Best Day EVER!!!!

Well, actually BEST WEEK EVER!!! But let's just start with this one day that was the best day in the best week, ever!

What could be better than taking a lunch break and playing some 5 on 5 soccer? Our middle and high school put together and temporary league and our teachers put together a team.

Problem 1: Our head of school is on the team and often has meetings in the early afternoon.
Problem 2: They want me to fill in, but the upper school lunch time is during my language arts period.

Between conferences and moving apartments, we've had to do a lot of covering for each others classes. Despite that, I still had two teachers offer to take my class for the 20 minute soccer game. And despite their best efforts, my kids ended up coming out to watching the game. The original intent was to have them clean up and their props and put away their costumes from the play they just performed, but our handy man with all the keys for the closets is also on the soccer team. My 2nd grader elves sat right along side the upper school fans, shouting team cheers, and performing their lines to "psych out the other team". Too cute!

At the end of the game I grabbed all my stuff, but I dropped my necklace. One elf picked it up and put it on. What I didn't realize was that the necklace had "special teaching powers". Back in the classroom, the elves knew it was time for a read aloud and all sat quietly on the carpet, just as I expect them too. All except the one with my necklace. She promptly sat in the teacher chair, picked up the book, read the title and started into the story. No one objected. In shock, I sat on the carpet quietly listening to her as she read and showed the pictures. Then part way through she paused and said, "Oh wait, Miss Lanham always asks questions." She asked some clarifying questions about the plot and then proceeded to finish the story to the applause of all.

Not a peep about
"My turn now!"
"Why did she get to read?"
"That's not fair!"

The necklace has magic teaching powers ... I just might have to use this again. I have wonderful students. Best Day EVER!!

And let's back track a little: The day before that fabulous day was the performance of the aforementioned play. They performed for the entire school (prek - 12th grade + parents). We think there was a bit of stage fright since their facial expression and voice intonation wasn't quite what we were hoping, but I'm still so proud. Out of the 8, five have been attending AIAN for less than a year. And one of those has only been learning English for one month.

Conversation of the week:
Lara: "What's that guy doing over there?"
Me: (without even looking up) "Peeing."
Lara: "He's standing on one leg and peering into the window of that van."
Me: (still without looking) "Yup, I'm still going with peeing."
Kate: *uncontrollable laughter* "TIC!!!!!!"

VPN occurances of the week:
There's been a lot of news articles about countries cyber hacking other countries. There's been a lot of finger pointing, and to my particular delight, "proven evidence" in the form of IP addresses that confirm who is doing the hacking. As if no one ever used an IP address that doesn't actually reflect their physical whereabouts *shifty eyes*

However, this week I was feeling nostalgic so I went to the WB website to watch some old Gilmore Girls episodes online. What do you know, I am blocked with just a simple line: "The WB can only be viewed in the United States." There you have it ladies and gentlemen. Of all the websites, the WB was the one to figure out that I'm not actually in the states. Now if the WB can figure out VPNs and IP addresses, I sure hope that governments can too.

Lara is also heading out for ShenZhen in southern China for a conference this weekend. Apparently the conference hosts plan on using twitter to help present various education tools and have advised everyone to have an account by this weekend. Most educators are coming from all different parts of Asia to this conference, not just China. We're wondering if the conference orangizers have anticipated the fact that twitter dosen't work in China ... I guess Lara is about to find out.

TIC ... but not.

First I would like to show you these new views from our new apartment. Finally I have discovered where the rest of Beilun is. Beilun used to be nothing but farm country. Everything out this view is "old" Beilun. It was built between 6-10 years ago (so I'm told by the people who have lived here that long). You can also see the islands, and if you look closely, the port. Everything behind our apartment (not pictured) has been built in the last 2 years (as witnessed by me). It's quite impressive what China can do in such a short amount of time ... Also, quite scary!

 

And then, you know .... the next day you look out the same window, and you're in the clouds! 

TIC ... but not.
Anyways, I had a couple of TIC moments Tuesday morning. But unfortunately, my sentiments at the time were GO AWAY CHINA. I was riding to school, and as mentioned above, pretty much everything on my way to school is under construction as it has been built or is being built in the last year or so. (Actually I watched my current apartment building being built last year from my old apartment window). That means a road wide enough for 5 cars going various directions is often reduced to one lane of zipping traffic because of cranes and dump trucks and such. As I pulled up to a light, I deliberately positioned my bike in a place where I wouldn't get rear-ended, when along comes some dingbat, honking up a storm on her E-bike, nearly running me over. I nearly turned and through my coffee at her (which is saying something as I place high value on my coffee). This was a classic TIC moment ... but not. It was Robbie, my silly librarian, always playing tricks on me. I busted out laughing when I realized it was just her.

Then after I arrived at school, I saw a nice stream line of liquid falling from the breezeway bridge. "AW HECK NO!" went through my mind, as we've had a lot of construction workers at school lately, and I was positive that one was taking a leak from the second floor. This is also a very TIC moment, happens all the time. I marched up the stairs to find an ayi draining a small hose. TIC ... but not. This breezeway is right next to the library, so when Robbie came out, I told her about my misassumptions. She just shook her head and said, "You need to chill out, you really should have gone somewhere for break! Relax!" She is so right.

Maybe it's just the end of my time here, maybe I've been here too long ... but so many Chinese mannerisms come off as rude to me that I just expected the worst on Tuesday morning. Which is really, really bad. I was doing some re-evaluating of my interactions with the Chinese, and how I keep assuming the worst .... as my POS bike that has literally been falling to pieces after the car accident suddenly gets a piece of the metal chain guard stuck in the chain. This happens every other day. I pull to the side, as a friendly Chinese pulls over too. In a fantastic Chinese accent he says, "Are you okay?" Fine thank you, I replied, and he went on his merry way. Now, though it is very uncommon for a Chinese person to stop to help a stranger, I was still touched, and I have to remember even if Chinese culture doesn't say it, the people here are still kind, they have loved ones, they have hearts. Even if I do feel like they're trying to run me over 98.4% of the time.

It's all in the neighborhood.

What is in a neighborhood? Well, get away from American suburbia and you will find a totally different lifestyle.


At first, when the eggs, the milk, and the fruits and vegetables - yes, a few fruits and vegetables did exist in my fridge before Lara came - went bad after 3 days, I was super frustrated. Of course on the one hand that means there aren't so many preservatives and other stuff in my food, but on the other hand I have to go to the store every 3 days, which I find to be very annoying and time consuming. It's just not the American way. Americans go to the store for real grocery shopping once every week or two.


But eating food without preservatives has more than one healthy benefit. It develops relationships. While living in Li Ren, I got to know my local fruit lady, water lady, electronics guy, coffee shop (of course), pet store, and noodle restaurant. Typically there is a one on every block for every neighborhood.


Relationships are SO important in China, and I think many other countries that don't have suburban sprawl. It is easy to be frustrated especially in China I think, because there is no courtesy, no sense of caring, especially on the streets. I think it's because there are SO many people, the Chinese are very cold towards anyone who is not an immediate friend. But take the time to get to know your local block, and you will have instant friendly faces to enjoy on the way to work. I imagine myself like Belle in Beauty and the Beast during the opening song, greeting each shop owner as I walk by.


I've been so busy lately that I haven't had the chance to do the extra trips around my neighborhood, and of course now that I have moved, I live in a new neighborhood. I was becoming quite frustrated with the rudeness of China, so I took a jaunt in my old neighborhood after I got hit by the car. The electronics guy took my computer to a friend and had it back in less than 24 hours. The owner of the pet store knows I can read and write better than I can speak Mandarin, so while I talked to one of his assistants, he sat next to me as a scribe and wrote down everything that was said, to make sure I understood. The fruit lady likes to follow me around the store and make sure that I pick unbruised fruit. And the water lady is a little grouchy, but she still knows me :) China is so much more welcoming when I am waved at and greeted. Instead of the typical staring, glaring, sometimes even backing away, or even the guards not permitting me into my new apartment complex because "no foreigners have ever lived here".


This is one thing that was not even on our school board's radar I think when they had us all moved. The sense of community that the foreign teachers have developed on that block around the school.Maybe if I were staying an extra year, I would make the extra effort on my new block to meet the new fruit lady, the new water guy, and the new coffee shop. But that is the evil of traveling. All good relationships must come to an end. It's already heartbreaking to say goodbye to the community, even adopted family that I have made here. It's like the long goodbye. I do not want to get to know the new ones, and I am not yet ready to say goodbye to the old ones. Stuck in limbo here in Beilun ...

To Stick Out .. Or Not to Stick Out

It's obvious that I stick out in China. Any foreigner does, really. And the daily reaction to us foreigners can definitely go to your head. Lara and I have perfected our princess waves as we ride our bikes with Jett, and the Chinese stop to stare in awe. It really does feel like you are a celebrity. People stop me in the grocery store and ask for my picture. I like to be friendly, but then that girl runs and grabs all her friends, and suddenly I'm taking ten individual pictures with people, followed by several versions of a group photo!

I'm still trying to figure what they end up doing with the photos. Is there some hashtag on Chinese Twitter for, @sawaforeignertoday!

Here is one example: We were hiking at a local park with our friends Lisa and Fan (on the right). We decided to take a picture with the statute that has been dubbed "Mulan's Father". We waited for our turn, and then posed with the statue At the last second, several more Chinese people excitedly ran into the photo. No idea who they are.

The following weekend we went to the beach, laid out our towels and just relaxed. A group of maybe 12 Chinese walked by and just stared. Two minutes later one finally had the courage to come back and ask for a photo. We nodded, and she signalled the whole group to come over.

 

Sometimes I have zero patience for it, like when I was on the field trip this last Friday. Those five Chinese people who individually put their arms around me and took turns flashing their peace signs at the camera definitely had a very stony-faced, red headed laowai in their photo. I mean, it's obvious I'm teaching when we all have our school uniforms on! And I'm not really sure the point of the photos. But for the most part, I invite them all over and smile for the camera. I figure that a more positive interaction with a foreigner is better than a grumpy one, right? Especially when I could be their only interaction with a foreigner, I want to give a good impression.

The one time I actually didn't stick out happened to be on my way home from school. I had my books and computer in the front basket, my soccer bag clipped on the back, my purse was over my shoulder, and I was carrying a culligan-like water dispenser on my handle bars. My bike was loaded! And I felt very talented that day as I got home without crashing. That was also the least I had ever been stared at in China. I guess the more things I am capable of piling on my bike, the more I blend in? I looked just like everyone else on the street for once.

But I guess that wasn't the only time I didn't stick out ...  As many of you know that I was hit by a car last week. Always have to be careful and watching out there! Now that Lara and I live a 20 minute walk from the school, we are having a lot more daily interaction with culture, and traffic. Even though I've been here a year and a half now, I've had a lot more "firsts" in China lately, since Lara and I are the only laowai who live in our complex. For better or for worse, hopefully a lot more new cultural experiences to come! Just today, a man in our building communicated using charades signals to Lara in the elevator that he was very excited to meet the second foreigner. Should be an interesting last few months!

Apartment Woes

Well Lara and I have finally moved. Our lease was up on our apartment so the school had us move to a new apartment complex. I understand that moving is a lot of work to make the new place livable, but this has been ridiculous.

Our first week back form Cambodia/Thailand we were shown the apartment, and we refused to move until it actually had appliances and furniture. A week later we came back to have a look and thank goodness we did.

1. We have our own water heaters that we needed translation, and despite the translation I still didn't have hot water in my shower for 3 days.
2. Both showers leak into the other compartments of our bathrooms. And if you accidentally use full water pressure in Lara's shower, the hose kinks up and the water shuts off.
3. The washer would finish the load and still be half full of water.
4. We asked for curtains, which conveniently fluttered with the draft as the CLOSED windows weren't sealed around the edges.
5. Still no microwave or toaster oven ... no ovens in these apartments for baking! :((((( That's a really sad face.
6. No fresh water dispenser. We've been filling up jugs at school and hauling them back on our bikes.

As we are only here for 4 more months, we aren't financially prepared to furnish a new apartment, as we're both going to be doing it again in 3 months! I know I complain a lot, but it was a difficult move mid school year.

Now that we have moved:
1. The school agreed to reimburse us for the bikes we had to buy, since they won't provide a school bus for us (we're a 20 minute walk away) there is no public bus, taxis are infrequent, and the driver they hired to take us didn't show up on the first day.
2. Our Foreign Affairs Officer had to call the security at our complex since they refused me entrance TWICE. I just wanted to know if I needed ID or something since they kept stopping me. Apparently the guards said no foreigners lived in the complex. Lara and I are the first. And even more apparently, they only care about redheaded laowai since Lara had no issues, only me.
3. After 2 weeks, I have finally been able to do laundry. The hose for draining was built to drain UP and out of the washer, which obviously defies gravity, so we switched it to flow DOWN and out.
4. I've caulked both the showers (thank you daddy for sending me some of that last year).
5. I finally have hot water in my shower, but you can't turn on ANY water in the apartment or I will get a frozen blast of water.
6. We finally got a toaster oven yesterday, and Lara baked scones this morning! But we still don't have a fresh water dispense. More stealing water from the school, yay!

Alrighty, so here is the video. Keep in mind, everything in China is made to look nice. But it's usually just a temporary fix. I do not exaggerate when I say that if Lara and I haven't fixed it, it's probably still broken, and we just haven't had the time.

"If you're going through hell ... keep on going!"

I'm not sure if you've ever heard the country song that is the namesake of this blog post, but it's definitely been my theme song for the last 7 days. Despite the housing fiasco ... Lara and I have both kept on going this week, because the school kept on going, and the students kept on coming! So setting apartment ggggggggrrrrrr-ness aside, here's what's up at school!

First, somehow I was duped, hoodwinked, nay, deceived!!!!! (yes I could still be talking about the housing situation, but I'm not) into coaching the middle school boys soccer team. Actually grades 5-7. Now, I love soccer, but one age group I've never worked with would be middle school. And if there is one sect of middle school that I especially don't understand, it's definitely the boys.

And the boys, after learning that I was going to be their coach, shared their mutual confusion with me as well. You see, we don't exactly have the best relationship to begin with. Everyday for recess, they play soccer. And everyday when I blow the whistle to end recess, inevitably something happens (they couldn't hear the whistle, someone kicked it as far as they could ... etc.) that takes the boys 10 minutes to sluggishly tear themselves away from the game, and get in line. I question how they can move so fast during their game, and magically loose their lightning speed the moment they hear my whistle. Now I have a schedule to keep, so if they don't pick the ball up when they hear the whistle, I take it from them. This was fine with them for about two weeks, since they would just bring another ball from home. But after I finally collected all the soccer balls, they started complying when I blew the whistle.

So, Day 1 of practice when I lead the team over to the soccer field (as if it wasn't obvious enough who would be coaching), they asked me, who will be coaching? I said me. They stared, and then there was a flurry of chatter in numerous languages, none of which were English, but I didn't have to understand their words. Their faces said it all. *BUT SHE HATES SOCCER!!!* Bahaha, if only they knew that I think soccer is the best athletic competition in the world! I just hate disrespectful little punks who try to pull crap with me everyday.

Respect for me clearly grew as I started running drills, and showing them the skills they would learn. Having 16 boys, I made it very clear to them that any disrespect or laziness would get them booted from the team. You can say "The End" to any behavior problems. Soccer means the world to them.

There's just two major problems. Problem number one: Asian cultures dislike rain, mud, sweat, and anything that will make them look unpresentable. It's all about face. But of course in soccer you need rain, mud, and sweat for any respectable soccer match (at least in the Pacific Northwest). So many complaints about the rain, so many complaints about being too muddy (and requests to go wash up mid practice), complaints about unsightly bruises (that were barely bruises) and just all around an aversion for running as it messes up their hair and causes sweating (on water breaks they prefer to run to the bathroom to fix their hair and see how they look).

Problem number two: They're boys. There has to be a goal. I set up a simple possession game with two teams, and two all time offense players. So, which ever team has possession of the ball, they will always have two extra players, encouraging them to always look for the open person to pass the ball. I can't tell you how many times the boys asked ... but where's the goal? Where do we shoot? How do we score? ... No goal? But, what's the point? I mentally put my head in my hands and shook it. There's a lot of bad habits I need to undo ... and we're starting with idea that one must go straight to goal, do not pass go, do not pass to a teammate, and do not collect $200. Oy.

In other news, the aversion to rain is not just left for the soccer field. On picture day I had an elf come in frantically first thing and asked if it would still be picture day. I was confused at first, what could've possibly changed today being picture day? You guessed it ... It was raining!!!

And ending on a happy note, a quite excellent quote from that same rain-concerned elf. We were playing that game with yes or no questions as students try to guess what character they are. Elf 1 was Pinocchio, and all she knew was that she was a boy. She asked, "Am I real?" And all the elves said "No!!!" But rain-concerned elf responded in a very positive and encouraging voice, "But you could be!"

:) Made me laugh!

Jett Puppy Update.

Nicknames for Jett:
Baby
Jett puppy
Boba Jett (in reference to Boba Fett in Star Wars)
Jett Pack.
And many many others.

This handsome young man unfortunetly made the trip to get fixed on Valentine's Day, but he wore the *cone of shame* proudly!

Owning a pet dog is a very recent thing in China, maybe the last 10 years. And I think it's more of a mark of looking more Western than it is for love between dog and man. We see so many people just in Li Ren who have no idea how to take care of a dog. Granted, I have no idea how to take care of a dog ... but I do know he needs a warm place to sleep, food and water, medicine, exercise, love, and he NEEDS to stay out of the trash!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lara usually helps me to check his toenails, check to see if he has worms, and shows me how to clean after his Valentine's Day man trauma.

But this is just a small sampling of what happens when our Chinese friends ask about Jett:
Friend: "I saw your roommate yesterday! She was walking Jett."
Me: "Oh was it Kate or Lara?"
Friend: "I'm not sure, she had her hood on. And Jett also had a kind of hat."
Me: "Did it look like this?" *mime the shape of a cone*
Friend: "Yes, just like that! For the rain!"
Me: ".............................................................................."

It was sooo incredibly hard not to laugh. First, it shows the Chinese aversion to rain, the thought that we would get a rain cap for our dog. While we're at it, we should get him a poncho too! And second, I tried to describe what we had done to Jett, but the most I could get across was that he has a cut that we don't want him to lick, so the cone prevents him from doing that.

Neutering in China is not a common thing at all, so it was very hard to explain when I had nothing familiar to reference for them.
Also, picking up poop after your dog just never happens.

Last weekend we took Jett to a "mountain", and by mountain I mean foothill, for a 4 hour hike. I heard no less than 50 terrified screams from children and women at the sight of him. Which is quite laughable considering that Jett was too afraid to even approach the stream to have a drink. He's such a ferocious dog :) People just are not used to seeing dogs out and about with owners.

We get a LOT of stares whenever we take him outside, and we've even been yelled at before for taking him on a bike ride. Apparently we're being cruel to him. Too bad that guy doesn't know that a bike ride is Jett's favorite part of the day! Except for maybe this ...

We feed him in two or three shifts, just so he doesn't gobble it so fast and get the hiccups.

And after the fact.