good tidings and cheer

This photo was taken last weekend after my student's Christmas performance. "Will", "Vivid", and "Bunny" all did a waltz at the end of the show. Dashing students, eh? This week has been filled with exam prep and Christmas dinners, which is a good distraction I suppose from the fact that I will be away from my family for Christmas. For being in a country that apparently doesn't celebrate this holiday, there is still a good amount of fake Christmas trees in store fronts with big glittery santas.

Last weekend I started spending a little more time with one of the foreign exchange students from South Carolina. He can throw on a drawl pretty easily, wears cowboy boots, and always jumps into some profound conversation about life. After going to the show last weekend, we decided to go for a nice walk around town. Its always very eye opening to see different parts of town further away from the bubble of the university. We walked by a factory and the housing for the workers. Lots of construction projects going on. A few Chinese men strolling the street whispering "foreigners. white people." Always good to see new things. Once you get away from the university things become- how to say- more "cold war-esque". Many more concrete boxes of buildings with huge Chinese characters painted on the side. Long concrete walls stretching along streets with huge fields inside. I wonder how long I will still get the occaisional thoughts of "holy shit... I'm actually living in China".

Last night we went to a little restaurant near campus and I actually ordered a full meal in Chinese. Egg-fried pumpkin, spinach, eggplant, toufu soup. I've been eating less and less meat lately. A lot of the meat tends to be full of bones or grissel and.. I'm okay getting protien from toufu. We've been kind of hard up for things to do in this town, so we decided if we went to karaoke with just foreigners it would be a lot less intimidating (because the Chinese are really good and don't seem to realize that to do karaoke properly youre supposed to have a beer in one hand and sound horrible). So Morten, the foreign exhange student, and I all went to KTV and sang and sang and sang until our voices were raw and they kicked us out because they wanted to close. The best discovery of the night was just how funny it is to sing a whole song just saying "meow". This.. was probably much ore entertaining than it should have been.

Alright, Morten has volunteered to make a traditional Danish breakfast this morning for us, so I must be on my way. I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas spirit wherever you may be.

Party!

New desktop on my computer, thought I would share. Hehe.

"Communist Party"

chilly nights full of Elijah Wood

Drafty nights in the apartment will the temperature regularly falling below 32 are giving me little incentive to get out from my down comforter and go outside. 32? You might ask. "You lame little sissy!" Well- as I believe I've mentioned before- when you live at high latitudes houses tend to be made to trap heat inside so people can stay warm in winter. This far south, my apartment is like a little cave, with cold air blowing out the door as I unlock it. The time has also come to invest in a warmer winter coat *sigh*.

To adjust to the climate change, (although, it still is not uncommon for the temperature to rise into the 50s or even 60s during the day) Morten has downloaded the entire Lord of the Rings extended edition trilogy. Last night we watched the Two Towers and had a bag full of crackers, my guilty pleasure here. *side note* I've been lumping cookies into the category of crackers so I feel better about eating them. The Chinese definitely know their crackers.

We've also been discussing where to go over the rapidly approaching Spring Festival. My freshmen are done in 2 weeks, my sophomores in 3. We've discussed going up to Harbin in Heilongjiang. This is in the extreme NE of China and borders Russia. They have a huge ice festival up there and there is also an oil field that is very interested in hiring me to work there in their personnel department. I feel like working at an oil field would be a good for my resume- but everytime I hear this part of China described its usually in the context of "barren wasteland". Its flat and its cold. But, I do feel like its worth seeing- plus it is a very different part of China than where we are now. Then we could check out the panda sanctuary in Chengdu on our way back south.... :D

The poetry reading was largly unsucessful. However, upon my return I promised my freshmen I would read it to them on their last class. I've been forcing them to read English poems to me all semester, so it only seemed fair. Just the same though- it is rather discouraging to have had Chinese people laughing hysterically at your attempts to properly pronounce their language. It seems to have lit a candle under my ass in terms of my Chinese study though.

So, many months ago (I guess 2...) one of the freshmen boys in the dorm next door got my phone number. Don't take this the wrong way. People are always asking for our phone number- you'll talk to someone for 30 seconds, they will ask if we can make friends, and ask. Its very nice that people have been so willing to help if we need it. So, one day when Morten and I were talking about the orgin of the creepy pond next to the boy's dorm we by default made a whole slew of new friends.

Little did I know, that this boy would pimp out my contact information to many people. Maybe it wasn't him so much as the roomates he gave my number to gave it to one of their friends, ect. Which is why QQ has been such a blessing- it gives me a piece of contact information that is not my cell phone. A few days ago I had a new contact because of this passing of my information. A very nice boy who wanted to improve his English and was willing to correct my Chinese. He was board so we took this bus to the lake on the edge town. They had a little memorial about the Japanese invaision in 1937 on a tiny island. They sold a lot of nuts. Mountains everywhere. They world makes a lot more sense when you are with a Chinese person. It was a pretty good day. Also- whenever I'd ever even suggested to a Chinese male that we should go grab tea or some lunch, they immediately figure out someone to call to come along. Which I normally find entertaining and moderately awkward. Its annoying, because if there is another Chinese person there, they will start to talk in Chinese and cut me out of the conversation entirely. So this was nice.

Alright, time for some Chinese study and to get out of my warm warm bed.

Chinese Poetry Reading!

Again- not totally sure how this happend. I'd simply walked into the International Office to pick up some mail when one of the workers approached me to ask if I'd like to read a poem- very useful in my quest to learn Chinese.


Then, yesterday, I found myself in a room with five other foreigners, practicing reading a Chinese poem while two Korean girls performed a tea ceremony. This Sunday (cough- TOMORROW) I will be reading my poem to an audience while donning a traditional Chinese tunic in Hangzhou. This really has made the whole living in China experience even more surreal. This thing in Hangzhou is only "practice" (?) though, because in two weeks I need to have my Chinese poem memorized for the real competition. Its very exciting to have such a challenge like this just sitting on my plate. I guess after its done all the foreigners that participate get an expense paid tour around Zhejiang Province. As much as I don't really like the idea of parading around with a hoard of foreigners, this competition should be really fun. My poem is something about a certain kind of tea- and some mountains- and hopefully I'll get someone who speaks Chinese to translate more of it to me today.


Yesterday was very productive. One of my students invited me to climb this mountain behind the univeristy. I guess I didn't realize that the university really was on the very edge of town- because we were immediately in the country. I suddenly felt like I was in a place that smarted of home- it was...... quiet. Wheat hand-gathered into little shucks. Rice paddies (ok- maybe ot quite like home). Beautiful mountain. So great to know something like that is so close! The weather here is about what I would expect in September or October in Wisconsin- the leaves are really changing now!




(view half-way up the mountain- internet isn't letting me upload more photos!!)

Then I went with Morten to see one of his students perform in a talent competition. I'd met her before- she was always very hyper and bouncing. Little did I know that she was also a very talented traditional Chinese opera singer. The Chinese really don't tend to half-ass things when it comes to any sort of public presentation- maybe its all about saving face- whatever it is, its very impressive.

Again, I hope more photos will follow soon! (or at least a link to the album on facebook)

turkey day

Its been a fairly rough week, and with Thanksgiving today, I had my first real bout of homesickness. It was earlier this week when I was really down about the Chinese educational system and the fact that the worst student in my class was writing my teaching review at the end of the term. For him, this meant his other teachers would give him lots of extra chances and a higher mark in order to improve their review. Apparently the boys complain I talk to quickly- which I have trouble sympathyzing with when they are usually talking/sleeping during my class. We are covering the meat of British history this week and Morten legitimately wanted to teach it for me with his historical background. I guess this is the kind of class he was hoping to teach while he was here, and I was more than happy to bring him along to class. After the latest round of heavily plagarized essays, I'd been feeling fairly jaded myself.

As cold as it had been, the temperature certainly hasn't dropped off like I'd expected. Haven't ran the heater all week- which means higher probability that I will regularly shower. Which really is good news for everyone. Maybe the bigger issue is my huge shopping adventure last weekend. I went to Hangzhou with one of the students here and bought 3 new sweaters, bought a toaster (YAY!!!), and bought a fluffy down comforter- that keeps me very warm without having to run the space heater.

This qq thing has really helped me learn more about my students in my oral English class. They really are from all over China and over break we'd really like to venture up to Heilongjiang (by Russia- north of Korea) to check out the ice festival and possibly check out jobs (eh, who knows? doesn't hurt to look, right?). Lin'an has a very similar climate to Nanchang, where he lived before- and is interested in learning Mandarin in the north where it is supposed to be cleaner and less accented. And even though the north is colder, they are known to have central heating. I could check out the oil field there which maybe could be beneficial when I come back to the US. This is all arm waving, I have no idea what I'll be doing next year.

Elisabeth said she was going to try to buy an oven and turkey so we can all (the foreigners) have a meal Saturday. I'm in charge of mashed potatoes and making paper turkeys with crayons, construction paper, and my hand. We'll see how it works out. Most of the foreigners aren't from countries that celebrate this holiday anyway.

Alright, time for some lunch and some Mandarin learning. The internet isn't allowing picture uploads today, so perhaps next time!

videos, ect.

Where I work- on the way to the bus stop.

Most of the bus ride home and walk to my apartment

Things are getting fairly routine here. I ran into Lady who really wants me to hang out with her som on the way home today- apparently he has a big exam coming up and she wants me to help with his dictation.

The trees have started changing color. Apparently this part of the country is well-known for the fact that it has trees- and the whole forestry university thing definitely helps. Its still not too cold during the day- maybe 50's, but its getting chilly at night. I've had to use my space heater a few times- especially after that morning shower. That.... is not fun. The school is also quite chilly in the morning, but once all the students get in there it really warms up.

Met up with the Australian this weekend. He told me where to go to buy cereal in town and we went to a temple on the west side of town. Apparently Buddhism is pretty heavily regulated by the government and many of the monks I saw were members of the party.

While we are referencing the government, my students gave me tickets last Friday to see some propaganda play about the civil war. The scene above is from the end of the play when the lead character is about to be executed for his alligence to the party while wearing a symbolic red sash. At this point, it became a bit much and I felt the need to wash my eyes.

If the videos don't load, I have also posted them on facebook- try these links:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=562764109646

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=562761644586

qq revolution

Yes, QQ. The most popular instant messenger on Mainland China.

When I first came to China, the initial idea of getting a cell phone seemed un-necessary and cumbersome. Not to mention an extra expense. Why should I want to be able to be contacted at every moment? But I have quickly come to realize that my cell phone connects me to the otherwise hyper-confusing Chinese world around me. I am moments away from a native Chinese speaker at any moment- should the need arise. And I am slowly gaining the skills to both walk and send a text message symultaniously.

I had heard of QQ right away when I arrived. Students who idelly sat in their dorms on their compuers would chat with their friends. I'd made a half-hearted attempt to download this funky version from South Africa- which was in English- but I was never able to register an ID and I always questioned if it actually could function outside of South Africa. But now- now I am in. Any questions I have about language or places nearby or China- can be answered instantly by any of the 25 friends I have already. I sent my ID to some of my phonebook and gave my ID to the students in my oral English class. I love this class- they are all English minors and they seem to come from much more diverse backgrounds than the English majors and in many cases have better English. I also am much more casual when I teach it- the point of the class is just to get the students to talk, so it has a fairly relaxed atmosphere. Because I only teach it once a week, I've been having trouble really getting into any kind of a rhythm actually knowing how to teach it- but I think I'm finally figuring it out now that the class is half over. I gave the whole class my ID and maybe just over half of them have added me. Talking to students has given me another opportunity to practice my Chinese, as they told me where to download character conversion software so I can actually write in Chinese now- like this: 我的中文是不好。(my Chinese is not good). They have their own little chat group they invited me to join and had a bunch of ideas on where I could go over the weekend.

Morten and I had planned on going to Nanchang (where he used to live). He had insisted that if we took the train from Hangzhou to Shanghai we could hop a bullet train to Nanchang and be there by supper time. (I'm finished with class at noon, so we probably couldn't even leave Lin'an till after 1- 1 hour to Hangzhou, 2 hours to Shanghai once commuting to the train station) There was no way we could get to Shanghai in time to catch the bullet train and the other lines took 12 hours to get to Nanchang. So- it looks like we will be travelling somewhere else- but definitely going somewhere as I haven't travelled in awhile. I will say though, I would like to find a Chinese person to travel with. You really miss out on a lot when you don't speak the language and things can be overly confusing.

Alright, time for some shut eye for my early morning tomorrow. 晚安！

RAIN!! BLARG! China must have an impressive drainage system

I apologize for my little vacation away from the rice bowl. This week was kind of rough, but had the silver lining of Obama fever pulsing through the second half.

1. I need to buy new clothes. My pants are loose, thanks to my new rice/toufu/noodle/green vegetable diet. Finding pants that fit sucked enough in a country where a significant portion of the female population is taller than 5' 7''. Ughhhh. I also don't particularily remember enjoying shopping in America- when I didn't have money. Now, I have lots of money but am constantly paranoid of being screwed over with their haggling system here (although- I actually feel like I should be paying more anyway given my relative wealth) and near constant confusion.

2. Niu rou chou mian. Basically the safest food to order here. And oh so tastey. Pan fried noodles with my favorite green vegetable and beef. YUMMMMM.

3. The other day I had dinner with some other Chinese, English teachers. One of the teachers had her parents visiting and her mom dances every night at home. She was such a good dancer! And did this semi-slow version of a swing dance. Then dad showed off some of his tai chi. Then I showed everyone how to dance to "Cotton-eyed Joe." Hopefully we will become friends.

4. Apple-flavored milk/drinkable yogurt. The Chinese love drinkable yogurt- and to think, people scoffed at my love of yo-j in the states. This has the word 'nutri' in the title and has '15 nutritional components'. I think it is very good for healthy.

5. The past week and a half I've seen the sun once I think. RAINRAINRAIN!!!!

6. Thumbs down for the university expecting me to contact the building supervisor to notify her that my make up classes always meet in room 201 on Mondays. Who, by the way, speaks no English.

7. Thumbs up for this Obama business. The Chinese like Obama. I like Obama. And watching his victory speech puts a hop in my step. I text messaged- a lot of people. And got about 45 messages in one day. Easily, a new record.

8. Apparently you can not wash the inside of the big fluffy blankets here. My new blanket is a light green with tiny flowers.

Well, I finally have a weekend with no big plans. Failed to network to go visit my lover in Hangzhou, so instead I think I'll read a nice book. Or maybe even finish one...

Sunshine, rainbows, ect.

sometimes I really wish I had a cat...

Today I saw someone sending a text message while riding their bicycle. I seemed to remember some sort of law in Eau Claire against having a passenger on a moped as I saw a moped carrying three people and a small ladder fly by. I've been in a very good mood lately- which is probably attributed to a variety of things. Fall is in the air, my students are great, my Hangzhou adventure (aka cheese in my fridge), and the highly anticipated Halloween festivities this weekend.

Most the largest contributing factor is probably the advent of my class beginning to sing. To learn rhythm and to give me yet another excuse to make fun of the boys. We have been singing "Take Me Home Country Roads" by John Denver. I really think singing this song makes me radiate good karma. After I leave a John Denver inclusive class I interact with everyone- I must appear very approachable. Immediately after I left the foreign language building random boy left his freshman boy posse to ask where I was from and attempt conversation before awkwardly taking a few steps away from me to join his group. Then some girls I was following started talking to me because they wanted to 'communicate' with me. We sort of talked for awhile. Then I hopped into the cafeteria, got some noodles to go so I could eat by the lake (I hate eating alone in the cafeteria- esp. when its so nice outside!) and as I left random dude said "hello" to me to which I almost excessively cheerily replied "Ni hao mao?!" (how are you?). He apparently wasn't expecting me to respond at all, so he murmered "hao bu hao" (ok) and his friend informed me that he was very shy. Then I attempted some responses in Chinese- "mei guo- wo sho han yu bu hao-" (America.. I don't speak Chinese well) to which he said my Chinese was very good, to which I said he was wrong, to which he said they needed to walk another way, bye bye.

The students here live 4 people to a dorm room with no mattresses, just bamboo mats. If they are freshmen then they live 6 to a dorm which has no hot water. If they are freshmen, they also are not allowed to have a personal computer. Just the same, I cannot re-enforce how much I am impressed with the character of the students at this university. I probably want to be best friends with all of them, so it is unfortunate I have to grade them and all that.

I have officially finished the first level of Rosetta Stone Mandarin! I can text message a few phrases in characters and can pick out random bits of conversation I evesdrop on. I feel now that I have a base to work off of new things will start to click more quickly. Its crazy to think how much more I know than I did 2 months ago. I also pretty much am in love with China, even though I know I am definitely seeing it through tinted lenses.

PS- As I was lugging up my laundry to the fifth floor I heard "Country Roads" by John Denver playing somewhere in the distance...

the flowering of Hangzhou

Hangzhou has tended to leave a bit of a bad taste in the mouth with our previous experiences there. Medical exam, confused taxi drivers yelling at us, Morten had his cell phone stolen. But that totally changed this weekend.

Hangzhou is big. Real big. About 6.4 million people. And downtown is about 1 hour from Lin'an. I feel like the quaint hamlet of Lin'an has a lot to offer with its 600,000 people- but people go to bed very early and they do not sell solid cheese. One of my students was going back to Hangzhou with her parents so she invited me to come along. I needed to go to Hangzhou to try to pick up some things for our Halloween party next weekend- plus I am HORRIBLE at shopping for myself, so I was hoping this trendy, hip 19 year-old student of mine could help me. Instead, she gave me a huge bag of oranges, a bunch of nuts and I was sent to fend for myself on the streets of Hangzhou with no real knowledge of where I was (well, she was home to spend time with her family...). Morten was going to Hangzhou via bus and we'd talked about meeting up later and maybe booking a hotel so we could take the bus back the next day. Unfortunately, when I attempted to call Morten, a message flashed across the screen that his account was disabled. I later found out that his phone had run out of money and he was flying around town trying to figure out how to re-load it. I felt nervous, freaked out, lost. I was in a city of 6.4 million people- who all spoke this weird language with funny writing and had been plopped in front of this big store full of high-end shops (Prada, Fendi, ect). There had been some kind of mis-communication here. I had said I needed a western store. One where they potentially had the goods for celebrating Halloween. This kind of store was intimidating- full of high priced goods I knew they would try to sell to me at a higher price because I was completely unfamiliar with the concept of bargaining. Plus, it seemed as though the escalators wound like some kind of corkscrew through the building- only leading up. After bee-lining to the bathroom and making a hasty get away down a dirty back staircase I realized I just needed to relax and decide what I was going to do. I bought a map from a dude on the street. I sat on some steps and ate one of my oranges. Morten still wasn't answering. Well, I just needed to find another place to chill for awhile. I could have a relaxing evening on my own in the city if I wanted- I could find a hotel, soak in a tub, eat some western food. So I hopped into the nearest Starbucks, ordered a tall latte and some rasin-pudding-torte thing. I think it boils down to wanting to feel competant, but things can be so scary if you don't reach out to other people for help.

When I walked in, the place was coated in a layer of foreigners- hailing (I believe) from Britian. And you know, they weren't very friendly- not to the staff- not to me when they cut in line ahead of me. There's some kind of un-spoken code amungst foreigners- to never really acknowledge each other. Everyone came to China to see a sea of black-haired people, not whitey apparently. Maybe tourists are the same everywhere; annoying. Anyway, after some time and attempting to ask the only person in the Starbucks who didn't speak English where I was on my map, Morten finally calls. We eventually find each other and make our way down to West Lake.

Everything is so pretty in Hangzhou at night (well, save perhaps the crippled beggars). Fountains come out of the lake and change colors and dance to classical music. The mountains and pagodas are lit up and boats shaped like dragons coast across the glassy water. We had some dim sum and found a hotel for the night. Nice hotels- are kind of becoming this guilty pleasure. Its SO nice to be able to take a bath! and eat toast in the mornings! I was pretty tired, but we decided to check out the Hangzhou night life before calling it an evening. And we were not disappointed.

Only a block or so from our hotel was this hopping club with neon lights and a large group of police officers about to enter. We followed them in, down a yellow and orange flashing corridor to a table where it appeared people were talking loudly and paying a cover fee... we stood confused and were ushered inside. Lots of lights- walked into this bar area where scantily clad women were dancing on little platforms. See, that's my fear about going in to loud places with lots of flashing lights. Brothel. But alas, this was no brothel (*whew*).

I like dancing. And the crazy techno bars in this country I've seen are very expensive and play music its almost impossible to dance to. This was the first place I've ever been in this country where lots of people were dancing. And the music was good enough to dance to. And people somewhat knew how to dance. In fact one boy even knew how to dance. When I dance to club music, I like to have fun- swinging each other about and so on. When I tried to dance like this with a boy in Lin'an he left me standing alone on the dance floor shortly after. This boy didn't! And that's how I met my "Chinese boyfriend" that max knows about 20 English words. He is my height, black hair, brown eyes. Slightly dark complexion. We send text messages. In Chinese. Its much faster to send messages in characters... except for the whole - trying to translate words I dont know into Chinese. We actually convey messeges. In Chinese. Sometimes I don't have to use a dictionary. Even though I really can't "talk" to this person, its given me a great incentive to learn more Chinese. Having to actually apply my new words to come up with sentences is wonderful. So, boyfriend may be the wrong word now, but just you wait till my Chinese improves a little.

Today- slept in- took a LONG bath- went to the western grocery store where they sell ACTUAL LITTLE BRICKS OF CHEESE, sliced ham, and french bread. Morten and I were pretty happy campers. And then walked in the rain around West Lake- for what must have been a solid 6-7 miles to the bus station. SO MUCH WALKING IN THIS COUNTRY.

Okay, with that I want to share a quote from one of my student's essays. I've been grading these forever and will finish up this weekend:

"If Obama wins the election, it would be a slam dunk against racism!" - from one of my student's essays about who they would vote for in the American election.

pi jiu in the rain

I write this with a sigh and a throbbing head. It was a hard night here in Lin'an. Life, was difficult as usual.

Morten and I headed to this restaurant up the street where we would always see tables out on the sidewalk and a large crowd in the evenings. We ordered a bunch of lamb on sticks and the green vegetable I really like. We were greeting by "hellos" from most of the patrons when we arrived, and shortly thereafter the owner of the restaurant came out to tell us he wanted to be our friend and he was very glad to meet us. The food was wonderful, and was periodically interrupted by patrons asking us to 'geng bei' a beer with them (drink a small glass) - which did lead to my favorite green vegetable being coated in beer. After the meal the owner came out again and offered us cigarettes and more beer. Then a bunch of the other patrons sat at our table too and after a few beers I began to understand what they were saying! And then a beer later could not understand anything...

Around 9:30 or so many of the guys had to leave. A police car pulled up to the restaurant and two of the guys climbed inside. Indeed, our newly aquired friends all seem to be members of the local police force! Then a new crowd came in, more geng bei's, I said we didn't have any beer, only to be told that they had brought out a full case which was sitting directly behind me. Morten needed to work at 8 this morning. Shortly thereafter (I think..) the owner brought out a tiny bird that had been seasoned and cooked over an open flame. I kept telling Morten, I did not want to eat the bird. So he pulled off its head, beak and all, and popped it in his mouth. I think we can all agree that bird head is not good for healthy.

I would also like to mention at this point the further respect we have for this wonderful restaurant by the fact that they actually have a western-style toilet. You could go to like a KFC downtown and they would have squatters, but this was a straight up western toilet. Which after a few beers I was probably using every 30 minutes.

It was probably around 11 by the time we sauntered back to the apartment. The people at the restaurant would not allow us to pay for our meal. I have some photos on my mobile phone.. but I can't seem to find the right cord and my head weighs approx. 1000 pounds right now so perhaps ill hold off for a bit.

(Revision: after actually talking to Morten, the Dane, this morning he went to pay but was forced to geng bei a beer instead... so I guess we really do need to go back and pay this evening, probably)

pronunciation.. yes, that's how you say it..

Its TUESDAY- you all must know by now that that means I am doing everything in my power to procrastinate working on my lecture tomorrow that covers American history from World War 2 to current events!

Its hot again. Things are blooming. My sinuses were really congested but they are much better now. I really like my freshmen and we're starting to sing a little John Denver to get the students more familiar with rhythm. It makes me leave class in a good mood and give me energy to enjoy the walk home instead of taking the bus.

Things that used to seem so surprising here are becoming less-so. I find it odd if I don't see a truck/modified bicycle with 'truck' bed piled with double its volume of bamboo, paper, garbage, computer parts, ect. Or a baby peeing on the sidewalk. Although the water buffalo in the stream under the bridge on the way home was a little unexpected. What I mean to say is that I need to write down all my observations of odd happenings in China, before I forget that the rest of the world isn't like that. I'd really like to say I'm getting in a groove- you know, things gradually becoming less confusing- but it really depends on the day. Last night I was pumped up after John Denver so I was excited to try out my new Mandarin at the little restaurant by the gate to get some bamboo fried rice to-go. But other days I just want to boil my own jiao zi- because doing that is something I almost understand. Hole away in my wonderful safe apartment and curl up with Rosetta Stone (my Chinese Language program) until everyone outside says something that makes more sense than blardy blardy blardy. Crap, blardy is totally British English. Gahhhhh.

So in this pronunciation class we are working on vowel sounds. Perhaps you are not aware, but compared to the Brits, the American accent has extremely flat vowels. So when my students try to hear the difference between land and lend my students have major trouble. Also- does anyone know if we say merry and marry differently? Because I don't think I do. I feel a lot of pressure on myself when I teach this class... I mean I am teaching the students to talk like me. I am teaching them my specific dialect of English. That's what they will sound like. With all my Wisconsin bagels and all.

This weekend I went with a bunch of Morten's students to some little mountain village. They were very nice, things were very pretty- but as I said before, I was very congested. We played games around the campfire, ate bbq, hiked around, and I played with Sarah and Elisabeth's puppy. He is cute. Good times all around.

Last Sunday I finally went to Qian Wang's tomb- which is literally right behind where I live. One of my students offered to come too- it was really nice having someone along to help translate. I also found out I'm still pretty good at shooting bow too :) I won two bottles of water by getting two bullseyes with a recurve bow :) They randomly had these games set up- as well as old timey Chinese clothing you could get your picture taken in- which certainly will happen eventually.

So, the students are great, I'm just staying extremely busy. We're getting ready for Halloween, so Morten and I are planning on going to Hangzhou to pick up some goods. The English association on campus is sponsoring a Halloween party- and we are probably going to have one too. Its just a matter of finding the perfect costume....

la vida loca

The above picture is from this weekend at the People's Square. Morten and I were quietly enjoying a PBR I'd discovered at a nearby grocery store (honestly, why is that beer here? furthermore- how bad is Chinese beer if we were both really impressed with the smooth taste of a luke warm Pabst Blue Ribbon?) and enjoying the lights from the fountains going off around us. Kids and adults were playing badminton while children scooted around on rollerblades, randomly saying hello. It was very cute and wholesome. Then some of children got a little more ballsy and started saying more - "pleasure to meet you" "what's your name?" "what's your cell phone number?" Suddenly, 25 kids around age 8-12 were hoarding us, asking out shoe size, asking where we from surrounded by a layer of high school students surrounded by gawking parents. The children wanted us to write down our names (literally- we were handing out autographs) and asked Morten to draw different kinds of fruit. An apple and an orange. A watermelon and a banana.

I am now teaching pronunciation. Which, if nothing else, has made me annoyingly aware of what it means to have a yankee accent. Saying rest-rant instead of rest-au-rant. Gla-cier instead of gla-ci-er. We make all our words shorter and cut out syllables. I'm afraid after enough time and limited contact with Americans and Canadians I'll come back to the US referring to men as "chappy" and fully pronouncing all my vowels. What a bloody waste of time!

Now for an apartment update. The soy sauce stain has seemingly absorbed through the first layer of carpet and is no longer quite as visible. The 15 yuan lamp I bought kept smoking whenever I turned it on after I replaced the bulb- so I replaced the lamp for 45 yuan. (if you're curious, 15 yuan = $2.195, 45 yuan = $6.59 on 10.14.08)

Vincent, the boy I helped with his speech, won second place at the English Speaking Competition. My absentee ballot arrived today so I can vote in the presidential election- but the people in the international office seem to have a lot of trouble reading cursive and somehow confused "Galston" with "Morten" - even though it definitely had an American flag on it and Morten is very much Danish. Its chilly in the mornings, hot in the afternoon, and cool in the evening - the end of skirt weather is upon me. I'd like to write detailed character descriptions of everyone I've met - as there really are some characters - but that seems a bit tacky for an online blog eh? I'm sure I have much more to write, but I have already committed to a 5AM phone call back home (aka: 6PM). Oh, I would like to mention a little but more about how friendly people are here- I was sitting by myself reading on a bench by the lake on campus when this boy went by on his bicycle and stopped to ask if I spoke Chinese (in Chinese). I attempted to say I didn't and he either asked where I lived or where I was from- to which I fumbled around and I don't think answered- then he said "thank you" and left. A few minutes later he was back- which was good because after he left I thought of a bunch of Chinese phrases and he'd thought of an English phrase- he sat down- he gave me his card- I told him I couldn't read characters- only pinyin - and that was pretty much our conversation. I was waiting for someone I was having lunch with- he arrived- I akwardly said goodbye and that was that. I NEED TO LEARN MORE CHINESE.

Ok, zai jian for now.

workin lady

As cushy as it was to only work 8 hours/week last month, now that the freshmen are done with their military training I have more than double the classload to make up for it. Eight hours of class Monday- so tired. On that note though, when I'm busy - and stay busy - I think it makes my work better. For my American/British study class things went very well in the first section. Usually I need one class to iron out the wrinkles and it goes much better for my Friday classes. Maybe it went well because they were so fearful after my half hour lecture on plagarism and how I would fail anyone who submitted work they didn't write. (oooh, this subject gets me riled up and spurred a discussion on how I was personally offended if they questioned my intelligence enough to think I would not notice that those were not their own words) This also lends itself to another important issue.

The quest for a Chinese boyfriend. This may be hampered by the fact that it is the girls who are much better students and most boys cannot communicate well in English. Well- if he's handsome right? (hehe, kidding.... )

The Chinese language study needs to intensify but Morten (the Dane) wants us to read and discuss classic English novels and apparently start our own bluegrass band (I can buy a violin/fiddle much cheaper here than having it sent from the US). Add to that the extra class load, and I'm not really sure how I have the time to be typing this blog right now. If I can play bluegrass though, it won't matter if I can speak Chinese as music is universal. I can simply saw I light flowing melody at the restaurant and the fu yuan will know I want to eat fried noodles, bu laode (not hot). Also, by being so removed from people who have my same accent I am worried about 1. losing my accent or 2. forgetting how to speak English. I guess this is where the classic English book club comes in to play.

Alright, back to the grindstone. Essays to grade (more red pens to buy), lesson plans to work out, and showers to take (it really is about time).

a world away

Walking Nanjing Street in the Bund district of Shanghai - during National holiday. This is easily the most number of people I've ever seen in my life.


Every day I think I become a little more Chinese. It began innocently enough by using an umbrella when it was sunny out. Then one of my Chinese friends offered me a ride on the rack on the back of his bicycle- which is what all the other Chinese kids were doing- so I wobbled along the mile or so as he pedaled to the gate. Then I watched the Sex and the City movie for free from a Chinese website. I've had my first complete conversation via text message. I am currently sipping my strawberry-banana yogurt through a straw they gave me at the supermarket. And soon I will have a charm to dangle from my cell phone.

Chinese-fication is a gradual process I readily am embracing (except for the tendancy to throw trash everywhere... grrr) but the last few days were a complete and total break from that.

Last night I returned from Shanghai, land of Pizza Huts on every corner, English bookstores selling copies of National Geographic, Starbucks, KFC, skyscrapers, business deals, money, poverty, constant heckling, beer on tap and posh hotels. Everything is so westernized, foreigners everywhere. We'd stopped in Hangzhou on the way to catching the train to Shanghai and at the West Lake (which was CRAZY with tourists) waves of people would say "hello" sometimes followed by a "Welcome to Hangzhou!". My experience has been that most Chinese think America is a wonderful, beautiful place full of nice people. Maybe part of this is their familiarity with American corporations which have provided more jobs, but they really do view America positively. Shanghai was this break from being the white celebrity as white people were so common. Everyone spoke a little English, it had permeated society so fully. Spent lots of money on some clothes, nice hotel, purse, earrings. In Lin'an there isn't a whole lot to spend money on- so I got some of that out of my system. But it also made coming back into Hangzhou kind of a harsh reality when the daunting language barrier was raised again and we had trouble even telling our cab driver where we wanted to go.

On a TOTALLY unrelated note, I found this Japanese TV show when watching Chinese music videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua6LLcqmDnQ

Watch.. if you dare.

she says her son is very handsom- and knows kung fu!

Good week. Now that its over, I have the long anticipated national holiday which means vacation until October 6. Many people are travelling, I'm hoping to stay a little more local. Some of the teachers are going up to Beijing- they have an extra ticket- but I think the crowds would be crazy to travel this week. Many of the Chinese work all day, every day- and this is one week everyone has off! I think I might venture into the country, or maybe make the shorter trek up to Shanghai with some of the other teachers.

Some soy sauce I threw away leaked out of the garbage bag and has left a stain on my carpet that seems to grow everytime I attack it with a sponge. I've also been paid for the first time and can use my China Construction Bank debit card. I really don't think I can possibly spend my pay. I make so much more than most people here, it doesn't seem fair. A begger was asking for money when I was walking to the new campus and kept talking in Chinese and saying something about me being a foreigner and then started walking after me and I was torn as if I should run away (this woman was less than 5 ft tall and somewhere between 60 and 200 years old) or start throwing 100 yuan bills at her. I'll be able to afford a nice trip or something I guess...

My modeling career sadly ended before it began. Apparently they found another american girl in Hangzhou, closer, easier to pick up for the shoot. *sigh*. Through this endeavor I have found another foreigner, an Australian that has been here a few years and used to work for the university. They had needed a photo of me before the shoot, and the girl organizing it was an old student of the Australian. So we had dinner and went to the studio (theres a photo of me with a Chinese model, see below) of his photographer friend who I had actually met previously when I'd been walking down the street and was aggressively "hello'ed" and told to sit down at table in a tent on the sidewalk and promptly greeted by everyone there will a random English phrase. As it turned out, it was a photography company that specialized in wedding photos. Still don't know why they ushered me to sit at a table but it was the same company I was at a few days later. Its always good to know more people I say.
Me with "Chinese boyfriend" at "the beach". I'm sure the dream will soon be a reality.


After my encounter with the beggar and at the university, I encountered another aggressive woman, but in a much more charming way. I could actually understand some of what she was saying and could communicate enough to mutally share information. She works in the university. I think. She had a son. who went to the university. and she had a picture of him. and she took my cell phone out of my hand and dialed his number so he had mine. and then went over to a student and had her translate that her son was very handsom and knew kung fu and my hands were beautiful and could I please help her son practice English and maybe become friends?

At 7 I met mom and her 21 year old son at the library near my apartment and we walked to the People's square where Lin'an was celebrating something. I think... the history of Lin'an. It was crazy. fireworks everywhere, coreographed song and dance, speeches I can only assume were important. INTENSE. I was on tv, I later met up with Morten and they interviewed him, police abounding. Really really cool. Go Lin'an. Now, begins the weeklong celebration of the founding of the Peoples Republic.

Zhejiang Wilderness

Its been a pretty exciting couple of days. First of all, I've re-joined the 21st century by getting a cell phone with China Mobile (woot, friends!). This phone is so technologically advanced, it even has a CAMERA. Actually, its a pretty basic phone, a little black Nokia... I didn't really want to spend over 600 yuan (aka, no internal GPS or mp3 player) so I spent under 500 instead.

In other news, one of the assistants from the International Office asked if I would be interested in a doing a photo shoot for a clothing company out of Hangzhou. I mean, it flattering to be starred at all the time because people think blonde hair and blue eyes are pretty, but I really don't understand it at all. Chinese people are beautiful. So maybe I'll be in some kind of Chinese internet ad. I'm talking to someone about it later today... it seems like an adventure either way.

A few days ago, I went with some girls to a yoga class downtown. Even though I couldn't understand 99.9% of what the instructor was saying, I at least knew when she was saying hands, fingers, feet, and toes. And was very sore the next day (I need to get some upper body strength or something..). Afterwards we went to a street with a bunch of restaurants. There was different food in the window and you could just point to what you wanted- so we had some potatoes (yes! so familiar) the green vegetable that's in everything - yesigh (good for health) bamboo sprouts. A friendly man next to us insisted I have another dish which is 'famous in Lin'an' (I've already had several dishes that share this title) which was wine with little shrimp things. Fresh shrimp. Like they literally had JUST put the shrimp into the wine, put a cover over it and they had drowned immediately before it was placed on the table. I really don't enjoy shrimp- period. I ate a few of the little ones. A picture of the spread from the evening is below.

Yesterday, I woke up at 3:30 AM to get to the bus station by 5 which is when we maybe thought the bus was leaving for Tian Mu Shan... although we were pretty sure the tuk tuk driver said it wasn't going tomorrow... well we were going to leave the city and do it before it was hot. Picked up some mantou from some people on the street (I dont think they ever sleep...) found out the bus station was closed, and took a cab to Tian Mu Shan (~sky tree mountain). 7 hours and 4000 vertical feet later, we were on the top of the peak. A class of students were there from Nanjing and insisted on taking pictures with me. Lots of history. Buddhist temples. Big trees (cousins to the redwoods in California I think) and over 10km of walking on steep steep slopes. I am so sore right now. Below is a picture of a current temple, complete with monks. There are little hand painted scenes all over, very pretty. The internet is only letting me post two photos, but I'll update my facebook album later. There was a temple higher up the mountain that people had been making pilgramiges to since 1200. Lots of history and pretty pristine forest wilderness.





Buddhist temple at base of mountain (currently doing restoration work)



Shrimp/wine specialty dish in downtown Lin'an. Bamboo shoots to left, sweet potatoes to right.

typhoon?

Student dorms, near my flat


At West Lake in Hangzhou. Notice starring Chinese man on moped. This, alas, was not the first time locals seemed to notice the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl.


The tower above Lin'an!


The tower on the hill, overlooking Lin'an

I love that I've know for the past week that hurricane Ike was going towards America, but last night over dinner I was very confused when suddenly I was told I needed to go home because there was a typhoon hitting Lin'an. Typhoon "Sinlaku" has been tearing up Taiwan pretty good and we've been having rain on and off for the past few days. Really, its nothing that different from when I arrived.. so when I was taken back to the apartment, Morten and I decided to turn around and hit the town.


First to some "posh" club downtown where they played Western pop music from about 7 years ago (Will Smith, an N*Sync video playing casually on a big-screen in the back). But then, suddenly, 9:00 rolled around and a bunch of girls came out and started dancing with fans. Then the techno music began and they took turns dancing on either side of the DJ. No clothes were shed, but it was quite racy. Then we moved on to another place where there was this constant strobe light and men everywhere dancing without shirts. No, trust me, probably not what you're thinking. It was around this point that I began to wonder if this was just so odd dream I was having. Why were there no toilets you could sit on? Why did they sell beer that was 1.9% alcohol? How come the only thing they had for a mixer was iced tea? How could Chinese people be so lean and yet eat mooncakes constantly for this festival which are about 800 calories each? What is the bell that sounds like a fire alarm / ice cream truck sound/ hellicopter sound outside my apartment?

The next day we went to the sweet tower on the hill above the city. The cab driver didn't know how to get there and after talking to an 8 year-old boy and following a gentleman with a camera we got to the top (after the man asked if he could take our picture). We walked back and had dinner at this tiny restaurant downtown. At the end of the meal we saw a woman take a chicken, shove it into a bucket of boiling water (in the sidewalk, directly in front of the restaurant) stir it around a bit, and then pluck all its feathers. Well, at least I know the chicken in my chou mian was fresh...


You know I am so glad I am here as long as I am, otherwise I don't know if I would ever believe that what I was seeing was actually real. Check out these and other photos from my last few adventures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2152130&l=eeb9e&id=59501215





Today I actually did some painting- slowly I think I'll make this place more homey. Painted over the weird brown stains, pulled the brown gob of hair and other blackness out of the drain (gag!!) threw away the random drawers that were in the corner of my room. I also borrowed Morten's bleach... I think that will help most. The paint was also oil-based, so I have no way of cleaning the brush- or even really my hands. But the paint is slowly wearing off. Graded some quizzes. Very productive day. I'm also trying to discover some Chinese artists.. here's the catchiest thing I've found so far (other than the "wo ai Beijing" olympic theme song) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlUIa4u8-oI

Alright, take care, stay in touch!

PS- Chinese music videos tend to have lyrics at the bottom so you can sing along at KTV's. I had my first experience at one a few days ago. When we do karaoke, we just kind of yell and usually are pretty drunk (memories of "sexy hott girl" singing Britney Spears in Cave Junction). Here- people are actually- like good at singing. Its kind of intimidating.

the legendary Chinese medical exam

I really need to type these more often because I've already forgotten things that happend several days ago.

Things are going well, in addition to being medically cleared to upgrade my visa, I had my first oral English class. It was SO fun! Things are so much more laid back when the point is just to talk- not just that- talk in ENGLISH!! Its like being transported thousands of miles away .. to a room of students who are trying to speak English. Actually, they are all pretty good. Some of them are extremely good. Better than a lot of the students who are majors in English (these are all minors). Plus, they are from much more diverse locations- Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang by Russia, all over.

Yesterday I went to Hangzhou for my medical exam. They gave me a piece of paper with my picture and I needed to find like seven different rooms on the first and second floors of the hospital so they could probe me, sample my pee, x-ray me, and hook up clamps to awkward locations and do... I really don't know what they were looking for, but apparently its okay... Then we went to the famed West Lake which was quite pretty and I throw some pictures up soon.

So, those Taiwan sausages from last entry. Definitely make your pee smell like Taiwan sausage the next day. Boy from the street has English far too poor for me to ever be able to attempt to see him on purpose again. In fact, I had begun to think that for some genetic reason boys simply were not able to speak fluent English until my Oral English class last night. Some of the majors are alright too. Otherwise, tonight I like this China. I actually stood next to one of my students on the bus back from the new campus so I had someone to talk to on the ride. Its just makes things so much more comfortable to be able to recognize a familiar face, yeah? And the girl who I met my first day is coming over tomorrow to make me something for the autumn festival.

Now to learn how to teach English while desperately trying to learn Chinese...

adventures from behind the language barrier

Yesterday marked another day in which I needed to adventure to the grocery store. My mentality again encouraged me to beeline to the same old supermarket and run back to my English haven of an apartment as quickly as possible and work on my lesson plans all afternoon- but once I actually got outside I felt a little more brave and set out towards a market further away where I could buy meat. Along the way, a boy was standing by a store front, greeted me with a hello, and offered me a little plastic card with a bunch of Chinese on it. I took it and kept walking. About a block further up the street I realized they were chasing after me so I stopped and asked them what the card was for and the boy asked where I was from. After a very brief exchange and me never finding out what the card was I said zai jian and went on my way.

About this time the light drizzle I'd been walking in developed into an all out rain so I whipped out my brand new Paradise umbrella I'd purchased the night before. Umbrellas are kind of a big deal. Girls always carry them when its sunny to try to keep their skin as light as possible (plus- its really hot in the sun!) so it ends up being a pretty big fashion accessory. Paradise is a famous umbrella company out of Hangzhou and the one I purchased is pretty simple - a irridescent green with sparkly flowers and butterflies on one side of it. Some had lace insets and much more elaborate patterns. Regardless I was ready for the showers yesterday.

After picking up some Taiwan sausage (a tiny, half stick of butter cost 11 yuan.. which would even be expensive in US currency) and my standard item which has no pictures or english which I can identify the contents of later, I ran into dude with the little cards again. "Hello!" "Hello, again!" "umm, what are you doing for dinner?" Well, I now have a random boy's phone number and I really can't tell anyone's age so I'd say he's somewhere between the ages of 13 and 30.

Later in the evening, some of the teachers here decided to go grab a beer. But we didn't know where we could get one. And this idea was "poorly communicated" to the cab driver. At least when we got back to the flat we already had a cold Tsingtao and a shitty English movie about pirates waiting.

"I'm not so starved for English I need to watch this horrible pirate film." -me
"Just you wait..." -Morten

18 years of schooling to be illiterate and mute

So, things have been going pretty well here. I had my first class and dinner downtown with some friendly English majors.

Class went pretty well, after racing through my material (which I thought would last the entire 100 minutes of class) it all worked out in the end. The night before, I met with the girl who had been so nice to me the first day I was here and her two roomates. We had dinner at this place with a burner in the middle of the table with a pot with water and a few vegetables inside. They picked a bunch of random items to throw in to cook periodically. It was very tastey- I really liked the toufu that was in three inch long strips. But there were also potatoes and I even picked up a tiny boiled egg with my chopsticks (which cramp my hands by the end of a meal).

Today I have off entirely and really had no incentive to leave the apartment- except I knew I needed groceries. I finally headed out the door, but now that I was on my own I realized how little I could really figure out on my own. I'd completely lost my safety net. Not only was I incapeable of saying any more to people other than "hello" and "thank you" I could not read what anything was once I got inside the store. I had my dictionary, so if I really wanted to I could've pointed to "apple" or something (which in fact is one word I do not need to look up..) but there were so many people working there and I didn't want to try and say anything to anyone, I just wanted to attempt to figure out what enough products were so I wouldnt have to come back to the store for a few days. I bought milk- mostly because it said "milk" on the package. Some of the crackers had appealing wrappers. The egg noodles had English instructions on the back. But then I went a little wild. I bought dumplings, without even knowing how the steamer works in my apartment.. or even if it truly is a steamer. I bought toufu, with full knowledge that some is spicy and some is sweet and I really didnt want it to be spicy. Well, these crisp sandwhich biscuits with milk(?) filling are pretty yummy. I also got this very popular herbal tea in a can I see advertized everywhere and have had twice at restaurants since I arrived.

The bottom line: I am going to learn Mandarin Chinese this afternoon.

NWA flight 25 has landed.

So all those cool little buttons at the top of this blog are definitely in Chinese now.. but after enough trial and error I have come across this screen.

With the extreme sleep deprivation that comes from a 12 hour flight surrounded by a 45 minute and 3 hour flight followed by a 2.5 hour car ride to the apartment (read: solid 28 hours sans sleep) my mentality was a constant flux of giddy-ness and "why the hell did I want to come here" and it was either one or the other.

On the plane, going to Japan, a man in front of me dropped his pillow behind the seat. I was, apparently, extremely engrossed in reading did not see the incident at all. He kept looking, I stayed oblivious, and eventually he said something in broken English. "Is that your pillow?" Is that your pillow? Come on now. I checked and sure enough I did have my pillow. I guess the point of this is I keep encountering people who are nice to the point of being excessive. Today I was walking back from the bus stop, totally lost, and asking strangers where the east gate was (which leads to my apartment.. which I barely recognize). The thing about not really knowing where you are going and meandering around here is you can not be discreet about the fact that your completely turned around. I know there are two other American girls with blonde hair somewhere on this campus working at a different college, but I certainly haven't seen them. Anyway, I asked a girl who was apparently on her way to the library and she said she was an English major. "We could be friends maybe?" "Ok!" Well, that was easy enough. Eventually I found my apartment and she stayed with me till I did.

We had a meeting early .. well "early".. this morning to get our schedules. I'm teaching two classes- pronounciation and American and British history. But pronounciation is all freshmen- all of whom are at military training until the first week in October. So that means for the first week I only have this history class- which apparently is really boring and teachers have trouble making it seem interesting. At least I have time to get over jet lag and adjust a little. Myles (a seasoned teacher here) is going grocery shopping with me tomorrow. And also to get a map of this town so I know where the hell I'm going. I got an extra bed sheet, some crackers, two rolls of toilet paper, some yogurt, and two small towels for the equivalent of about $11.

Its weird to have to buy all my potable water. Its very humid here, and I feel like I'm always in a light sweat. The air is much better here than Shanghai. It was definitely noticible from the moment I stepped off the plane. Makes your throat feel scratchy. The flight was delayed an hour coming out of Tokyo so my greeter, Zhu, was waiting a long time. He took me around some of town today to shop and see campus. The town is surrounded by mountains and there is a tower in the mountains you can see just outside the gate to old campus. Zhu didn't know the exact date, but said the tower was at least 800 years old. I will check it out someday- hopefully soon. I live on old campus and its a 5 minute bus ride to new campus where I teach. Its 1 yuan to get there (~$.15). Its- definitely interesting being the token blonde-haired blue-eyed girl. Well, that I've met so far. Well, there are a lot of interesting things. Like how you depend on pictures to indicate what different products are but the yogurt has a beautiful woman wearing a sparkly earring. I must be so annoying to shop with, I just constantly ask what everything is.

I wanted to get an adapter so I could plug in my laptop and after stopping in a computer store and waiting for the owner of the store to come out and Zhu and him having an extended conversation in Chinese I found out that my cord actually fits into Chinese outlets. How convienient.

Alright, now just waiting long enough for it to be an appropriate time to call home. Oh, and I brought some Dove chocolate over to help me buy friends with and what do you think the first thing is I get offered after I get off the plane? A small Dove chocolate candy.

startin' a blog, eh?

This last week has been non-stop wrapping up loose ends and taking in all that is Sauk County. Last night my mom and I went down to my cousin's barn, checked out his milking parlor and dipped some cow teats. Definitely had been awhile since I was really.. in a barn. Lots of motorcycling, typhoid vaccine pill taking. The combination of both is making me very tired. Today I'm going to begin packing, tomorrow go to Cave of the Mounds (now that I'm a cave expert) and that's pretty much it.

Keep checking for updates- I'll be posting soon!