/broth you want...everything from your basic chicken broth to pumpkin flavored and spicy (what I got...and they weren't kidding about being spicy). Then you get bowls and bowls of fresh veggies, meats, tofu, etc. You place whatever fixin's you want in your boiling broth and take it out whenever you're hungry to eat. Holy moly, it was fabulous. You can bet if anyone comes to see us in Beilun, we'll likely take you here. All of this and of course beer too (beer is as cheap as water most places) for about $6/person. My belly loved this place :)

The last "first" to talk about is our first trip to Ningbo yesterday. Ningbo is a city of about 6 million and we live in Beilun (a district of Ningbo). It was about an hour taxi drive with Erich, Dennis and Tim (fellow teachers) and cost $5/each to get there. In Ningbo, we started off by eating some delicious Indian food then headed to Moon Lake and the oldest standing library in China. This photo is from the grounds of the library...it wasn't just any library...it was an entire compound of gardens, buildings, sculptures, stone wall carvings, bamboo groves, rock formations, and history. We spend awhile there just walking around and taking in all of the beauty and history. It also housed a Mahjong (ancient Chinese game that includes domino looking cards and that I know little about) exhibit, because the man who invented the game was also from Ningbo.

After this, we went on a little boat cruise on Moon Lake, wandered through some shops, checked out the back room of a DVD store for bootlegs, and a wandered around a Western grocery store before finding a German restaurant/pub. Didn't take much convincing for any of us to stop there, sit on the patio by the river and have a tasty German beer while enjoying the sunset. From here, we ventured to "The Londoner"...a bar owned by a guy Erich met in Colorado who has lived in Ningbo for 8 years. We met up with Thane (the bar owner), a super intelligent and connected guy, who bought us some drinks while we got to know each other, played pool and wii. Overall, a great day/night in Ningbo...thanks to Tim and Dennis for showing us around and making the day that much better :)

More firsts to come I'm sure, looking forward to the next "first" this week..."first paychecks"... :)

Ni hao

Greetings from China! A week ago we were laying in bed, fighting off the butterflies in our stomachs as we spent our last night in the US for awhile...now we are wondering what there was to be anxious about. Granted it has only been a few days and the jet lag is just now wearing off from the 12 hour time difference, but life is good in Beilun :)

We moved into our apartment on Saturday and decided that we may never have a place with a better view. I will have to take photos and post soon, but we can see the mountains from our bedroom/living room and pretty sunsets over the city while in the bathroom. It's a beautiful community we live in and the school is literally a 2 minute walk from our place.

I experienced what Debra (Erich's Mom) must have gone through in Korea with Kim (his Dad) when we visted the "RT Mart" for the first time on Saturday (RT Mart is the local one stop shop down the street). As I was wheeling my cart in the sea of people and trying to smile back at the stares I was getting, I turned around and my heart was pounding...I could not find Erich! In the states his head of black hair and complexion sticks out in the crowd, but here he is just another Asian man in the midst of the locals. After tracking him down, I decided it might be a good idea to know what color shirt he's wearing when we go to the store from now on :)

We're loving the food and it's much easier to eat vegetarian than I had thought. Meat is more expensive here, so vegetables are a part of every meal and place to eat. For example, we've had these steamed, bread buns with vegetables (Erich gets pork too) in them from street vendors that are very tasty and very cheap (1 yuan...which is about 25 cents...for 2 buns). I think they're called something like "bao za. Today, we stopped in a little mom and pop restaurant, pointed to some photos that looked tasty and I ended up with a heaping plate of cooked potatoes and peppers. Erich's dish required noodles and we had the excitement of getting to watch a very talented local make the noodles from scratch right in front of us! Why don't they have this everywhere in the US?? It was pretty amazing entertainment and the food was good too :)

Anyway, must rest up for getting my classroom together tomorrow. More on that later, but for now, zai jian, good-bye, and see you soon...

Summer Lovin'

SORRY! for anyone who's actually been checking in on our summer tour across the country, we apologize for the lack of info along the way! erich and i have been having a TON of fun with so many of you...so much so that we have neglected our little blog. anyway, we promise to do better now that china is right around the corner and this may be the best way to share everything with you all :)

this summer has been nothing less than amazing! we are so fortunate to have so many friends and family that were willing to make time and share their lives with usover the past few months. there are so many memories to choose from and we thank you all for being a part of them.

we leave on aug. 4 and i think it still hasn't hit us completely how much our lives are about to change. bags are packed, visas are in place and our bellies are full of as much food from the U.S. as we can take with us :) but i don't think it will seem like more than just another stop on our "farewell tour" until we've unpacked in our apartment and ask one another "now what?"

Farewell Tour

Hey everyone! Hopefully you are viewing our blog because you have received our "Farewell Tour Schedule" via email attachment or regular post. Erich and I have had a busy and exciting past month and we wanted to get the news out that we are moving to China this August to live and work for 2 years and we want to see as many of you as we can before then! Oh, and we're "officially" getting married (bye-bye common law marriage) February 28th in Fort Collins, CO (small get-together with just our parents...no name changes, rings or white dress to mention).

Anyway, we'll be packing up the essentials and trekking from Colorado around the country this summer in hopes of seeing some familiar faces along the way. Once you get our itinerary, let us know if you may be able to enjoy a meal or have a drink with us (or let us crash on your couch) along the way. You can RSVP via the blog, email us (carney.dana@gmail.com or erich2222@aol.com), or give us a ring or text (dana @ 513.309.0879 or erich @ 513.313.9880). we'll be posting more definite plans about where we'll be meeting up in each city/state as we travel. We hope this serves as a convenient way for us to bring the celebrating to you and allows us to see everyone that means so much to us.

more to come in the near future. until then...