March Madness

(Note: Due to the work schedule/ too much time spent having fun on part of the author, blog posts about January/ February travels will be posted later)

So the month of March got off to a somewhat rocky start with the theft of my cell phone. However, things have improved significantly: last weekend I visited Xiamen and this weekend I am flying to Hong Kong for the Rugby Sevens. And yes, I do work full-time.

The real world means growing up and penning new chapters of life. My best friend from college started a new chapter of her life last week with the birth of her son. My younger sister started a new chapter when she scored her first job in the hospitality industry, thereby achieving a long-term goal of hers. I love experiencing the real world as an expat, but it means that I often miss out on life-changing events of loved ones.

The real world also means getting to spend your hard earned money on fun things, like bills (not) and weekend trips. A girlfriend and I hopped on a fast train this weekend and watched the countryside flash by in-between marking physics papers and glasses of wine. Our destination: Xiamen, an island city with about 5,000 foreigners.

Xiamen is bit more international than where I live and houses corporate giants like Boeing, Dell, Coca-Cola and GE. The city has been given the unofficial title of being the most attractive city in the Fujian province; it is filled with delightful colonial architecture and a pleasant vibe that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Also unique to Xiamen is a strong western pub presence- the main draw for our visit during St. Patrick’s Day.

We occupied ourselves during St. Patty’s day with a trip to Gulang Yu, a smaller island off the coast of Xiamen reachable by ferry. Xiamen was forced to become a port city during China’s loss in the first Opium War and the Gulang Yu also reflects the British influence through beautiful Victorian architecture. My friend and I enjoyed lunch on the porch of a beautiful courtyard restaurant and spent the day exploring the island by foot. I received the distinction of being the only person to swim in the ocean among a beach full of people clad head to toe in clothes on 80-degree day.

My friend and I crammed ourselves back onto the ferry and, to our dismay, discovered a huge wreck back on the main island of Xiamen. We were told that there were no cabs going anywhere. Refusing to give up our corned beef and cabbage dinner plans at a local Mexican restaurant, we headed towards a back street in search of a taxi.

This side trip resulted in one of the most interesting and disgusting scenes I have witnessed during my time in China. I have seen a lot of things in my time in the Orient, including fish heads splayed on blocks off ice at the local Sam’s. The moment I turned the corner to see a row full of dead chickens dripping on live fowl while a woman covered in innards plucked the feathers and sliced open a squawking, live bird takes the cake.

That night, I enjoyed margaritas and the best corned beef and cabbage I have had in my life, which is saying something as I come from an Irish-American family. The next day as I boarded the fast train, I couldn’t help but think about how much I loved Xiamen. It has a very international feel and a plethora of expats, all of whom were very interesting and have a unique story to tell. I can’t wait to go back and explore more. Well, maybe no more meat markets. 再见

Guilin, Day 3

So our last day in Guilin was split between exploring Seven Stars Park (七星岩) and taking part in some R&R at the hotel. 七星岩 is one of China's original tourist destinations (besides that long wall thing, of course) and has been on the vacation itinerary of both President Clinton and Nixon. The sign at the front of the park promises visitors a chance to see wild monkeys while simultaneously warning guests to keep their distance.

And we did. See monkeys that is.

Monday Update

Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready to get back to the grind/finished one day back at the grind for my friends in Asia and Oz. My kids are getting antsy from all the rain here and I caught several hormonal teenagers surfing a smut site on their phones in my class. Despite my daily frustrations towards internet censorship here, I am hoping that this site will be blocked in the next week or two.

Speaking of taking away cell phones, it's been over a week and the police still have not apprehended my cellphone stealing, bike thieves. In country of 3.2 billion people I am not surprised. As of Sunday, I have a new phone. It looks like this:

Above: Michael Douglas in the 1987 classic 'Wall Street.' Coincidently, I had been told twice last week that my father looked like Gordon Gecko.

My mobile's not actually that bad; I'll survive. Happy Monday.

The Real World Sucks?

Sometimes, the real world sucks.

But it can also be downright fabulous. I just got back from a four week vacation (ok, real world for teachers) during which I purchased the new iPhone 4s. Let me tell you, it is worth every hundred. The best feature is the iMessage option, which allows you to send free texts to other 4s models worldwide. That, along with Facetime and Skype, make staying in-touch abroad extremely convenient.

Today, as I zipped along on my e-bike, I felt a tug on my earphones and my Chinese language tape suddenly stopped. I looked down and realized that my phone had dislodged from my coat pocket. Quickly breaking to a halt, I looked backwards but failed to spot my phone. Still on my bike, I looked to a man and several people walking next to me and asked if they had seen my phone. Although none of them spoke English (shocker), they pointed ahead just in time for me to see two young men on a illegal street bike swerve and right themselves. They continued to gesture furiously and it suddenly clicked that these men had just stolen my phone.

Although the moment from theft to realization had taken less than 25 seconds, my disbelief and slow reaction time provided enough opportunity for them to escape (this is why I am bad at sports and video games).

I sped to the next intersection and frantically asked the policeman (every major intersection has a traffic guard, check out the driving and you will understand why) and all around if anyone could speak English. A Chinese man in his late twenties told me that he could speak English and I hurriedly explained the situation. He called the police station and we went into a nearby bank to wait for someone to arrive.

The man introduced himself to me as King and assured me that he didn't mind waiting with me since he telecommuted to work in Fenton, Michigan. I relayed the entire situation, or what I could remember since it had all happened so quickly. A cop car finally arrived and drove 'the King and I' (sorry, I couldn't help it) to the nearest police station. After giving my statement and signing it with my John Hancock and 5 thumbprints (yeah, they do that) we were whisked off to the main police station for further red tape.

The next time someone says something bad about the Chinese government, I will punch them in the face. Seriously though, my experience with the Chinese police force was nothing less than awesome. When my good samaritan and I walked into the station, we were met by two officers which quickly grew to 10. Everyone was eager to help me and gave me kleenex, water and use of the internet on their official computers. They checked the facts of my situation and called another department to make sure that someone else didn't need to be involved too since I was a foreigner.

The policemen helped me call my cell phone company and threw their weight around when they refused to cancel my sim card without a physical copy of my passport. The officers asked King what I did in China. They were shocked when they heard all the subjects that I taught and were even more surprised when they learned that I taught Physics.... to Chinese students... in English. They asked what I studied in school and how I found my job. King was a bit confused himself when I explained that I majored in Advertising and Public Relations but he rolled with it.

As it neared lunch time, they asked my new friend and I if we wanted to leave or join them in the canteen. Knowing that they fully expected me to reject their offer, I shocked them all by accepting. Five police guards proudly escorted me to the cafeteria and I enjoyed a meal that far out passed my greasy school lunches.

I had full run of the police station all afternoon and explored the various rooms (my favorite was a room labeled 'sober-up room' with beds) and courtyards. I am upset that I wasn't able to take pictures of the facilities (they only allowed one in the cafeteria) because it was by far the cleanest building I have seen in China, surpassing the hospitals by far.

=I would be lying if I said today was a great day. It sucked. After waiting a month to get my hands on the new iPhone, it was stolen from me and I will not be able to replace it. But I gained a new friend, got to eat lunch with the city's finest and experience a level of cleanliness that I didn't think existed in this country. So although I am still truly upset about losing my mobile security blanket and the constant contact with my loved ones back home, the real world does not suck overall. My problems are first world problems and, who knows, maybe someone reading this will buy me an iPhone. Any interested parties can feel free to e-mail me. 再见