Here are the photos

I just realized that my photos did not get posted.  Here they are.

More Hong Kong pics

These pictures don't really show Hong Kong.  The first one is of me trying to look unhappy for the camera.  The second one is me trying to look like the mannequins behind me.  I find it very funny.  I hope the person taking the picture got what they were trying to acheive with it. :)  I have to say that going to Hong Kong made it difficult to go back to the usual here.  I read somewhere that if you don't want to feel homesick you shouldn't compare the way things are now to what they were back home.  I was trying not to do that but now I find myself comparing things here to Hong Kong.  This only leads me to comparing things here with .....back home.  Here we go.  Yes I'm homesick.  I won't talk about it...at least not much.  Just one little complaint.  I get many stares here.  They are not always good.  Sometimes I get the stare that says "What are you doing here foreigner?  Go back to where you belong."  Maybe I'm projecting my feelings into that stare.  But how can I not help but feel out of place? 

 

Last Sunday I had it with the bus.  We were 15 minutes late to meet friends.  Then I had to sit on the back of a bike.  It was someone else's bike that Sam was using.  It was a girls bike and he was not that steady riding it.  I thought to myself: I feel too old to fall off this and not be really hurt.  So I got off the bike and told Sam we needed bikes asap.  We were actually really close to a store that sold bikes.  Some people may say we're brave to ride bikes in such a busy city with so many cars and people but I think sitting on the back of someone else's bike requires more courage.  Now at least I have control over my situation.  No more crowed buses making me late and no more closing my eyes and holding tight while someone else manuevers through traffic.  I'm a bit of a slow poke on my one speed but I enjoy the ride. 

 

A note about the recycling.  (You may recall from an earlier blog my issues with finding out what to do with my recycling.)  Some days ago I came down stairs holding a bag of cans, bottles, etc.  I planned on leaving it by the trash bin as I have been doing but on my way out the front door one of the women who takes care of the building grabbed my hand and the bag I was holding.  She pulled me close to her.  She looked like she was going to tell me a secret.  Then she said in a soft voice "blah blah you can sell it blah blah" (I use the blahs to fill in the words I didn't understand).  I said to her; "I can give it to you?"  She smiled and took the bag.  It felt like an exchange of valuable goods.  I was happy to get rid of it and she was happy to take it.  Now I just give my bag of recycling to whoever is on door duty at our building.  I actually think I'm making friends by doing it.  They seem delighted when I hand my bag of empty bottles and cans to them. 

 

 

Hong Kong and a convenient noodle

We are back from Hong Kong and I'm pleased to say we are happy to be home.  Don't get me wrong, I loved Hong Kong.  It was clean, well organized, people spoke good English, and it felt very western.  We saw lots of friends from back home.  It felt like a reunion.  We ate good food and talked about our current trials learning the language and culture.  I thought about all of our friends learning chinese back home.  Especially our cantonese speaking friends.  I felt like any minute I would turn a corner and see Nancy or Katherine speaking to a local.  I have a new appreciation for the Cantonese people.  Sam and I noticed that speaking mandarin with the Cantonese was actually easier than with a native mandarin speaker.  They speak slower and use simpler words.   We felt pretty good about our speaking ability....that is, until we got back here.  My only complaint would be that our stay in Hong Kong was too short and the train was too long.  Spending 30 hours on a train to get home is not my idea of a fun way to end a trip.  It took about 24 hours to get to Hong Kong and another 30 hours to come back.  Ugh.  I will spare you the details but lets just say the bathroom situation leaves much to be desired and there is no such thing as a "non-smoking" section even if there is a sign that says so. On the train people eat what we would call back home "cup of noodles" for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Here it is called 方便面 (fang bian mian) which literally means "convenient noodle".  It is very convenient too.  All you need is some hot water and you've got a meal. Because it is so popular here they have a large variety to choose from.  You can even have rice noodles with tofu! I had brought with us beef flavored convenient noodles but by the end I was wishing for my friend's chicken flavored rice noodles.  It was good to be with friends so we could keep ourselves entertained.  We played cards, told stories, and had fun with mad libs.  I was also able to see much of China's countryside.  I can now say for certain that China is a beautiful country...depending on where you go.  I saw so many places that looked like a picture in a travel book.  I only wish the train could have stopped in those areas so I could take some pictures.  I do have some pictures as you can see.  They are of us spending time in Hong Kong and on the train.  Enjoy! 

Sometimes I eat grass.....

I just finished calling the last child for my telephone english teaching job.  I was tired and irritated with the lesson but I got quite a laugh from the last little boy.  The lesson was about a girl named Rose who had some pigs.  She had a big white pig and smaller black pig.  The story says that she withheld grass from the white pig so she could feed the black pig first.  I had to ask the children questions about the story.  It was difficult for the children tonight.  I don't think they understood the story that well.  When I asked them questions about it there were many long pauses.  I threw in a couple of viewpoint questions just to see what they would say.  When I asked if they liked pigs most of the girls said yes while the boys said no.  After that I would ask them what the pigs ate.  They would reply: "grass" and then I would ask them if they ate grass.  They all said no except the last little boy.  After he said yes I asked him: "Do you like to eat grass?"  He replied: "I don't like to eat grass..(pause) but sometimes I eat a little."  I busted up laughing.  Hope you get a chuckle from it too.

Nothing beats a good massage

Last Friday was our 5 year anniversary.  We decided to celebrate with a two hour massage.  It was fabulous!  The first hour they massage your feet and legs then the second hour they do the rest of your body.  We both enjoyed the massage immensely.  We also enjoyed talking to the women who gave us our massage. I told them it was our anniversary.  When they asked if Sam had bought me flowers or chocolate I quickly said no but Sam corrected me and said "hai meiyou"(not yet).  I laughed because I knew he didn't have any plans of buying flowers.  In fact, I had to remind him many times that our anniversary was coming up.  One of the massage ladies also told Sam that he should touch my skin more because it was so pretty and white.  (Oh yes! I love the compliments and advice to my husband.)  Later that evening we had a nice dinner at a restaurant somewhat far from our house.  On our return home who should we see at our subway exit but two ladies selling flowers?!  What a break for Sam!  He told me to pick whatever ones I liked.  I felt even more stares than usual on the bus ride to our place.  Everyone was looking at the foreigner with the flowers. (Thats me.)  

 

Since the massage my sleep has been much improved.  I think my mood has improved also.  The night before we went I had my first real english class with 4 four year olds.  It was crazy!  One little girl incited the rest to total chaos.  She would say "I'm tired.  When is class over?".  Then she would run around saying "class over, class over!"  The other children would join in until I distracted them with some game or song.  She also felt the need to hit whatever book or flashcard I was holding. So, of course everyone else did it too.  It was a two hour class but it felt like a whole day of work.  I want to teach the children english but it seems like I might need to start with some discipline.  Sam is doing his first class tonight.  I can't wait to ask him how it went. 

Look at the foreigner

The latest update is that we found a job that might actually work out for us.  Its not perfect, but honestly, I'm sick of going on interviews.  They take up the whole day and at the end I usually feel like it was a huge waste of my time.  Last Thursday we went on one that seemed like a happy place to work.  Let's just say I had a good feeling when I walked in the door.  Its teaching 3-6 year olds English but its not a kindergarten.  Its more like an afterschool program or a preschool.  They want me to teach a new class they are working on called "Baby sign".  It teaches babies to use sign language.  It looks like fun except they use English sign language instead of American sign language.  I already know some American sign language so it may be harder for me to forget what I know than to learn from scratch.  But we sing songs and the parents are with their child so I think I will enjoy it.  I start teaching at the school this Thursday.  Sam will start a little later.

 

After my last entry you would think I would have slowed down but I couldn't.  We had that interview on Thursday and we had invited friends over Friday night so even though I got a slight sore throat I continued at my usual pace.  By Saturday afternoon I was totally sick with a cold.  This Monday is a holiday here so we don't have school today. (Its Monday here)  I'm trying to rest up because we have another busy week ahead of us.    Last night I couldn't stand being in the house any longer so I decided to treat myself to a manicure.  It was fun.  Right off the bat the girls doing nails started to talk about me.  Its funny the way people talk about you right in front of you.  Then they act surprised when you can understand.  I wonder why they are suprised.  Back home if I see a person obviously not from America I don't automatically assume they can't speak english or that they won't understand anything I say.  And can you imagine nudging the person next to you and saying "hey look at the foreigner".  It sounds funny but that is what happens here to me almost everytime I walk out the door.  I suppose there are a lot of foreigners here who never bother to learn the language.  I however am not one of them, so when a person starts talking about me I just join the conversation...if I can.  The girls at the nail place were talking about how white I am so I told them how in America its not considered beautiful to be as white as me.  (Before you think to yourself that what I say is not true.  Think about how many tanning salons you see on a regular basis where you live.  So far, I haven't seen one tanning salon in China.)  The girls looked at me and said "you can speak chinese?"  I replied that I speak a little and from that point on they spoke to me and not just about me.  It was fun listening to them talk to eachother and seeing what I could understand.  They really were impressed by my white skin.  They told me any color would look good on me because I am so white.  I find that really funny after years of being embarrassed by my white legs.  Lets see what comments I get when I wear shorts.