Now, I know this is probably the absolute worst time to write a new blog. It's Christmas day here in China and it's Christmas Eve back home. All of you are probably busy wrapping up last minute presents or doing something with your families-as much as I would like to think you are all sitting around waiting for my blog updates, I know that isn't very likely. Still, I thought I would post some of the highlights that occurred during the two weeks I gave finals. So here we go:
1. I was told during a presentation about traveling that Seoul is the capital city of North Korea-perhaps if things continue to escalate on the Korean Peninsula this would come true in a decade.
2. Three students showed up 15 minutes late to their allotted time slot for their final-their time slot only lasted 25 minutes.
3. During another presentation on travel I had a group discuss the various regions of France where wine is produced and then how to properly drink each type of wine.
4. One student completely plagiarized a final project on Jimi Hendrix's If 6 Was 9. As if when we she started talking about "acid infused blues," the counter culture, and how this song is the epitome of "the 1960s individualist anthem," that I wouldn't know she copied that information from Wikipedia.
5. In the two weeks leading up to the final in my sophomore Oral English class I had 10 students who had never shown up to a single day of class before come up to me and ask how they can receive a passing grade. I told them that being in class probably would have helped.
6. While grading my listening final, I thought I reached a low point when one student received a 32/100. However, that was followed up by a student who received a 24/100-these two students also showed to one class before we took the final.
7. And last but not least, during a conversational portion of a final on current events, one student promptly looked over at me and said "Why did the Nobel Peace Prize Committee show up China?" I quickly handled that question like a politician during a debate, where I just started talking about another issue to divert the attention of the entire group. I believe it worked.
Overall, my students did very well on their finals for the most part and with the exception of a few students all will pass and improved their English as the semester went on. To my surprise we actually have a white Christmas here in Wuhan. It has been snowing for the last two days and yet there is barely enough snow to cover the ground. Still snow on Christmas is pretty nice. I also had my first experience of shopping on Christmas Eve/Christmas here in China. My students had been warning me since Thanksgiving when we discussed Black Friday, to avoid the mall at all costs on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, because as one student put it, you have to fight to move around. I did not believe my students at all. So against their advisement I went shopping on Christmas Eve. I went very early in the morning and beat all of the crowds. The reason why everyone goes shopping on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is because everything in the mall is on sale, and I don't mean 10-20% off. We are talking 50% at the lowest. From what I gathered is that, as Christmas Eve progresses the discounts increase and then at midnight on Christmas Eve the sales really swing into full of effect.
To give you an idea of the amount of traffic out last night, you need to know that from my apartment to the mall it is about 2 miles, or a ten minute cab ride depending on traffic. Last night around 10PM some friends and I got into a cab to head to Wuhan Prison, which you have to drive past the mall to get to. Traffic was so bad last night that it took us 15 minutes to find a taxi-and some taxis wouldn't even take us the way we need to go because of traffic-, and about 20 minutes to get halfway to the mall. In fact, the road we needed to travel down to get to Prison was shut down to avoid increased flows of traffic. Traffic in China is chaos-buses constantly make left hand turns from the right lane of traffic, cabs will drive in between two cars while occupying the middle of two lanes, etc-enough already without the entire city of Wuhan going shopping, but last night was mayhem. We had to walk the next mile and a half or so to the bar and the entire time we just kept seeing waves and hordes of people coming from the mall or going to the mall. I thought that if I could go shopping on Black Friday and work at one of the busiest malls in the suburbs during Black Friday that I could handle shopping with the Chinese on Christmas Eve. After seeing the crowds of people, no way-In reality I used a four letter to describe my feelings but it doesn't really seem appropriate to write that in a Christmas type blog.
Anyways, the foreign teachers and I are having a big Christmas dinner together tonight and we will all celebrate together. It is nice to be done with finals and to be more or less done with my first semester of teaching. Less then three weeks before I take off for Southeast Asia and get out of Wuhanese weather. I cannot wait for the upper 80s and low 90s of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.
Merry Christmas to everyone back home. I wish I could be there with all of you, but we will just have to wait till next year. I hope Santa was good to all of you.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Experiences Abroad, Holidays Away From Home, and Life Updates.
It has been exactly one month since my last blog post and life is still going well over here in Wuhan. One of the best parts of the life currently here is that winter has yet to show it's ugly face. While it is snowing back home, with temperatures dipping into the teens on a more regular basis, we have yet to see a single flake, and I have to say I don't miss it at all. We have had maybe our second or third cold week here since October-and by the winter standards I am use to, 50-60 degrees really isn't cold at all. I do get a big kick out of seeing all my students wrap themselves up in huge jackets as soon as the temperature drops below 60 and listening to them complain about the cold. The one drawback to this unusually warm winter-and who says global warming isn't real?-is that I don't think a White Christmas is in my future at all. With Christmas only a few weeks away, it doesn't seem as tough or upsetting as Thanksgiving did. Back home there are Thanksgiving/Autumn decorations everywhere, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Charlie Brown specials, and that fantastic smell of turkey come Thanksgiving Day. Aside from the smell of sweet potatoes lingering in our food street, there was virtually no trace of Thanksgiving anywhere.
Yet, take a walk around our food streets now or even a trip down to our enormous mall and you can see people selling snowmen, reindeer, and Santa decorations. Some restaurants that cater to a more westernized crowd have put up decorations inside and are requiring their employees to wear Santa hats. Not mention that multiple Christmas Trees I have seen popping up at various spots around campus and the bars we frequent. With the Chinese more willing to embrace Christmas-mostly because of the shopping discounts they get on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day and the younger generations increasing curiosity in western culture-it at least gives me friendly little reminders of the holiday and helps me enjoy the holiday more, instead of focusing on how I was missing out at home.
In the last couple of weeks I have been busy putting the finishing touches on my Spring Festival trip which will start January 16th or so and will last about a month. With stops in Vietnam-Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, and Saigon, Cambodia-Phonm Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville-and finally Thailand-Bangkok and Phuket-I am needless to say unbelievably excited to get out of China for awhile and do some more traveling. After living here in China for a few months, I have become a firm believer that travel really does broaden the mind. The other school of thought on travel seems to be that the more places you go to and the more you see, the more close minded you become. Some travel and see the places they explore as backward or not on par with their own experiences-this is especially true in developing countries. However, I think that is the wrong way to look at time abroad. Part of the problem too on Thanksgiving is that I was turkeyless-no Thanksgiving turkey and no Turkey bowl. We did all have a big group dinner at a restaurant here but eating sushi and rice just wasn't the same as turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.
While abroad you have an opportunity to embrace a lifestyle that should be extremely different than the one you have back in the States. You have an opportunity to be engulfed by a new culture, new ways of thinking, new opinions surrounded you, and your core beliefs on the world and yourself are certainly challenged more then once. Just as a quick side note for those of you that hear or read that China is challenging U.S. supremacy or is on the cusp of becoming a world power, that may seem likely on the east coast of China or in places like Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shen Zhen, but the reality is that super power status is probably decades away in China. Too many changes need to occur first-political reform, educational reform, equal income distribution as well as FDI, a general raise in wages for the working class, not to mention a healthy respect for civil society. Now after that little sidetrack, lets get back to the real point of this paragraph. Living here in China, I have seen some things that I never thought I would see and in some cases would have preferred not to see. But those are all part of the journey, part of the experience of moving 10,000 miles away. Had I moved 10,000 miles to be surrounded my strip malls, fast food chains and Wal-Marts, then there would essentially be no point in moving. Instead, living here is the chance to take in what the world has to offer, learn from it and grow from it.
After my trip through Southeast Asia, visiting two countries that I haven't been to before-while going back to one that I love-, and having the opportunity to speak to another completely different group of people-I have to admit I am really looking forward to having a conversation with the people from Cambodia based on the history of their country in the latter part of the 20th century-I will have yet another opportunity to learn. Even though I am a teacher over here, I think I am learning just as much if not more than my students on a daily basis. For better or for worse I have started to feel unbelievably guilty when I walk around with my iPod in. I constantly feel like I am missing out on the sounds of China-mostly car horns, loud conversations, and loud music-or some sort of important cultural facet of life in China.
Other than trying to soak up everything I possibly can from life overseas, all is grand. I recently attended a play here on campus, the university had a showing of Othello and thankfully it was in English. Several of my students roped me into going and they weren't sure if it was in English or not, and after being placed in the VIP seating area I wasn't really in a position to bail if it was in Chinese. Finals will begin here on campus in two weeks and I actually finished putting together my first test tonight. I know understand why teachers fall behind on grading. I think the best analogy at times is that it is similar to working in a mail room, you are constantly getting papers (mail) coming in, and as fast as you try to mail them out, they keep coming. Luckily I have only fallen behind once and a lot of work on my weekend caught me up.
I hope everyone back home is enjoying the holiday season, the shopping, and the Christmas decorations. I will do another blog on Christmas to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Until then I miss all of you and keep in touch. It is always great to hear from all of you. GO PACK GO and the Bears Still Suck. Oh, one last thing that I almost forgot. My dream/future wife-Grace Potter-recently was part of Vh1's Salute the Troops show and was looking gorgeous as per-usual. I encourage all of you check out the videos here. I would be lying if I said I haven't watched these at least a few times already.
Yet, take a walk around our food streets now or even a trip down to our enormous mall and you can see people selling snowmen, reindeer, and Santa decorations. Some restaurants that cater to a more westernized crowd have put up decorations inside and are requiring their employees to wear Santa hats. Not mention that multiple Christmas Trees I have seen popping up at various spots around campus and the bars we frequent. With the Chinese more willing to embrace Christmas-mostly because of the shopping discounts they get on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day and the younger generations increasing curiosity in western culture-it at least gives me friendly little reminders of the holiday and helps me enjoy the holiday more, instead of focusing on how I was missing out at home.
In the last couple of weeks I have been busy putting the finishing touches on my Spring Festival trip which will start January 16th or so and will last about a month. With stops in Vietnam-Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, and Saigon, Cambodia-Phonm Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville-and finally Thailand-Bangkok and Phuket-I am needless to say unbelievably excited to get out of China for awhile and do some more traveling. After living here in China for a few months, I have become a firm believer that travel really does broaden the mind. The other school of thought on travel seems to be that the more places you go to and the more you see, the more close minded you become. Some travel and see the places they explore as backward or not on par with their own experiences-this is especially true in developing countries. However, I think that is the wrong way to look at time abroad. Part of the problem too on Thanksgiving is that I was turkeyless-no Thanksgiving turkey and no Turkey bowl. We did all have a big group dinner at a restaurant here but eating sushi and rice just wasn't the same as turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.
While abroad you have an opportunity to embrace a lifestyle that should be extremely different than the one you have back in the States. You have an opportunity to be engulfed by a new culture, new ways of thinking, new opinions surrounded you, and your core beliefs on the world and yourself are certainly challenged more then once. Just as a quick side note for those of you that hear or read that China is challenging U.S. supremacy or is on the cusp of becoming a world power, that may seem likely on the east coast of China or in places like Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Shen Zhen, but the reality is that super power status is probably decades away in China. Too many changes need to occur first-political reform, educational reform, equal income distribution as well as FDI, a general raise in wages for the working class, not to mention a healthy respect for civil society. Now after that little sidetrack, lets get back to the real point of this paragraph. Living here in China, I have seen some things that I never thought I would see and in some cases would have preferred not to see. But those are all part of the journey, part of the experience of moving 10,000 miles away. Had I moved 10,000 miles to be surrounded my strip malls, fast food chains and Wal-Marts, then there would essentially be no point in moving. Instead, living here is the chance to take in what the world has to offer, learn from it and grow from it.
After my trip through Southeast Asia, visiting two countries that I haven't been to before-while going back to one that I love-, and having the opportunity to speak to another completely different group of people-I have to admit I am really looking forward to having a conversation with the people from Cambodia based on the history of their country in the latter part of the 20th century-I will have yet another opportunity to learn. Even though I am a teacher over here, I think I am learning just as much if not more than my students on a daily basis. For better or for worse I have started to feel unbelievably guilty when I walk around with my iPod in. I constantly feel like I am missing out on the sounds of China-mostly car horns, loud conversations, and loud music-or some sort of important cultural facet of life in China.
Other than trying to soak up everything I possibly can from life overseas, all is grand. I recently attended a play here on campus, the university had a showing of Othello and thankfully it was in English. Several of my students roped me into going and they weren't sure if it was in English or not, and after being placed in the VIP seating area I wasn't really in a position to bail if it was in Chinese. Finals will begin here on campus in two weeks and I actually finished putting together my first test tonight. I know understand why teachers fall behind on grading. I think the best analogy at times is that it is similar to working in a mail room, you are constantly getting papers (mail) coming in, and as fast as you try to mail them out, they keep coming. Luckily I have only fallen behind once and a lot of work on my weekend caught me up.
I hope everyone back home is enjoying the holiday season, the shopping, and the Christmas decorations. I will do another blog on Christmas to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Until then I miss all of you and keep in touch. It is always great to hear from all of you. GO PACK GO and the Bears Still Suck. Oh, one last thing that I almost forgot. My dream/future wife-Grace Potter-recently was part of Vh1's Salute the Troops show and was looking gorgeous as per-usual. I encourage all of you check out the videos here. I would be lying if I said I haven't watched these at least a few times already.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
I know....It's been awhile.
It has been some time since my last blog entry, and believe it or not life has returned to some state of normalcy. The excitingness of being in a brand new place has worn off and no trips are on the horizon for me-well not until Chinese new year and then I will be beach hopping for much of that time. I have finally settled into a routine and that is a good feeling. After being here a little more than two months, the routine gives me a feeling that this is home for the time being. It is almost like going through freshmen year of college again where it takes some time to readjust your life schedule to your new setting.
I have to admit though, China is truly a fascinating place. The people are incredibly nice, even with so many people who do not speak Mandarin here, the Chinese are beyond patient with the inability of so many of us to communicate properly. Most of the locals actually treat us very well, from shop owners to food vendors, all are just very friendly and some have even gone out of their way to make sure I am comfortable. The other day I was at one of my favorite food stops for lunch, and normally I just get my food to go and eat back in my apartment. However, this time the owner and his kids all told me to stay and sit in the small eating area with them and stay for a change. It is very nice to see so many people go out of their way to make foreigners feel comfortable.
Midterms are fast approaching here at ZUEL and Halloween has recently passed. Last week I taught my students about Halloween, so that this week we could watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. Even after the sixth time of watching this movie in class This Is Halloween is still a good song-even when Marylin Manson covers it. I would love to show my students a scary movie, but since most of them are as easily scared as my sister, I would hate to know that I am responsible for keeping them up late at night with all the lights on in their dorm rooms. One of my older classes might get the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street, hopefully it will give them a good scare and they can appreciate the enjoyment of being scared around Halloween.
Halloween in China was actually lot of fun in China. I have to admit attempting to hail down a cab in a toga along with another co-worker also dressed in a toga had be quite the site for the Chinese taxicab drivers to see. When we were in the taxi our Chinese friend was telling us that all the cab drivers were talking about crazy westerners dressed up in strange outfits in their cabs, until one of the other drivers told them it was Halloween and then they all started laughing. A group of us all ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in our costumes and that also garnered a lot of laughs from the locals eating there as well as the owner. The two or three block walk from the restaurant to Wuhan Prison and Vox was filled with strange looks and gawking by the Chinese at our outfits. I have to say it was pretty funny for both sides to see. I entered a costume contest at Vox in my toga as the Greek god Poseidon. Had I stayed for the whole thing I might have won-and more importantly won the grand prize of a bottle of vodka-but I decided to leave after my time on stage and go see my friends before leaving to get a good night’s rest for my 8AM class.
All in all, not much new is going on here in Wuhan. A few weeks ago Augustana’s East Asia Term students and professors were here. It was great to see some familiar faces and some of my friends. I took a bunch of them out to Wuhan Prison and Vox, where we all had a good time and had an Augie invasion of Wuhan. Currently, I am in the process of planning my Spring Festival Trip-Chinese new year-and it looks like I will be heading to Harbin for the annual Ice Festival, followed by a return trip to Vietnam. From Vietnam, I will take a bus into Cambodia for a stop in Pheom Phen to see some museums about the Khmer Rouge take over during the 1960s and 1970s, after that it is down to the coast of Cambodia for a little rest and relaxation on the beach. Then I will dart over to Bangkok for a few days and hopefully go scuba diving with some sharks before I start my island hopping in southeast Thailand. If anyone has any suggestions about places to go in SE Asia please let me know.
Also for those of you that have not been paying attention to world news or events inside China, I feel it is important to remind that Liu Xiaobo a political dissident, organizer/leader of the Tiananmen Square protests, and one of the authors of Charter 08-perhaps one of China's most important political writings in the 21st century-won the Nobel Peace Prize in October. Sad to say this event went unknown to most Chinese because the government blacked out international news stations like the BBC and CCN during their announcement of the winner. Liu has been in jail for several years and did not know he won till several days after when his wife-who is now under house arrest-informed him of the prize. In other Chinese new-which does often effect world events-the Communist Party recently selected the new head of the Central Military Commission-historically a very powerful position held within the party and a position that tends to determine the next president of China. With President Hu Jintao's term ending in 2012 it appears Xi Jinping is set to become the president of China. Oh, and I read yesterday that the Chinese recently put another dissident under house arrest. This time it was one of the most famous artists in China, and happened to be the man who helped design the Bird's Nest for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. At times it is really hard to understand what is going on politically in China and understand where the political culture of this country will go in the future.
I hope all of you are doing well back home and keep in touch everyone. Plus all of you back home, enjoy fall and beautiful colors that always accompany this time of year. It looks like fall will not happen here and I will jump straight to winter.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
National Week 2010: Nanjing and Midi Music Festival
I finally arrived back home in Wuhan on the 6th, and I have to admit after an exciting week long trip to Nanjing, I was ready to get back to my home base. Now, I should say that my trip was nothing short of speculator. Even with insane bumper to bumper traffic, hoards of people everywhere, crowded subway cars, and crowded tourist destinations, Nanjing was still a blast. What first struck me about Nanjing was how clean it was. Clean air, no trash in the streets or overflowing piles of it up against buildings. Add to that, the fact that there were beautiful, old, tall trees scattered throughout the city and I felt like I was at home in many ways.
On my first day in Nanjing I was still battling a pretty bad cold, but I knew I needed to get out and see more of the city. After trying--and eventually failing--for about two hours to find the Nanjing Museum with some friends, we stumbled upon a botanical garden. Of course the Chinese translation is a little more wordy than that, it was actually called the Plant Expo Garden of Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province & Chinese Academy of Sciences. Now just the walk and the surrounding areas of the botanical gardens were gorgeous. The old imperial city wall of Nanjing was still intact and in very good shape in many places. This made for a beautiful walk up to the gardens and was an immediate cure for however bad I actually felt. To be just completely surrounded by a forest was entirely different than anything I have here in Wuhan around my apartment or campus. It was literally forest and green for as far as the eye could see, accompanied by the distant hum of cars zipping by on the roads. Inside the actual botanical gardens was a fairly good collection of different themed areas: rainforest, desert, and mainland forest. I have to admit, it was just nice to see anything green, and be walking through the woods where I could hear birds and see other little critters.
After a good day at the botanical gardens, my friends and I decided we would venture out of Nanjing and head to Zhenjiang to attend China's largest music festival Midi. Now the festival itself is on an island which already makes it pretty cool, and the fact that it had been raining the entire day before there was just an added bonus. We were mainly going because two of our good friends from Wuhan were playing at the festival--one the lead singer of a band called SMZB and the other a co-worker of ours. This entire day was really just a big treat for me. It started off with a lunch at Burger King, where I was able to get real bacon on my cheeseburger. This was quickly topped by a Budweiser replica of the Chinese building at the World Expo in Shanghai. However, even with the great start to my day, things were really only just beginning. The music festival was amazing. It completely blew my mind, beat back all expectations and all perceptions I had of what the young Chinese would be like. If that wasn't a big enough shock for me, the actual music being played there was. I would say the vast majority of the music would fit into the punk or speed metal genre. Now there were your alternative rock bands at various stages and even a few DJ tents, but to hear screaming rock music, see mosh pits and crowd surfing really shocked me. Our friends in SMBZ absolutely rocked and really, really had the crowd going.
After the SMZB show we walked around the festival listening to different bands. One band was playing Michael Jackon's Smooth Criminal, but were using their own Chinese lyrics and were also dressed in drag. Needless to say, they were awesome. Eventually we tried to meet up with our friends and walked backstage to the band area and we were even allowed to take pictures from behind the scenes on the main stage. Once we actually got to hanging out with our friends from SMZB and talking to many of the people in the group and I guess for lack of a better word their crew; I was taken back by how interested the younger generation there was in changing China. Asking about freedom, democracy and expressing their outright support for both of those. There was--at least in the small sample size of people I talked to there--a desire for change among many of the people there. With many of the bands there promoting the need for change in the social setting and political circle of China, I was given the opportunity to see perhaps the people who will be instrumental in potentially changing this country. It really made me stop and wonder on my bus and train ride back to Nanjing what the younger generations in China really want, and what are they willing to do to bring about the change so many of the expressed desire for.
The long day at Midi really wore us all out and we needed a calm day before we took on the challenge of Purple Mountain on our last day. So we decided to go to a Confucius Temple and a Buddhist Garden that also had a Taiping (Boxer) Rebellion Museum near by. The temple and the garden were beautiful. Both made me realize that if I ever become filthy rich, I would love to have a similar design in my own garden and back yard. There is just something incredibly peaceful and calming in those places, especially at the garden. The Confucius temple was also gorgeous, and in many ways was just as calming and peaceful as the Buddhist Garden. The only difference is the awe inspiring aura of Confucius. You cannot help but be taken back and inspired by this man's work and life philosophy.
As much as I loved Midi, the botanical gardens, the temple, and the Buddhist Garden, Purple Mountain was my favorite stop in Nanjing. The actual peak of Purple Mountain isn't that high, it is only about 1450ft above sea level, but climbing up very tiny stairs and rocky paths can make it somewhat challenging at times. But no matter how sweaty or tired I was getting on the climb reaching the peak was completely worth it. Being able to sit on top of a mountain with my legs hanging free, overlooking all of Nanjing was breathtaking and completely refreshing. No matter how fast life seems to be moving around you, when you can sit down and overlook everything, life just slows down. It is almost as if you are just able to pause time, and watch all the cars, trains, and people below move an inch in a minute, if that. For me, the entire trip was worth be being able to sit on top of that peak and just dangle my legs off and watch life go by instead of being in the bustle below.
All in all, I loved Nanjing. I would go back in a heartbeat. Plus it was nice to be in a different place. Yes, I just arrived in China about six weeks ago, but being able to see other cities is a wonderful opportunity I have. Each city just has their own little treats that need to be seen. Thankfully many people both Chinese and tourists were trying to get to Shanghai before the Expo ends and that took a lot of people away from other cities. I am still hoping to attend the World Expo before it ends, but deep down I imagine it being a bust and just a sea full of people.
Classes start back up again on Monday and I will be presenting all of my freshmen with their final project topics and explaining to them my expectations. I believe until Spring Festival which takes place in Jan or Feb, school will be no stop. I really do enjoy teaching, the students are wonderful, and always provide me with a good laugh.
Also, I feel I have to say this, Bears fans stop thinking you're team is actually good. Come playoff time you will be sitting home and the Pack will be working their way towards the Super Bowl. The win over the Packers was a gift, the Green & Gold gave that game away. Everyone else, enjoy playoff baseball. I miss it a lot. Please keep in touch and I miss all you very much.
Until next time, take care everyone.
Road into Botanical Gardens
SMZB at Midi
Entrance to Confucius Temple
Buddhist Gardens
Atop Purple Mt
On my first day in Nanjing I was still battling a pretty bad cold, but I knew I needed to get out and see more of the city. After trying--and eventually failing--for about two hours to find the Nanjing Museum with some friends, we stumbled upon a botanical garden. Of course the Chinese translation is a little more wordy than that, it was actually called the Plant Expo Garden of Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province & Chinese Academy of Sciences. Now just the walk and the surrounding areas of the botanical gardens were gorgeous. The old imperial city wall of Nanjing was still intact and in very good shape in many places. This made for a beautiful walk up to the gardens and was an immediate cure for however bad I actually felt. To be just completely surrounded by a forest was entirely different than anything I have here in Wuhan around my apartment or campus. It was literally forest and green for as far as the eye could see, accompanied by the distant hum of cars zipping by on the roads. Inside the actual botanical gardens was a fairly good collection of different themed areas: rainforest, desert, and mainland forest. I have to admit, it was just nice to see anything green, and be walking through the woods where I could hear birds and see other little critters.
After a good day at the botanical gardens, my friends and I decided we would venture out of Nanjing and head to Zhenjiang to attend China's largest music festival Midi. Now the festival itself is on an island which already makes it pretty cool, and the fact that it had been raining the entire day before there was just an added bonus. We were mainly going because two of our good friends from Wuhan were playing at the festival--one the lead singer of a band called SMZB and the other a co-worker of ours. This entire day was really just a big treat for me. It started off with a lunch at Burger King, where I was able to get real bacon on my cheeseburger. This was quickly topped by a Budweiser replica of the Chinese building at the World Expo in Shanghai. However, even with the great start to my day, things were really only just beginning. The music festival was amazing. It completely blew my mind, beat back all expectations and all perceptions I had of what the young Chinese would be like. If that wasn't a big enough shock for me, the actual music being played there was. I would say the vast majority of the music would fit into the punk or speed metal genre. Now there were your alternative rock bands at various stages and even a few DJ tents, but to hear screaming rock music, see mosh pits and crowd surfing really shocked me. Our friends in SMBZ absolutely rocked and really, really had the crowd going.
After the SMZB show we walked around the festival listening to different bands. One band was playing Michael Jackon's Smooth Criminal, but were using their own Chinese lyrics and were also dressed in drag. Needless to say, they were awesome. Eventually we tried to meet up with our friends and walked backstage to the band area and we were even allowed to take pictures from behind the scenes on the main stage. Once we actually got to hanging out with our friends from SMZB and talking to many of the people in the group and I guess for lack of a better word their crew; I was taken back by how interested the younger generation there was in changing China. Asking about freedom, democracy and expressing their outright support for both of those. There was--at least in the small sample size of people I talked to there--a desire for change among many of the people there. With many of the bands there promoting the need for change in the social setting and political circle of China, I was given the opportunity to see perhaps the people who will be instrumental in potentially changing this country. It really made me stop and wonder on my bus and train ride back to Nanjing what the younger generations in China really want, and what are they willing to do to bring about the change so many of the expressed desire for.
The long day at Midi really wore us all out and we needed a calm day before we took on the challenge of Purple Mountain on our last day. So we decided to go to a Confucius Temple and a Buddhist Garden that also had a Taiping (Boxer) Rebellion Museum near by. The temple and the garden were beautiful. Both made me realize that if I ever become filthy rich, I would love to have a similar design in my own garden and back yard. There is just something incredibly peaceful and calming in those places, especially at the garden. The Confucius temple was also gorgeous, and in many ways was just as calming and peaceful as the Buddhist Garden. The only difference is the awe inspiring aura of Confucius. You cannot help but be taken back and inspired by this man's work and life philosophy.
As much as I loved Midi, the botanical gardens, the temple, and the Buddhist Garden, Purple Mountain was my favorite stop in Nanjing. The actual peak of Purple Mountain isn't that high, it is only about 1450ft above sea level, but climbing up very tiny stairs and rocky paths can make it somewhat challenging at times. But no matter how sweaty or tired I was getting on the climb reaching the peak was completely worth it. Being able to sit on top of a mountain with my legs hanging free, overlooking all of Nanjing was breathtaking and completely refreshing. No matter how fast life seems to be moving around you, when you can sit down and overlook everything, life just slows down. It is almost as if you are just able to pause time, and watch all the cars, trains, and people below move an inch in a minute, if that. For me, the entire trip was worth be being able to sit on top of that peak and just dangle my legs off and watch life go by instead of being in the bustle below.
All in all, I loved Nanjing. I would go back in a heartbeat. Plus it was nice to be in a different place. Yes, I just arrived in China about six weeks ago, but being able to see other cities is a wonderful opportunity I have. Each city just has their own little treats that need to be seen. Thankfully many people both Chinese and tourists were trying to get to Shanghai before the Expo ends and that took a lot of people away from other cities. I am still hoping to attend the World Expo before it ends, but deep down I imagine it being a bust and just a sea full of people.
Classes start back up again on Monday and I will be presenting all of my freshmen with their final project topics and explaining to them my expectations. I believe until Spring Festival which takes place in Jan or Feb, school will be no stop. I really do enjoy teaching, the students are wonderful, and always provide me with a good laugh.
Also, I feel I have to say this, Bears fans stop thinking you're team is actually good. Come playoff time you will be sitting home and the Pack will be working their way towards the Super Bowl. The win over the Packers was a gift, the Green & Gold gave that game away. Everyone else, enjoy playoff baseball. I miss it a lot. Please keep in touch and I miss all you very much.
Until next time, take care everyone.
Road into Botanical Gardens
Monday, September 27, 2010
When it comes to freshmen, it is best to expect anything.
Finally, my full workload is in full effect. Today I had four classes of Oral English with all first year students. Fresh off their "military training,"--seemed more like walking around for hours at a time than anything else--my freshmen came to class eager to learn and eager to ask questions. Lots of questions. I started off my telling my students about my home town and Augustana. I got lots of laughs when I told them that the entire student body of Zhongnan is equivalent to the population of Batavia. Many of them could also not wrap their minds around the idea of a college only have 3,000 students. I also did what any good sports fan would do, I warned them all against people who root for the White Sox and Bears--I would hate to see such intelligent young people associate with those types of people. Well after telling my students all that I could possibly cram into thirty minutes about myself, I decided to open up the class for questions about myself or just about anything else.
Telling my students they could ask me just about anything, was like opening the floodgates. Once one brave student raised his hand, I was answering questions on just about anything. I did this during all four of my classes today, and in my two morning classes the first question I received was: Am I married? and do I have a girlfriend? The students certainly started my day off with a good laugh. I had some very persistent students that wanted me to get into issues that I felt were ones that needed to be handled carefully. For instance, I told my students of an upcoming trip I have planned to Nanjing--more on that later--and one of my students, tried to get me to say the Japanese soldiers during WWII were the cruelest of all soldiers. For those that do not know, during WWII the Japanese occupied most of China, and at that time Nanjing was the capital of China. There was a massive invasion and subsequent take over of the city during this time and Japanese soldiers killed over 300,000 men, women, and children. The Chinese and much of the rest of the world call this "The Rape of Nanjing." To this very day, the Japanese government has never fully admitted to what happened at Nanjing between 1937 and 1938. It still causes diplomatic flare ups in the Sino-Japanese relationship. Eventually, I told this young man that what happens in war is inexcusable regardless of whose army you are discussing. No army in the history of man has never committed some horrible act in the process of war. Through its very nature war is a horrific scene and an unforgivable event. I am not entirely sure he got the answer he was looking for, but he sure did get a rant on my feelings towards any war. I thought the questions dealing with Sino-Japanese relations were over after that, but I had another student bring up a more recent Sino-Japanese incident. Once again, I skated very carefully over this issue and kindly reminded my students that any type military force or other, was not the solution to territorial disputes in the East China Sea.
Needless to say, my freshmen students offered me an incredibly interesting first day with all of them. The rest of the week, I only have four classes, two on Tuesday, then one each Wednesday and Thursday. After that, it is National Week here in China. During my free time for National Week--classes at the college are cancelled--I will be traveling to Nanjing. It is about a three and a half hour long train ride from Wuhan. I leave Friday afternoon and will be there till the 6th of October. I am really excited to be venturing off on my first trip to another Chinese city. It will be very exciting to see what the rest of China is like. Slowly but surely I am hoping to see as much of this country as I possible can.
In other exciting news, I finally was able to find a gym and join it. I would like to remind my good friend Mr.Aj Deeter that it will take more than old man strength to be the pack leader when I come home. Also Cos, I found the Chinese version of Smirnoff Ice, and if it were legal to send booze through the mail, you and Bill both would be going down. Other than all of that, life is going on as normal as it possibly can be here in China. The weather has finally cooled down. No more 100 degree days before noon. It looks like that is all behind me now, at least until May rolls around--or until I am on a beach in Thailand, whichever comes first.
Until next time, everyone take care and enjoy the fall back home. It doesn't look like fall happens here. I don't think it will get cold enough sadly. Oh, one last thing....GO PACK GO!
Telling my students they could ask me just about anything, was like opening the floodgates. Once one brave student raised his hand, I was answering questions on just about anything. I did this during all four of my classes today, and in my two morning classes the first question I received was: Am I married? and do I have a girlfriend? The students certainly started my day off with a good laugh. I had some very persistent students that wanted me to get into issues that I felt were ones that needed to be handled carefully. For instance, I told my students of an upcoming trip I have planned to Nanjing--more on that later--and one of my students, tried to get me to say the Japanese soldiers during WWII were the cruelest of all soldiers. For those that do not know, during WWII the Japanese occupied most of China, and at that time Nanjing was the capital of China. There was a massive invasion and subsequent take over of the city during this time and Japanese soldiers killed over 300,000 men, women, and children. The Chinese and much of the rest of the world call this "The Rape of Nanjing." To this very day, the Japanese government has never fully admitted to what happened at Nanjing between 1937 and 1938. It still causes diplomatic flare ups in the Sino-Japanese relationship. Eventually, I told this young man that what happens in war is inexcusable regardless of whose army you are discussing. No army in the history of man has never committed some horrible act in the process of war. Through its very nature war is a horrific scene and an unforgivable event. I am not entirely sure he got the answer he was looking for, but he sure did get a rant on my feelings towards any war. I thought the questions dealing with Sino-Japanese relations were over after that, but I had another student bring up a more recent Sino-Japanese incident. Once again, I skated very carefully over this issue and kindly reminded my students that any type military force or other, was not the solution to territorial disputes in the East China Sea.
Needless to say, my freshmen students offered me an incredibly interesting first day with all of them. The rest of the week, I only have four classes, two on Tuesday, then one each Wednesday and Thursday. After that, it is National Week here in China. During my free time for National Week--classes at the college are cancelled--I will be traveling to Nanjing. It is about a three and a half hour long train ride from Wuhan. I leave Friday afternoon and will be there till the 6th of October. I am really excited to be venturing off on my first trip to another Chinese city. It will be very exciting to see what the rest of China is like. Slowly but surely I am hoping to see as much of this country as I possible can.
In other exciting news, I finally was able to find a gym and join it. I would like to remind my good friend Mr.Aj Deeter that it will take more than old man strength to be the pack leader when I come home. Also Cos, I found the Chinese version of Smirnoff Ice, and if it were legal to send booze through the mail, you and Bill both would be going down. Other than all of that, life is going on as normal as it possibly can be here in China. The weather has finally cooled down. No more 100 degree days before noon. It looks like that is all behind me now, at least until May rolls around--or until I am on a beach in Thailand, whichever comes first.
Until next time, everyone take care and enjoy the fall back home. It doesn't look like fall happens here. I don't think it will get cold enough sadly. Oh, one last thing....GO PACK GO!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
First Day of Class
Well, it is official, I have taught my first college course. Class started at 16:00 or 4PM for the all us that are not on a 24 hour clock. Before I even got to class, I was hot and sweaty and had a sweat mark on my shoulder from my bag, that was holding my laptop and teaching supplies. It was hot and humid today, I am talking Augustana College Graduation day, hot and humid-which is actually fairly normal for Wuhan-so needless to say after my twenty minute walk across campus, I was a little sweaty. Luckily, I am very paranoid about being late to anything and everything. This paranoia allowed some time for me to cool off and also find out that, my classroom was locked. Talk about a minor heart attack. Having the door to your class locked and you are suppose to start in ten minutes is a frightening feeling. Thankfully my co-teacher arrived after I called her in a state of panic and was able to get it open for me.
Once I finally got myself set up in the classroom, I plugged in my external hard-drive and was preparing to set up my power point presentation, for my students about my life back home. However, my external hard-drive, it turns out is not compatible with the Windows 2000 operating system. The presentation I had prepared to last the entire first period had to be scratched, because of technical difficulties. When the bell rang for class to start I only had 13 of 16 students in the room, and I began to get their English names, so I could replace their Chinese character names-which I could not read- on my attendance sheet. A few stragglers walk into class as I am discussing my first rule of class: arrive on time. That irony was not lost on me and I did have a nice little laugh to myself about it. As I was explaining the second of my class-limit cellphone use to zero, and if it rings you sing a song-several of my students were texting away. I had to make it very clear that I would not allow excessive cellphone usage, and if that occurred I would take their phone for the class period.
I finally get around to telling the students about myself and I tell them that my presentation would not work on the computer in class. One girl asks if I can use my laptop, and I set it up on my laptop and have my students gather around my laptop. Immediately the students are talking about all my pretty friends-primarily the photos I included of myself and different girls that I am friends with-and I tell them all that I will let my friends know how pretty they think they are. The picture of my dog Bailey was a big hit. But nothing got their attention as much as my pictures from the concerts I have been too. They all seemed very interested in going to concerts and also seemed very confused about the concept of tailgating up at Alpine Valley for DMB shows. They were also very impressed that I met a rock star-back in 2009 I met Jason Isbell of Jason Isbell and 400 Unit, I never said he was a rock star but they assumed he was. In one of my slides I had a picture of the always lovely Grace Potter, and tried to explain to my students that she is my celebrity crush. It failed miserably and that concept was completely lost on them.
After the slide show of photos from back home, I explained to my students that I would be preparing them over the next 17 weeks, for the Oral Interview of the IELTS (International English Language Testing System). I told the class that we will be breaking the interview process down into three parts and work on each part for several weeks at a time before we put it all together and attempting the real thing. I had each student introduce themselves to me and the class, which was like pulling teeth to get a volunteer. Ultimately, I just went around and stood in front of each one of them and pretended I was hard of hearing until the entire class could hear them. Many of them did very well and I expect that some will do very good. Others have studied English for years only in written form and have limited to no experience in any type of oral classroom. Overall, I am really excited that I have started teaching and that I have this class every Tuesday, along with a listening class on Wednesdays. Until the freshman get done with military training this will be my only two classes and I am keeping my fingers crossed that these students will be well prepared for the IELTS and pass it.
Below is a picture of me on my first day of school
Once I finally got myself set up in the classroom, I plugged in my external hard-drive and was preparing to set up my power point presentation, for my students about my life back home. However, my external hard-drive, it turns out is not compatible with the Windows 2000 operating system. The presentation I had prepared to last the entire first period had to be scratched, because of technical difficulties. When the bell rang for class to start I only had 13 of 16 students in the room, and I began to get their English names, so I could replace their Chinese character names-which I could not read- on my attendance sheet. A few stragglers walk into class as I am discussing my first rule of class: arrive on time. That irony was not lost on me and I did have a nice little laugh to myself about it. As I was explaining the second of my class-limit cellphone use to zero, and if it rings you sing a song-several of my students were texting away. I had to make it very clear that I would not allow excessive cellphone usage, and if that occurred I would take their phone for the class period.
I finally get around to telling the students about myself and I tell them that my presentation would not work on the computer in class. One girl asks if I can use my laptop, and I set it up on my laptop and have my students gather around my laptop. Immediately the students are talking about all my pretty friends-primarily the photos I included of myself and different girls that I am friends with-and I tell them all that I will let my friends know how pretty they think they are. The picture of my dog Bailey was a big hit. But nothing got their attention as much as my pictures from the concerts I have been too. They all seemed very interested in going to concerts and also seemed very confused about the concept of tailgating up at Alpine Valley for DMB shows. They were also very impressed that I met a rock star-back in 2009 I met Jason Isbell of Jason Isbell and 400 Unit, I never said he was a rock star but they assumed he was. In one of my slides I had a picture of the always lovely Grace Potter, and tried to explain to my students that she is my celebrity crush. It failed miserably and that concept was completely lost on them.
After the slide show of photos from back home, I explained to my students that I would be preparing them over the next 17 weeks, for the Oral Interview of the IELTS (International English Language Testing System). I told the class that we will be breaking the interview process down into three parts and work on each part for several weeks at a time before we put it all together and attempting the real thing. I had each student introduce themselves to me and the class, which was like pulling teeth to get a volunteer. Ultimately, I just went around and stood in front of each one of them and pretended I was hard of hearing until the entire class could hear them. Many of them did very well and I expect that some will do very good. Others have studied English for years only in written form and have limited to no experience in any type of oral classroom. Overall, I am really excited that I have started teaching and that I have this class every Tuesday, along with a listening class on Wednesdays. Until the freshman get done with military training this will be my only two classes and I am keeping my fingers crossed that these students will be well prepared for the IELTS and pass it.
Below is a picture of me on my first day of school
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Finally Starting
It has been a little over a week since my last update and lot has changed...sort of. I had a meeting last Friday with the head of the Foreign Languages Department, along with several other professors and our co-teachers. I was originally told that I would not start teaching till sometime in the end of September, as all of the freshman will still be in military training until then. However, I received an email the other day informing me that I will be teaching one class starting on Tuesday. This class is to help students prepare for the oral section of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). I am really excited to start teaching and really looking forward to having some work to do.
I have done a little more exploring of Wuhan, by just walking around and going for runs along South Lake. I also recently overcame my fears of ordering food without having the proper language skills to communicate with the vendor. For those of you who are wondering if I have eaten anything truly strange yet, I would have to say the weirdest thing I have eaten thus far is either chicken's feet, or coagulated blood. I know the blood sounds really gross, and after overcoming the look and texture, this jello-like substance wasn't half bad. I certainly would not want to have an entire meal based off of it, but a little side dish is okay.
Below, I have attached some pictures of my apartment, campus, and some of my surroundings. I will have an update on Tuesday to let everyone know how my first day of class went. I will try to upload more when this is moving a little faster, but it is really slow right now. Anyone that has access to Facebook can see the rest of my photos there. The photos below are: the view out of my bedroom balcony, my bedroom, living room, Wenbo--also referred to as the Clocktower Building--,and the last picture is the view from my living room balcony. Off to Wuhan Prison for the night--it certainly isn't RIBCO and their fifty-cent drafts on a Thursday, but it is still a good time.
I have done a little more exploring of Wuhan, by just walking around and going for runs along South Lake. I also recently overcame my fears of ordering food without having the proper language skills to communicate with the vendor. For those of you who are wondering if I have eaten anything truly strange yet, I would have to say the weirdest thing I have eaten thus far is either chicken's feet, or coagulated blood. I know the blood sounds really gross, and after overcoming the look and texture, this jello-like substance wasn't half bad. I certainly would not want to have an entire meal based off of it, but a little side dish is okay.
Below, I have attached some pictures of my apartment, campus, and some of my surroundings. I will have an update on Tuesday to let everyone know how my first day of class went. I will try to upload more when this is moving a little faster, but it is really slow right now. Anyone that has access to Facebook can see the rest of my photos there. The photos below are: the view out of my bedroom balcony, my bedroom, living room, Wenbo--also referred to as the Clocktower Building--,and the last picture is the view from my living room balcony. Off to Wuhan Prison for the night--it certainly isn't RIBCO and their fifty-cent drafts on a Thursday, but it is still a good time.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Week One
Exactly one week ago I arrived in Wuhan, China. After three flights that thankfully took off and landed without any issues, I was able to step onto solid ground, walk through immigration at the Wuhan Airport. Now for those of you unfamiliar with Wuhan, it is the fourth largest city in China, boasting a population of around 9 million. Now to put that into perspective for you, the largest city in the States is NYC, with a population of about 8.3 million, and the fourth largest city back home is Houston with a population of 2.2 million.
Now you would think in a city of 9 million, there would be some sort of massive airport, maybe not on par with Hong Kong International Airport, but maybe something similar to Midway. Well at least that was what I had envisioned before arriving in Wuhan. Needless to say I was shocked when I walked downstairs to the baggage claim and saw that there was only one luggage carousel. After working my way through crowds of people--a mix of westerners and Chinese--and realizing that my conception of personal space was becoming a nostalgic memory; I grabbed my luggage and proceeded to meet my contact Lily and head to the campus of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL). Following another hour of sitting, we all made it to our apartments on campus.
Being on the sixth floor or a seven story building doesn't sound horrible, but when there is no elevator and you have over a 100lbs of stuff to carry up those stairs, it becomes a tiring and fast. My all white walls, Chinese television channels, wood bench and chair for my furniture in my living, were a little hard to adjust to at first. While I am still adjusting, I have managed to overcome my fear of buying food at the near by streets. The first night I went out for food on my was literally terrifying. And I don't use terrifying in an attempt to be funny, I really had no clue what I was doing, what I was saying and even worse, what was being said at me. I would like to say in little less than a week, I have mastered the art of ordering food without saying much more than hello, thank you, and goodbye--it is important to keep your manners up even in a foreign language.
On my third or fourth day here in Wuhan I found myself in prison. Not joking. I was at Wuhan Prison for about six hours that night. For everyone who is reading this and having some sort of heart attack after that last sentence, rest assure I am fine. Wuhan Prison is a bar. In fact, it is a bar that attracts a lot of foreigners who are over here teaching at various universities in the city. Amid the mix of Scottish, Irish, Australian, and American accents at the bar, there are a handful of Chinese as well who have become friends with some of the returning teachers, and I realize just how much this little enclave of people will be my go to people for the next year. It was a relief to see all of them enjoying the months and in some cases multiple years they have spent in Wuhan and it relaxed any remaining anxiety I had over whether or not I was going to enjoy myself here. Plus I realize, any place where a beer is less than a dollar and its pretty good cheap beer is a place I might have fun at.
Class starts on Monday for the students here at ZUEL and that means its time to start my job as well. I am really excited to start and really excited that within the first few days of class I can have a Dave Matthews Band unit. I am really only having this because I am missing the concert event of a lifetime--DMB at Wrigley for two nights in Sept, for those of you who haven't been paying attention--and it never hurts to pass along some American music to my new students.
Last but not least, I am doing well and enjoying my time here. I am loving it more and more everyday and I have not gotten sick--knock on wood. I miss you all very much and thank you to everyone who has been keeping in touch. It is great to hear from all of you and see some of you on Skype as well. For now goodbye, and I will write again soon. And since DMB at Wrigley field is fast approaching I leave you all with a video to watch if you so choose.
P.S. If any of you see a video of an American running in Wuhan that was filmed from the backseat of a driver's ed car...it was probably me running.
DMB-Two Step
Now you would think in a city of 9 million, there would be some sort of massive airport, maybe not on par with Hong Kong International Airport, but maybe something similar to Midway. Well at least that was what I had envisioned before arriving in Wuhan. Needless to say I was shocked when I walked downstairs to the baggage claim and saw that there was only one luggage carousel. After working my way through crowds of people--a mix of westerners and Chinese--and realizing that my conception of personal space was becoming a nostalgic memory; I grabbed my luggage and proceeded to meet my contact Lily and head to the campus of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL). Following another hour of sitting, we all made it to our apartments on campus.
Being on the sixth floor or a seven story building doesn't sound horrible, but when there is no elevator and you have over a 100lbs of stuff to carry up those stairs, it becomes a tiring and fast. My all white walls, Chinese television channels, wood bench and chair for my furniture in my living, were a little hard to adjust to at first. While I am still adjusting, I have managed to overcome my fear of buying food at the near by streets. The first night I went out for food on my was literally terrifying. And I don't use terrifying in an attempt to be funny, I really had no clue what I was doing, what I was saying and even worse, what was being said at me. I would like to say in little less than a week, I have mastered the art of ordering food without saying much more than hello, thank you, and goodbye--it is important to keep your manners up even in a foreign language.
On my third or fourth day here in Wuhan I found myself in prison. Not joking. I was at Wuhan Prison for about six hours that night. For everyone who is reading this and having some sort of heart attack after that last sentence, rest assure I am fine. Wuhan Prison is a bar. In fact, it is a bar that attracts a lot of foreigners who are over here teaching at various universities in the city. Amid the mix of Scottish, Irish, Australian, and American accents at the bar, there are a handful of Chinese as well who have become friends with some of the returning teachers, and I realize just how much this little enclave of people will be my go to people for the next year. It was a relief to see all of them enjoying the months and in some cases multiple years they have spent in Wuhan and it relaxed any remaining anxiety I had over whether or not I was going to enjoy myself here. Plus I realize, any place where a beer is less than a dollar and its pretty good cheap beer is a place I might have fun at.
Class starts on Monday for the students here at ZUEL and that means its time to start my job as well. I am really excited to start and really excited that within the first few days of class I can have a Dave Matthews Band unit. I am really only having this because I am missing the concert event of a lifetime--DMB at Wrigley for two nights in Sept, for those of you who haven't been paying attention--and it never hurts to pass along some American music to my new students.
Last but not least, I am doing well and enjoying my time here. I am loving it more and more everyday and I have not gotten sick--knock on wood. I miss you all very much and thank you to everyone who has been keeping in touch. It is great to hear from all of you and see some of you on Skype as well. For now goodbye, and I will write again soon. And since DMB at Wrigley field is fast approaching I leave you all with a video to watch if you so choose.
P.S. If any of you see a video of an American running in Wuhan that was filmed from the backseat of a driver's ed car...it was probably me running.
DMB-Two Step
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