Last Post

I've decided that unless something wonderful and worthwhile strikes in the next 4 and a half months... this will be my last blog post. I've struggled to find positive (or even neutral) things to post about China, and the alternative of posting the dirty, honest truth probably won't be looked upon favorably by a communist government.

As a lighthearted last post, here are some of the pictures I've gathered of English mistakes found all around the city.  Enjoy... and check back for the next blog about whatever the next adventure may be.

Rain Rain Rain Rain Rain

Over the last few days, we've had really heavy rains in Tianjin. Since my days off from school are Monday and Tuesday... I didn't have to venture out much, and listening to rainstorms from the inside of a dry apartment on the 22nd floor of a building is actually really really nice. So I've loved it.



Until today, when I had to go back to work. A lot of the streets were flooded, and taxis either refused to stop and pick me up or would tell me no once they heard where I needed to go. After 45 minutes of trying to get a taxi and worried I wouldn't make it to work... I just sat myself in a taxi and refused to get back out. I just played stupid, like I couldn't understand the taxi driver telling me to get out and that he wouldn't take me to my school. Eventually, he gave up and drove me through flooded streets and standstill traffic so I made it to work on time.


Because driving was such a hassle, I had next to no kids at school, and a few classes were cancelled. The forecast says there is more rain to come, so I may be swimming to work tomorrow, if I have to go at all.

More news photos are here:

Global Times News

King's English School

The actual reason I'm in China right now is to teach English.... but I feel like it's the thing I do the least of. It tooks months for King's English School to actually open the branch I was assigned to, and now that it's open, it's slow to get kids enrolled.

I actually have only 2 real classes of kids, who I see 1-2 times a week. I "teach" a lot of promotioal demo classes where I am meant to woo the parents into signing up for our very expensive private language school.






I have been really surprised at Chinese kids... they are really not what I expected. And while I have to choose the words I publish carefully... let's just say they're less disciplined than I expected. 





It's a trend in China that most children have no brothers or sisters... so they regularly get showered with attention from 2 parents and 4 grandparents. The Chinese have a saying that "6 people have one eye" meaning all of those adults are focused on one child in the family.







Because these kids are so young, many of them have not been to kindergarten yet. This could be the very first time they're playing with other children, so team work and sharing can be a challenge.













I have to say, it's not every kid. I have a handful who are really sweet, and others who really try in class. Those are my favorites, but of course I'm not allowed to tell them that.

Kung Fu Show

Our most recent trip to Beijing was for a Kung Fu show... and so far, it's probably the best thing I've seen in China. (No original pictures though... here are some from the internet.)

 The show is a series of choreographed scenes telling the story of a young boy who is sent off to a temple to become a Kung Fu master. He is reluctant to go, and at times loses concentration and fails in his tasks.... eventually he overcomes his demons and gets back on the straight and narrow to become a fierce Kung Fu warrior.

The performers in the show were outstanding. They could move their bodies in ways I could only dream of, and they do it all with such strength and agility. Some scenes were meant to depict different animals, like a scorpion or a cheetah.... and the men truly transformed their bodies into these animals.

There were young children in the show... about 8-9 years old. They could jump, flip, and bounce all over the stage. Without any kind of running start or help, the boys would just completely flip backwards, land on their head, three or four times...  and then bounce back up to do another kick combination.



The highlight of the show came when the Kung Fu master had successfully completed his training and his body took on the strength of iron. He was placed on a metal spike and able to balance there, even spin on it, without a problem.

Another scene has him lay on knife blades and have a wooden block with nails laid on on top of him. Then, another warrior lays on top of that, and a huge stone is placed on the top of him.  A third warrior uses a sledgehammer and breaks the stone. Amazingly, no one is hurt and they all jump up to continue on with more kicks, punches, and jumps.



It has hints of Cirque du Soleil, with some aerial stunts included.

All in all, it was an incredible show... and it made me want to start Kung Fu lessons immediately.

Too Big

 Living in China as a foreigner has its challenges… but as two able-bodied adults, Gary and I didn’t think we’d have as many physical challenges as we do. At 5’3”, I’m on the short side of average, but there are more than just a few women here who I seem to tower over. I wear a 7.5 shoe, which might be the most common shoe size in America… but in China, I count myself lucky if I find one straggly pair of shoes in the back in my size. 

But, if it sounds like I have it tough… imagine life in midget-land for Gary. At 6’4,  he is always, always the tallest person in any room, and usually for as far as he can see (which is pretty far over most people’s heads).

He’s hit his head on a doorway more than once and has to duck down to enter the subway cars. But don’t feel too sorry for him… he gets asks for photos like he’s some kind of rock star. Chinese people love to get their photo taken with a foreigner, so the thought of getting one with a foreign GIANT is even more appealing.

Day to day things can be funny, like having to use household items built for people who are at least a foot shorter. The ironing board is near his knees, as is the kitchen counter and the stove top.

And you have to laugh at the new boxers he bought yesterday… clearly made for the oversized foreigners who might be wandering around China in search of underwear. They are “Fat Men Briefs” in a 6XL. And he said they fit just fine.

Coming Soon

I've been told that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Hence, the lack of postings recently...

But I'm trying to take a look at the bright side of things here, so new posts will be coming shortly. My job has finally officially started... it only took four and a half months. So I've got a few classes to call my own and we've got some mini trips to Beijing to keep us occupied. Check back soon!

The Great Wall

Chinese people have a saying "He who has not been to the Great Wall is not a great man." I'm guessing these days this includes women too... so I'm happy to report I am now great. Or, at least a little better than I was last week.

Some quick facts about the Great Wall... It's about 500 years old, that is, the Wall as we know it. Various versions were built thousands of years ago, but the structure that we're used to seeing is more recent. It is not one continuous wall either... it's several different sections that stretch from the Yellow Sea on the East across the northern border. It was meant to keep out the Mongolians.

The mountain the Wall is built on is extremely steep... It seems like the mountains alone would have been enough to keep out intruders. But the Wall is impressive and snakes across the tops of the ridges.

This time of year, there isn't much color on the mountains, so things looked a little bit grey. But a few cherry blossoms were starting to show and I'm one shade darker than white now for having been in the sun for the afternoon.

Easily the best part of the Wall.... the toboggan you can ride back down the bottom. Not entirely a Chinese cultural experience, but still amazingly fun.

And on the way home, we got a quick trip to see the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium. It's not used for anything these days, but it still looks pretty cool.

Anything on a Stick

One of the stops we made in Beijing was to the Night Market that opens around 6:00 each night. This is the place to be if you're an adventurous eater.

Basically, anything you can imagine is put onto a stick and cooked for you. They have your every day meats like beef, chicken, or lamb. But they branch out a lot further too.... a lot further.

Among the many skewers we saw were snake, squid, eel, whole birds (head included), beetles, scorpions, and sea horses.

I decided that my experience of the Night Market would not extend beyond taking pictures, but Gary was up for trying some of it. He went with a grasshopper-ish insect. They fried it up and drizzled a spicy sauce on it.

His verdict... "Doesn't really take like much of anything. Just crispy."

Beijing Sites

Last weekend, Gary and I took the bullet train from Tianjin to Beijing. It's just under 100 miles away, but the train got us there in only 30 minutes. There's so much to see in Beijing, so we decided to just stick to one area this time and see the major tourist attractions.

First up, the Forbidden City. The "City" is a huge expanse of various royal buildings where the emperor and empress would have stayed... some structures were for housing, some for political meetings, some for resting and entertainment. And while the buildings are beautiful and the intricate decorations are impressive, the actual sites to see are underwhelming. What we actually toured was just a series of large open plazas, surrounded by the newly-renovated ancient buildings, none of which we could actually enter.

Highlights included the huge red doors with golden knobs you are meant to rub for good luck, and finding out that even though the palace walls stretch only half a mile from North to South, the emperor had a "resting" room in the middle. The lazy old man...

So after a few hours of making our way around the palace grounds, we headed to Tiananmen Square. Let me start by saying any and all references to Tiananmen Square's moment in history are completely blocked from the Chinese internet. Most Chinese people know it as nothing other the location of several gigantic political buildings and museums. There are security cameras and guards everywhere, and you get the overwhelming sense that you shouldn't talk about anything too scandalous while you're nearby.

So, we just quickly saw some of the enormous shrines to Chairman Mao Zedong and moved on. Everything we would have seen, heard, or read would have been carefully constructed anyway.