American Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
This was my first Thanksgiving after returning from my year in China, and it was thoroughly enjoyable. In Shenzhen, I forgot about Fall. I forgot that leaves change color and fall on your lawn, so I nearly drove off the road seeing a neighbor's yard covered in bright orange leaves. I never realized how much I missed the colorful leaves.
Luckily I remembered the American Fall, so the actual holiday was not too shocking. I watched the entire Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with all the balloons and pretty floats. Then, the more unofficial celebration, the Purina dog show. My family and I commented on the dogs, especially the bulldogs.
As with every other American holiday, Thanksgiving revolves around food. My family is no exception. The only difference is that we do not bust our butts attempting to create a spread that would make Martha Stewart jealous. I feel that one should always be allowed to relax and ‘let one’s hair down’ when surrounded by family. Within reason, of course. The best part was Grandma’s sweet potatoes. Even though my Chinese Thanksgiving was fun, nothing can beat an American Thanksgiving. Food and family can be present in any country, but what China lacked was the atmosphere. Around Thanksgiving in the United States, we all emit good feelings about the upcoming holiday, which changes the mood of everyone around. In China I failed to discover a mind-control technique to make Chinese about me to feel the holiday.
Now it’s time to get ready for Christmas. Thanksgiving was not even over before I saw my first Christmas ad (during the Macy’s Parade no less).

Unemployed, but Still Active

I am still looking for a job, but I refuse to get too discouraged. Many people are in worse straits than I. Who else is lucky enough to have parents who do not charge rent or food money to their child tenant? However, the lack of a 9 to 5 job does tempt me not to do much. It is very easy to become lazy and idle, which is why I help keep the house tidy. Finally, my vacuuming skills are valuable! Dust bunnies beware (or hide where I cannot reach). With Mom's help, I am continuing an unofficial form of education. We are taking an online Harvard course on "the history, philosophy, and literature of childhood," where we listen to various interpretations and historical backgrounds of children's books. 'Lolita' to 'Little Red Riding Hood.' Even 'Goodnight Moon,' which I still have a copy of. Mom pulled out her French fairy tales from our library, but I cannot understand any of it.
Lately, I have lectured twice about my experiences in Shenzhen at the Asian American Forum and my former high school. I spoke about China's educational system and the life of foreigners in China. The high school students were shocked by the intense and strict schedule my students at SZ2G dealt with. SZEG students woke up at 6:30 AM and went to bed at 10:40 PM; the time in between is organized into sections offering little free time. American high school students have some freedom to decide parts of their daily schedules. The students also liked the different foods I showed (Modern Toilet and Beijing's snack street). More of them want to visit China, partly for the food.

FSO

After two weeks of intense study and even more weeks of worrying, I took the FSO (Foreign Service Officer) Exam on Monday October 5th. This was the first step towards my dream of working for the State Department.
The State Department is crafty. They want to scare you pantless suggesting all the subjects you should be familiar with. The site tells you (more intelligently) that you will be tested on everything that ever happened in the history of ever. And yet I know I would never be asked about cartoons and comic books, which is knowledge discrimination. If you want to impress a Japanese official, you should know something about ガンダムor at least Miyazaki.
Despite these psychological attacks, I still took it. To my surprise, it was easier than I expected. Granted I took LSAT tests and exercises for two weeks.
Now I play the waiting game, 3-5 weeks to hear if I passed the test or not.

国庆60周年!

Let me start by saying Happy Birthday, China.
At 10pm on Sept. 30th, I watched CCTV 4’s broadcast of National Day. I witnessed organization that Americans are incapable of. The soldiers were lined up ever so nicely; they looked like clones. Soldiers were the same height, had the same clothes, and stood the same way. One of the interesting sections was the women’s militia (女兵) who wore magenta outfits with white go-go boots and berets.
The ceremony started, of course, with the national anthem and flag raising. Then Hu Jintao gave a speech full of Party buzzwords. After that, he gave the military review. Hu poked his upper body out of a sunroof of a Chinese Red Flag limo with four microphones in front. I kept expecting him to through a pie or start dancing; he looked too serious for his own good. As he was driven past the troops and tanks, he stoically greeted his comrades.
Once the military review ended, the military parade began where the tanks and troops marched past Tiananmen Square. It was amazingly frightening and frighteningly amazing. The soldiers marched in step, and even the vehicles were ‘in step.’
Floats for each province and region and ministerial department followed the military parade. I saw floats from Guangdong Province (广东加油), Macau, and Beijing. Other floats included energy, transportation, physical education, and the Olympics. Following the Olympics float was the 同一个世界 float, featuring foreigners. While the Chinese all looked, dressed, and acted the same, the foreigners looked disorganized and messy. Their costumes were different, as were their ethnicities and heights.
In Tiananmen Square was a crowd of people lined up holding various colored fans used to create phrases seen from above like “热爱人民,” “服务人民,” and “社会主义好.” I felt smart recognizing and translating the phrases, even though they were simple. The people changed the colored fans simultaneously. I found the fact that so many people moved as one without relaxing for hours amazing.
At 8am on October 1st, Americans could watch the evening concert. China’s national celebration lasted half a day! Of the singers, I only recognized Jackie Chan, who has a moustache that does not suit him. During the day I saw soldiers, people on floats, people by floats, fan people, dancers, singers, and musicians. At night there were even MORE people: singers and dancers. I half expected the participants equaled the population of Beijing.

Parent's Visit

I was back in Shenzhen for several days before Mom and Dad arrived. I officially left SZ2G (第二高级中学) and began my reentry to Western society. I stayed at a Western hotel, watched Western tv, and ate Western food. I still surrounded myself with Asians. The only culture shock I experienced was the discomfort being around Westerners and non-Asians. Even the Westerners in Hong Kong, the small number of them, made me uncomfortable; I was tempted to return to Shenzhen with all my Chinese friends.

Inner China Trip (Chengdu, Beijing)

To celebrate a year of living in China, Ben and I decided to see what China had to offer within its borders. With our backpacks we boarded a train from Guangzhou to Chengdu and experienced the wonder of sleeper cars. After the 37 hour hard seat(硬座) train trip, we made certain to purchase hard sleeper (硬床) tickets. Oh, the glorious comfort! We had a cot with a pillow and fluffy blanket. It made the 29 hour train bearable.
In Chengdu (成都), I never saw destruction or rebuilding even though it was barely a year after the devastating earthquake. The highlight of Chengdu was that I touched a giant panda (大熊猫). I wore booties and a glove on my right hand. Mr. Panda was more interested in eating an apple than in whatever I did.
We stayed only a few days before moving onto Beijing (北京). 35 hours - not the express, obviously. How I had missed Beijing! The accent and feel of the city were comforting. We stayed in a hostel in a hutong (胡同) near Qianmen (前门).
I experienced something in Beijing that proved why it is my favorite city in China: normalcy. I am not oblivious to the fact that being a Westerner who speaks Mandarin makes me an oddity worthy of staring. However, I am not shocked beyond words when Asians speak a Western language. Ben and I ate lunch at a small restaurant. To my delight, no one stared at us in shock or amazement. No one was startled when we spoke Chinese. At that instant, I was a normal individual in China; it felt like I was accepted.
This was my fourth time in Beijing, and hopefully not my last. So I acted as a guide for Ben at the typical tourist spots: Tiananmen （天安门），Forbidden City (故宫), Temple of Heaven (天坛), Beihai Park (北海公园), Lama Temple (雍和宫), Great Wall (长城). I could describe each place in detail, but there are tourist websites for that. However, I will give one story about the Great Wall. Ben and I haggled for a personal driver to take us to the Great Wall and only that. He picked up two other passengers, and instead of driving straight to the Great Wall we kept stopping or driving past small Ming Dynasty stuff. We complained to the driver. Unfortunately, we made a big foreigner stink, but it worked. Next stop 长城. We climbed for over an hour. In the parking lot was what I wanted to see, a camel. In 1993, my first trip I rode a camel by the Great Wall. It took me 16 years to reenact it. Little Li-Li got her picture taken on a camel. My year in China ended the way my first trip began.

Last Week!

This is my last week as an English teacher in Shenzhen. I will never see my students again. I will miss them, even the ones that really annoy me. I have no idea if I helped their English or not. For the students in the back of the class, I do not think I had any effect. I hope I can stay in touch with some of them.

Dragon Boats and Spaceships

Over the Dragon Boat Festival (May 28th-29th), I saw Star Trek. On the actual festival day, the 28th, Ben, Alaina, and I went to Hong Kong to watch the races at Stanley Beach. The beach was FULL of racers and watchers. There was hardly enough room to move. It was great to be around other foreigners. I heard so many different languages, like French and German. The races themselves were short, so we saw many races. Everyone had a great time. We watched a few more races after it started to rain, but then we decided getting wet was not fun. And what better way to spend a rainy day than sitting in a movie theater?
Star Trek was a fantastic movie! We three were surrounded by Chinese. The movie had Chinese subtitles, but just like another film, something was “lost in translation.” When we Americans laughed, the Chinese looked unfazed. I guess we laughed too much or too loudly because the Chinese started to watch us. They looked confused at what we found laughable. (Spoiler Alert!) When McCoy asked Spock if he were out of his mind, the subtitles read, “你的脑子进水了吗?” or “Did you brain enter water?” I laughed at the translation; the Chinese did not. Maybe Chinese do not show their emotions in public, even if it is a dark movie theater.

China Vagina Monologues

On May 22nd, I saw The Vagina Monologues in Shekou, Shenzhen’s foreigner haven. I had not seen the play since college, so it was a nice reminder of American life. However, I am so used to being surrounded by Chinese, I was afraid of being around foreigners. I am not like the Shekou foreigners because I do not make much money or live in Shekou splendor. Foreigners in Shekou appear to isolate themselves from the Chinese population, which the play only encouraged. We foreigners isolated ourselves in a foreign restaurant watching a foreign play with foreign actresses in a part of Shenzhen dominated by foreigners. That is foreign! The play was dinner and a show, and the food was also foreign: Thai, Indian, Irish, etc. Even though I shut myself off from Chinese culture for a night, it was a nice change from constant China in Xili.

The Bay of Sick Pigs

One of Ben’s friends came to visit during the swine flu ‘pandemic.’ As an American, he was a potential virus carrier and destroyer of society’s precious health. The school and education bureau knew that he was visiting, but they were slow to act on it.
I understand the fear China has with any virus. With its dense population, a virus can easily spread, especially when the people do not wash their hands with soap. Hong Kong cleans more public places. Shenzhen, on the other hand, only uses a health form. I have yet to see any sanitation precautions. On each side of the border with Hong Kong, there are tables for more extensive questioning and health examinations. One of the health form checkers mistook the “M” in “Mainland China” as “Mexico,” so he sent a friend to more questioning. That woman read “Mainland” and not “Mexico,” and had a great look of ‘my coworker is so clueless.’ China needs to teach those checkers how to recognize countries in English.
Now back to Ben’s friend. After four days of him staying at the school, he was told to minimize his contact with the students. He already had attended classes and students wanted to meet the new foreigner. He was allowed to live in the dorm, eat with the teachers, and sit in the teachers’ office, which confused me. It was okay for him to possibly infect the teachers (who would thereby infect students), but it was not okay to be in direct contact with the students. He was also allowed to hang out with Ben and me, so he could possibly infect us, and we come in contact with the students. It seemed like a failed attempt to have complete control, like the rules were half-done.
I am proud to say that my school has no cases of swine flu. The only visible signs of precaution are temperature checks at the school gate and ultraviolet in the classrooms. The guards check everyone’s temperature with a temperature gun they point at your forehead. It is a new toy for those bored guards; I am glad they have some fun randomly pointing the gun at each other. At night ultraviolet lights are turned on to sterilize the classrooms.

Minsk World

A week after my birthday, we visited Minsk World, a park highlighting a Soviet aircraft carrier given to China as a gift. The ship is in Yantian, on the other side of Shenzhen from Xili. There were also Soviet planes, cannons, and a helicopter, even old and fake missiles and other weapons. It has been awhile since I’ve seen military equipment. We walked all through the ship, top to bottom, stem to stern. We could venture basically anywhere. At the end of our tour, we saw a musical performance. It may have been an audition because numbers were called and performers were in the audience. Some of the performances were military related with dancers dressed as sailors or soldiers. On a military ship, it made sense.

My First Chinese Birthday

(Note: I apologize for taking so long to update anything on this blog, but a few days after my birthday, China started blocking Blogger. I do not know why, but even proxys would not let me log on until now. For fear of writing something rude I will just write my blog now.) I spent my birthday in China, but not just China…Hong Kong Disney! It was the ‘magic kingdom’ because we left Chinese society and briefly visited Western civilization. I love Chinese life, but bless its heart it can be disgusting. At Disney, there was no spitting; it felt and looked and was clean. I know not all of China is as dirty as Xili, but when Chinese do not touch food with their bare hands you develop an idea that all of China is the same.
Anyway, we took the numerous subways to the Disney rail, where the car windows and handlebars were in the shape of Mickey’s ears. As you lounged on the plush seats, you saw statues of famous Disney cartoon characters.
I was super excited. Not only was I jumping up and down like a pogo stick, I also had a smile plastered on my face. I wonder if anyone thought I had a problem. NOT ONE CHILD looked excited to be at Disneyland. I did not see smiles of any kind. Chinese need to learn to display their happiness; otherwise we Westerners will constantly think they are unhappy. As we alit the train, we heard Disney songs. It was comforting not to hear C-pop (Chinese pop music); my ears can only take so much of sappy-sounding love songs. China should develop its rock music selection, but that’s a blog for another day.
Hong Kong Disney was a copy of Disneyland in the US. There was Main Street, USA, Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, and Adventureland. I experienced brief culture shock at the entrance with Main Street, USA, which is reminiscent of the Old West. I saw old, Western buildings that were not apartments. They were homes! China does not have houses, only apartments.
Since we arrived around lunchtime, we ate a wonderfully delicious, horribly expensive lunch. I ate fried chicken and fries and Coke. What could be more American than that? And this was real fried chicken, not a misguided Chinese version.
Then it was time for rides. Space Mountain was so much fun. Like any other ride at a Western amusement park, you get your photo taken at the end, which we made sure to pose for. The line for Space Mountain was almost non-existent because roller coasters are moving rides, which can easily make Chinese ill. We even got a piece of paper warning us about this “roller coaster type ride.” It did not stop us Americans. ^_^
I will not bore you all with tales of every single ride, but I want to tell you about the Lion King musical performance. Rafiki, Scar and Simba were played by black people! Blacks are a novelty in China. I have to point them out in China because they are near impossible to see in Shenzhen. I expected the whole cast to be Chinese because it was Hong Kong after all.
After spending the day at the wonderful world of Disney, I think I can survive the next few months in China. Disney offered a nice respite from Chinese society and culture. I believe that when you live in a different country, you should surround yourself with the culture and society. However, there should ALWAYS be places to go that remind you of home. McDonald’s does not cut it.

Earthquake Anniversary

Some of you dear readers may be interested what my school did to remember (or as my coworkers say, 'to memory') the earthquake in Sichuan on May 12th. Well, I will put your questions to rest.
On Tuesday evening, one of the students read a speech that was broadcast over the school p.a. system. There was no moment of silence, like at another nearby school.
Sadly, I cannot tell you what the speech was about because no one told us foreign teachers about it. We went out that evening for dinner, so we COMPLETELY missed the speech. I am a bit miffed that I did not get a chance to listen and analyze the speech. I am sure it was full of Party propaganda with many buzzwords, but I will never be sure.
I wonder how the country will remember the earthquake next year. Maybe the government will allow the parents to visit the schools that became the graves for their children.

Why Live in Shenzhen When Xiamen is so Beautiful?

This blog entry chronologically happened before the blog about the Sichuan earthquake anniversary, but it took longer to finish this one.
Over May Day (International Workers Day),a holiday in China that the US does not celebrate in any other way but work, Alaina, Ben, and I went to Xiamen. Xiamen is in Fujian Provence, which is famous for tea. You can easily see five tea shops on one side of a block! As a lover of tea, I was in heaven.
Our adventure began with a half-day bus ride. (There was a lot of traffic.) Our hotel room ended up being a fantastically huge deluxe suite: king size bed, two bathrooms, a bidet, and a hottub. If any of you feel the pangs of jealousy, do not deny those feelings. It was a perfect fluke.
If anyone gets a chance to visit Xiamen, one of the most popular tourist spots in Gulangyu Island. The island is covered in plants and trees. Hidden within the green are Western style buildings. There are old consulates and government buildings, even a Catholic Church. The island also has hotels, cafes, restaurants, an aquarium, and little shops. The island was like a small society. The consulates are all abandoned, as are most of the government buildings. The former Japanese consulate building has plants growing up it. (I wonder why China did not treat a Japanese government building with more respect.) You have to ride a ferry to Gulangyu, but it is relaxing. Plus the entertainment factor of watching Chinese scurry to rent binoculars to see buildings and statues visible to the naked eye is worth it.
Now I have been in Shenzhen for many months, and the visit to Xiamen made me rethink returning to Shenzhen. The climate of Xiamen is much cooler and not as humid as Shenzhen. It was so wonderful, I did not want to return to Shenzhen to teach.

Sports Meeting

That is what the school called Sports Day (运动会), which was last Thursday and Friday. Instead of teaching, I sat on the sidelines and cheered for my students and fellow teachers. A track meet would be the best American equivalent. There were relays and sprints, long jump and high jump. As soon as students crossed the finish line for the running events, they would collapse in a display of melodramatic exhaustion. Then a medical team comprised of student volunteers in white lab coats and red arm bands would run over and rub tiger balm on legs. Some students were carried away in stretchers. Either the students refuse to stretch properly before running a mile (stupid) or they want the attention. The students who lost races definitely fell down, but I suspect it was to save face. If you show your classmates that you expunged every ounce of energy in your body, then no one can be mad that you lost.
There was one event where I think students actually were hurt, the 11-legged foot race. Ten students from each class race with their ankles tied together. Some groups did not fall at all. When they did, it was a domino effect. Some girls did the splits.
It was great to spend time with my students outside of class. They looked a little more relaxed. Each class, including the head teachers, wore class t-shirts with a class logo. They were great. I think the students really enjoyed not wearing the school uniform. Even though the students were outside at the soccer field, they still lacked freedom. The classes had to document when a student left the classes' area in the stands and where a student went and when a student returned.
On Thursday afternoon, there was an opening ceremony for Sports Day, even though the competitions started that morning. The ceremony mimicked that of the Beijing Olympics. The flags came out, followed by groups of marching students. Once the marchers got in front of the area with school administrators, they began to goose-step and shout how much they loved the school. After the marching, the students, in lines, demonstrated their morning exercise and military exercise. It was amazing and frightening to see 1,600 students all move together. That could never happen at my high school, which other teachers did not understand. The students moved together, but you could feel the apathy oozing from them. A handful were energetic during the exercises. Basically, they were going through the motions.
Overall it was a great experience. It was good for the students to do something besides sit in class; it broke up the monotony.

International Women's Day

Even though International Women's Day was on March 8th, my school celebrated it on March 14th by taking all of the female teachers to OCT East. I would love American businesses to take their female workers out for a fun day. It brings coworkers together and it is completely not work-related. OCT East is a resort park with a European theme as imagined by the Chinese.
I have been to OCT East before, and then my inner anthropologist had a great time looking at the architecture. Again I enjoyed seeing what China saw as European culture. In addition, there was an American part to the park that combined all of the Indian tribes in North America. I saw totem poles (from the Northwest) with carved jaguars (Meso-America). Next to the totem area was a building with a cow skull that looked like it came from a Texas desert.
Even though I had been to OCT East before, I had not walked around the Wetland Garden area. The resort built a wetland/marsh area next to a flower garden. The amount of greenery was amazing for anywhere in China. You could smell fresh flowers and feel live plants. Xili consists of dust; vegetation is unheard of. The Garden included a botanical garden with a butterfly enclosure. My American brain interpreted butterfly area as a place to see them flutter around you. Oh, boy, was I wrong! The butterflies were all dead and mounted on display. Trust China to opt for killing something instead of letting it fly around.
Our excursion to OCT East ended with a dance performance. The last time I went I saw part of the performance from back stage. It is better sitting in the audience. The performance was an artistic display of tea with Russian and Chinese dancers. They were tea leaves going into the teapot, the water in the pot, the fire heating the pot. Some even became teapots. Tapdancing teapots (Asian and European styles) were hilarious.
After the performance, all of the teachers went to a seafood restaurant on a wharf for dinner. There is no better place for good, fresh seafood than a restaurant on the water.

A Quick American Visit

Most of you know (through Facebook or actually talking with me) I was in Dallas this past weekend. I was only in Texas for 36 hours! That was the quickest trip I have ever made. However, I am so happy I made such a journey.
I went to a best friend's wedding.
I saw my Mom and my uncles.
I saw best friends.
I spoke English without needing to slow or dumb down the language.
I ate American food. Chinese food was forbidden that weekend. I did not get to eat Tex-Mex, but at least I did not eat stinky tofu.
I had a wonderful, albeit short, break from Asia. I went to a part of the world where Pizza Hut is not a fancy restaurant and McDonald's is never international food.
I flew two airlines, Cathay Pacific over the Pacific, and American Airlines to Dallas. It may have been the difference between international and domestic that was so prominent, but these two airlines were VERY different. I flew Economy with Cathay Pacific, and the alcohol was FREE. Does it make you feel old when you remember it being free on US flights? The flight attendents were also nice. How rare is that nowadays? They happily got you a cup of water. I have to point out that the crew on the flight back to Hong Kong lacked this kindness. Maybe they were not the Hong Kong-based crew.
The crew on American Airlines also lacked such hospitality. At least the flight from SFO to DFW was not 12 hours long. I was unconscious for most of the flight to Texas.
The wedding and reception quickly ended and I had to repack my bag and fly back to China. I did not want to go back to China. This trip reminded me about what life in the States was like, and I missed it. I am glad I am living in a different country, but I cannot wait until I can be back home. China has helped me appreciate the US.

Meals on Toilets...Take That Meals on Wheels

This past Friday I ate dinner out of a toilet and drank out of a urinal while sitting on a toilet. In Dongmen, one of the biggest shopping areas in Shenzhen, there is a restaurant called the Modern Toilet Restaurant. If you want to test your Chinese, the website is www.m-toilet.com. This is a Taiwanese restaurant with a toilet theme. The chairs are Western toilets, and the light fixtures are urinals and piles of poop. There are also cute and cuddly, smiling, stuffed poos.
The seven of us took a lot of photos with our strangely-shaped bowls and plates. We also made a lot of poo-related jokes. Who could resist when your chocolate ice cream arrives in a pink urinal with bits of frozen corn on it? (See the photo.) For those of you who are curious, corn should never be added to ice cream. It does not make dessert taste better.
One note I want to make is that at Modern Toilet you sit on Western toilets but the actual toilets are Chinese style (squatty pottys). The Chinese will eat while sitting on our toilets, but they will not crap in them. I do not think it costs that much more money to install functioning toilets. The restaurant had to special order poo-shaped light fixtures anyway.

Photobucket Album

Harbin

Photobucket Album

The Long Awaited Second Vacation Installment - Heat

After a month-long hiatus from blogging, I have returned to China with a load of photos, many experiences, and four new countries to my list. AnnaRae, Ashlee, Ben and I traveled to Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
This was my first experience with Southeast Asia since my focus has been East Asia. I will not bore you with an in-depth retelling of my travels, so do not worry.
In Thailand we did the typical travel that I am used to, seeing as much as I can. We went to a lot of places in three days: Grand Palace, floating market, tiger temple, snake farm, temples, museums, and the bridge over the River Kwai. Not only did I see the bridge, but I also walked across it. I visited the prison museum nearby that showed the living conditions for the POWs.
The Thai love their king; the country is full of his picture. There are more pictures than tuk tuks, and the streets are full of tuk tuks. Tuk tuks are motorized pedicabs with roofs. The Thai also are laid back and helpful. Sometimes, they offer help a bit too insistently.
Our entrance to Cambodia is something I will never forget. We woke up before the sun rose to take a bus several hours. The bus could not drop us off at the border itself, so we took tuk tuks to the border. It would be easy to walk across the border, if not for the corrupt visa men at the border. We haggled for the cost of a visa because they refused to abide by the sign. To put it simply, I was pissed that I could not stop such corrupt behavior. Between the Thailand/Cambodia border are casinos. Apparently, the Thai go there, the no-man's-land, to gamble.
The best word to describe the ride from the border to Siem Reap is dust. Most of the roads and bridges were being constructed as we drove across. We drove across a road as it was being paved. We stayed at an Irish pub and guesthouse in Siem Reap. I ate yummy Irish cuisine (yes, I said it) while surrounded by Irish paraphernalia. The posters on the wall made me homesick. One of the posters was the same as one in the beach house.
Just outside of Siem Reap was Angkor Wat. I saw Angkor Wat! It was amazing. I climbed stairs and walked among the vast ruins. As I walked around the hallways, I came across statues of Buddha, covered in cloth and surrounded by incense.
Siem Reap had a night market, which had a fish massage place called Dr. Fish. We put our feet into a pool with fish that nibbled off the dead skin. It felt weird and wonderful. Once you got used to being tickled, it was a relaxing experience.
I experienced ancient history in Siem Reap and modern history in Phnom Penh. For general knowledge, the Khymer Rouge controlled Cambodia for several decades. Within that time, thousands of Khymer were detained, tortured, and killed. The most infamous prison, Tuol Sleng, a.k.a. S.21, is in Phnom Penh. Originally a school, S.21 became a museum of genocide. The extent of documentation, such as photos of every prisoner, was frightening. The museum added stories from the surviving guards, which varied from calls for justice to indifference. The silence in the classrooms-turned-torture-chambers was deafening. The Choeung Ek killing fields were another educational site about the Khymer Rouge. The grounds were FULL of dead bodies. Clothes and bones poked out of the dirt that we walked over. I walked on the bones of genocidal victims! That was unsettling.
In addition to killing fields and prisons, Phnom Penh also had a palace. I knew that France influenced Cambodia, but the palace showed proof. One of the palatial buildings was named after Napoleon III and was built in a French style. I thought it was interesting that the French building was in disrepair while all the other, non-Western buildings were in comparatively perfect condition.
For those of you interested in Cambodia but fear the language gap, everyone speaks English. Cambodian TV is basically American TV.
Our next stop was Singapore. We stayed at a hotel in the red-light district before moving to a hostel in Chinatown (牛车水). The red-light district hotel was called Hotel 81-Lucky. Feel free to laugh. Around the hotel were scantily-clad ladies of the evening standing about giving me the evil eye like I could steal business. The hostel was a better choice; Chinatown was a wonderfully, ethnically diverse neighborhood. There was a mosque, a Buddhist temple, and a Hindu temple within footsteps of each other. Singapore has a large Indian population, Moslim and Hindu. We celebrated Chinese New Year in Chinatown, the best place in Singapore to celebrate Chinese culture.
Onto the last stop in the trip, Bali. Indonesia was the easiest place to enter. Upon arrival, you pay 10 USD at one counter. Behind that counter, you get the visa and entry stamp. It was a piece of piss and no corruption. The Balinese also speak very good English; they say more than “hello” on the street. We stayed on the southern and northern part of Bali, and experienced two types of beaches. Kuta Beach, in the South, was a popular tourist spot. However, the beach was covered in trash. We swam in garbage. In the North was Lovina Beach, famous for having black sand. The black sand beach was clean and appealing.
My least favorite part of the trip was the vendors and drivers, who honked and called us over. They were almost as insistent as their Chinese equivalents, with the exception of Singapore.

Spring Festival Holiday Part 1 - Cold

My winter vacation is really long, January 31st to February 9th. What's an American in China to do with all of that time?....TRAVEL!
This is the first installment of my winter vacation. The vacation consisted of two separate trips. Trip 1: Harbin. Trip 2:Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, and Bali. (Trip 2 blog is to follow)
Before I went to Harbin, I went to Hong Kong with my parents to celebrate New Year's. I had been to Hong Kong earlier in the year but did not have a chance to go around as a tourist. This time, my parents and I went on a tour of Hong Kong Island and a night boat thing to watch the laser show on the water. Every night there is a laser show between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. On the last day my parents were in Hong Kong, we had afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel. WOW! That is one fancy hotel. There were three, forest green Rolls Royces outside! While we enjoyed our tea and little snacks, there was a small instrumental group nearby. I did not count how many musicians were present, otherwise I would call them a quartet or something. It was wonderful to hear classical music again. I never realized how much I missed it. They played everything: Vivaldi's "Spring" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
The day after I left Hong Kong, Ben and I woke up early to leave for the train station.
I really experienced Chinese trains on this trip. We decided to use trains because at this time of year travel companies try to screw you monetarily. They know that all of China is desperate to get home for Chinese New Year, so Chinese people will pay anything for that train or plane ticket. Train tickets are cheaper because trains take so long. We took a a train from Shenzhen to Guangzhou, which was under an hour. Then we took one train from Guangzhou to Harbin. 37 HOURS!! Chinese coworkers, including Mr. Zheng who lived in Harbin, thought we were crazy because the only tickets available were hard seats. Chinese trains are split up into seats and sleepers. So we had an upright seat with a slight cushion instead of a slightly comfortable bed. I thought I would get off the train in Harbin with my neck at the oddest angle so that the entire city was sideways. I also feared that the train would be absolutely full of people.
I was only half right. My neck was basically left unharmed, but the train was full. There were people standing in the aisle for the entire trip. When someone got up to go to the toilet, the standers had a respite until that person returned. There were some interesting characters in our train car. I will describe "creepy man," as we came to call him. This man got on the train and stood right next to us. There was no seat where he stood, only the thin aisle everyone had to walk through to get seats. He proceeded to sit down on someone else's luggage (not ours, thank God) and talk to us. His only English phrases were "Hello," "Ok," and "Long live Mao."
His appearance was less than appealing. His bags were full of newspapers and trash and crumbs. The conductor asked everyone for their tickets. Creepy Man would not produce a ticket. He told (no request made) the conductor that he would finish his dinner and then give his ticket. After the conductor pressed him for a ticket, the man started fumbling through his coat and pockets, and came up empty handed. He said he would look for it after his finished eating. He slowly searched through his bags, but could not show a ticket. So he was put off the train at the next stop.
I thought that his behavior towards the conductor was strange. Shouldn't you respect such individuals? While we lined up for the train, some people cut in line. To prevent this, there were employees with megaphones yelling at the line cutters. One employee got into a fight with a passenger. Instead of listening to or politely disagreeing with the employee, he PUSHED him. The employee threw his megaphone to the ground and started pushing back with his hands and gut. I cheered for the employee while some other passengers secretly cut in line. It must be my American mind that cannot fathom such disrespect for people when one is breaking a rule. I had the crazy idea that Chinese people would behave really well in public so as not to lose face. That passenger lost face for me. However, other Chinese passengers do not seem to care about that, even in line for the bathroom on the train. People cut in front of each other and no one says anything.
Upon arrival in Harbin, Ben and I lined up to buy tickets back to Shenzhen. The train ticket purchasing system is weird. We could buy tickets to leave a city but not to return to the city. Those tickets had to be purchased in Harbin. However, all of the train tickets were gone by the time we reached Harbin. There was no way to get home by train, so we bought plane tickets. The cost of plane tickets was more than double for the train tickets.
Now to describe Harbin. It is a absolutely, freezing city full of randomly-placed ice sculptures. There were sculptures outside the train station, on the side of the street used to show posters, and outside hotels. It was so cold that my boogers froze, an experience I had never had. I walked around the city with two pairs of socks, two pairs of gloves, three jackets, one big coat, a hat, and a scarf. I still froze! I grew used to Shenzhen's warmer climate, and did not have a chance to adjust. Harbin is also a city of Russians. Russian is a more common language than English; for instance, our cab driver started speaking Russian to us. At the Ice World park, we saw a Russian performance troupe who sang, danced, and played Russian musical instruments.
We mainly took buses everywhere, which was time consuming. The buses also lacked heaters, so I would get cold after an hour bus ride. Then I would freeze outside.
We went to Harbin's Tenth Ice and Snow World (第十届哈尔滨冰雪大世界)and the Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Fair (太阳岛国际雪雕艺术博览会). Sun Island is a misleading name when the entire place is covered in snow.
We only spent three days in Harbin, which was not enough to see everything I wanted. But it was long enough to decide that Harbin winters are too much for me. I do not regret getting a Chinese winter experience though. I saw snow, ice, frost, icicles, frozen hands and noses. I drank hot chocolate. I rode a slide made of ice. (Side note: jeans have traction on ice) I also rode a camel at Ice World! A CAMEL! That animal did not look happy in the subzero temperature. But now I can proudly say that I have ridden a camel in the Harbin snow. How many people can claim that?
Now I am back in Shenzhen for the next few days only to leave again.