Hell No We Won't Go!

Now you know i love a good boycott. something i would think chinese people would be good at, but not having a lot of practice in. the collective society they all grow up in can bring them together in a moments notice. but would they come together for something important; the right time, correct ideals and organization. maybe now we have the buddings of something.
i am sure everyone knows about this ongoing tibet situation, that has brought out many different points of view of what should be done. many of the chinese do not really seem to care too much about those crazy tibetans. they do not really know why they are angry, and if they would like to be free from china, then they can be. but of course, leave the land, the land was rightfully annexed by china. "the chinese people have helped to build up that land and bring commerce and industry there. the tibet people need to be more patient, there are a lot of people in this country". well, this post is not about that it is about protesting.
the french government said some things about china and the olympics that upset many residents of the middle kingdom. including the torch passing through paris and all of the drama associated with that. many people are trying to organize and begin a nationwide boycott on may first, international labor day. apparently this has already begun throughout china. a giant french supermarket chain called carrefour is a main focal point of the protests. many people are not shopping there and protesting out front. some have even closed down. they are saying things like boycott france and france apologize. i find myself thinking, i hope they do not find a reason to boycott wal-mart. which is not right, since i boycotted wal-mart myself back in the states. it is different here, wal-mart is a necessary evil.
well, i am interested to see what will become of this. will the french even feel any effects? one thing i do know is china has way too many people. so at anytime, they could change the world's landscape.

you are from the countryside? get out of my way!

the class discrimination in this country is overwhelming. it is similar to the racial discrimination in america, but projecting some sort of greatness over someone because they are from the country or poor is new to me. living in chongqing i have met many educated people, especially since i work at a university. i have explained that where i come from some of the richest people live in the countryside. i suppose here, more often than not, most people from the country are poor and uneducated. even if that is the case, they are still good people with good hearts, right? let's state some examples: i don't like her, she is from the country. these country people are so stupid. carry my bags, but there is no need for us to have a conversation. move! i am driving! people who live there are very poor, you know they are not really even people.
granted, some of this may well be true, but don't act like something is wrong with me for wanting to talk with them. i say if these people are so messed up, then what is being done to bring them up to the level of the city folk. maybe that is why china has this huge disparity between the rich and the poor now. one thing strong about america is the middle class. china's middle class is very thin. you either have money or you don't, and if you don't then welcome to the life of servitude. i don't have any money in america, but you don't see me sweeping the streets. i wonder if racial discrimination would be prevalent in china if there were more minorites. china has 55 different minority groups but they represent only 7 percent of the population. the minorites are all neatly tucked away in their own little areas of china. i have met some, and i am very interested in them. so soon i will do a little traveling to get away from the majority chinese, whom for the most part all think alike. anyway, time to get a conversation going with that guy carrying heavy obects. hey, put that fridge down for a minute, let's talk. i am sure you have something interesting to say.

i do

i went to a chinese wedding. it was cool. i love weddings because that means free food and drink. i think it is difficult to turn that down. oh, yeah and two people committing themselves to each other, that's cool to. i guess a lot of people here are incorporating a western theme into many of their weddings. that would mean an exchange of rings, white dress, everything save for the religious aspect. of course, there are eastern traditions that still take root. wearing a red dress, giving smokes for the men, candy for the ladies. smoking and drinking has an entirely different meaning here. it is a sign of friendship when you drink with another man, or offer them a cig. maybe i should write about that, someday i will.

the wedding was the combination of the reception and ceremony in one. the food is served when the ceremony is over, but it takes place in the reception hall. the interesting thing is the wedding was much more of a performance. fully loaded with an MC, spotlights, narrator, strobes. for a minute, i thought i was at the club. for me, the role-play was the most intriguing. the bride and groom acted out a love story, with help from the narrator, before they sealed everything with a kiss. i assume the story was fictitious, but compelling none the less. they seemed like a nice couple, and i heard the were pretty well off. i guess they pulled out all the stops for this. the entire thing lasted no more than two hours. many people left after the their bellies were full. others played games and congratulated the new couple. i wonder if they will have a honeymoon?

once again, i will be writing much more. i have loads of free time now, while i prepare for coming home.

i am not quite sure what that is, but i will eat it!

china knows how to tickle one's tastebuds and leave the consumer with a feeling of complete satisfaction. more specifically where i live, southwest china, chongqing. most of the food here is unbelievable. the main reason i like it is due to the fact that most everything is spicy. i have always been one who enjoys his peppers, sweating while i eat, and coughing vehemently when the spice hits the back of my throat. the main fare is a bubbling concoction called hotpot. most foreigners hate this, as did i at first. over time i began to enjoy it more and more. anything and everything goes into this pot of fire, filled with peppers and other spices. the more common would include, dumplings, meatballs, fish, vegetables. the more interesting includes cow stomach, duck blood/intestine, and many other things. food that enters my mouth with no idea what animal it is, or what part of said animal. i can almost assure you that it is not cat. i have heard that southeast china, near hongkong, is the home of those delicacies. along with snake, dog, and rat. when i get to that area maybe i will try snake, it might taste pretty good. rats, too filthy. dogs, man best friend, but cat......

two things i will not touch are fish heads and chicken feet. they are definitely popular dishes here. i just cannot eat something with an eyeball staring at me. the chicken feet i would eat if the toes were split into small pieces, as opposed to looking just like the foot of a chicken. chinese always offer these to you because they fell it is the best part of the animal. they are being polite to the foreign guest. one thing i can say is that they let nothing go to waste. why trash the neck of that duck? there is some good meat on that. naw, son, you can have it. eggs are popular as well. they will slap an egg on anything-sunny side up, spaghetti, rice, even a steak. this also does not bother me. i have an iron stomach and will eat just about anything, no shrimp, allergic. some new dishes are okay, others delicious. food i will sorely miss when i arrive home. by the way, if i hear the word delicious again. it must be one of the first english words learned after hello/bye-bye, thank you, and okay.

when i first arrived and begin to explore, walking down the street i would encounter an awful, repugnant stench. it can only be described as a fresh steaming pile of pig innards. later i was told this vile odor was because of the unique way the chinese prepare tofu. it is likened to that stinky cheese from germany, or holland, or wherever. i have eaten delicious tofu here, but it did not stink when it arrived at the table. i am still not quite used to the smell. i do not think anyone is. many have asked if the food here resembles delicious chinese food in america. in some ways it does, but at least in chongqing it is spiced up a bit. i know some people who are finicky eaters. they have a difficult time finding things they like. they are missing out on all the delicious food here. well, you can find delicious western food, even more so on the east coast. there they have a delicious taco bell. most newcomers usually become best friends with their toilets. it is a good idea to know all the best bathrooms in the city, you never know when danger may strike, and you surely want to sit down instead of squat during this not so delicious predicament. my stomach has made all of the necessary adjustments. i wonder if montezuma's revenge will strike when i get home?

my stomach is beginning to rumble describing all of this cuisine. today is friday, hotpot nite, time to go eat. maybe i will get those spicy/meat sweats going. well, i will just wash it all down with some delicious beer.

whatever you think is best for my future.

in many ways university life in chongqing differs, from what we have come to consider normal. when the momentous day of going off to college arrives, the common denominator for freshman students is their new found freedom. one day you are sneaking out of your parents home, the next you are sneaking into your new home, trying to not disturb your roommate. did you have a late nite? no problem, just skip class the next day, no one will notice. you thought you wanted to be a doctor, huh? turns out you have found your true calling of teaching gym class. well, just change your major. my point is, college students in china abide by certain rules and have less freedom when they move away from their parents. for them this is not anything to get into a fit over, you just accept it, or you can always kill yourself.

this semester my workload is much lighter than the last. i teach seven classes spoken english. the class enrollment ranges from 28 to 34. i also have office hours that consist of 10 to 15 students. office hours give the students more chances to speak and myself more topics to discuss with them. as i have said before, the best part of teaching here is the interaction with my students. they are all freshman and many of them are very shy. they assume their english is not good enough, so the best thing to do is not talk. this only occurs within the classroom. outside of class, the quietest students will talk your ear off, using every english word in their limited vocabulary. they all know english, it is mandatory to learn. they begin at a young age, and even in college they may have at least three more english classes in addition to mine. my job is to get students to talk. sometimes that can be difficult, but i do find success. in china, the teacher speaks, the students listen. they accept what the teacher tells them because the teacher is right. they would not be teaching if they were wrong. i try to get them to voice opinions, arguments, contradictions, classroom proceedings in traditional american universities. usually, the girls are more likely to speak and participate than the boys. many of the boys sit in the back and sleep, while the girls are in front with smiles on their faces. i try to teach to the good students and make the others happy so they stay awake. chinese students are extremely competitive so playing games with them is always a fun activity. classes last about an hour a fifty minutes, with a ten minute break in between. i do not have to keep track of time because there are buzzers, like high school, that signify when class ends and begins. i also must take attendance every class period. i only meet each class once a week, but it reflects on their grade if they do not show, or they try and sneak out of class.

some of things that are totally different from an american university is the idea of not choosing your major. i believe they take a test in high school, then they are placed in the field that suits them best. even if they find their major boring, they just accept it. it is strange like that, the chinese, how they just accept things the way they are. earlier this year the women were forced to move to a dorm further away, creating a much longer walk to campus. i asked them what they thought of this, and the reply was "we now have a TV". "do the boys have a TV?" "yes, they always have." the women just accepted the fact that they did not have television before, and now accept the fact they have a 15-20 minute walk to campus. of course, i explained to them that women in an american university would not be too happy with lesser living standards than the men. another strange fact is the loss of electricity. on the weeknites at 11:30, the power to all dormitories is shut off. the students get around this by having full batteries for their computers or using candles. many even stay off campus and sleep in a karaoke room or internet bar. but there is never any complaining to the superiors at the university, just maybe amongst themselves.

the pressure for students seems to be much higher over here in the east. not only in china, but in many asian countries, suicide is a more frequent occurrence. losing face, or extreme embarrassment, is one of the worst things that could happen to a student. the pressure to perform well is larger for a student because going to college and learning english is significant. some students release this pressure by jumping off a bridge. this happened fairly recently at my university. a junior student walked into the water to release her pressure or save embarrassment. they thought she jumped off a bridge, but then said she drowned herself. they had a meeting about it. told the students not to kill themselves. then accept that it happened, and move on.

not this song again

for many people, music is a necessary and indispensable aid to keep the blood rushing through their veins. many of you know that i feel this way as well. sometimes i feel that i live in a place where good music does not exist. i will confess that i am a music snob. i listen to plenty of popular music and in many ways am not impressed. i am trying to make the most of this opportunity and educate my fellow students and friends on, not just american music, but music and the entire genre. that includes different cultures, countries, and histories. i actually am doing a lecture on this topic in front of hundreds of people. many are receptive so far, unfortunately they just do not get exposed to this during adolescence. they listen to what is fed to them, as many of you do back home. hey, if you do not believe me, let's listen to what good music has to say on this matter.

music magazine: so good music, i hear you are going spend some time over in china.

good music: yeah, you know, just wantin' to expose everyone to what i got to offer. you fell me?

mm: that sounds great. what is it you have to offer?

gm: well, i got a lot of different styles, genres, classics, mad talent. maybe some studio, with a little on stage. throwing some live instrumentation in there, intuitive lyrics, also something to get the party started, know what i mean, son? it's like bon-bon, bang-bang, gotcha.

mm: i did not quite understand the last part, but i think i know what you mean. you are going to chongqing, correct?

gm: word.

mm: uh.......okay, have a fantastic time.

gm: yo, yo, yo, peace to the god. holla at ya boy!

good music arrives in china
wow, this place is off the meat rack! let me lay my thang down. i think i can get some work in, for real.
one month
why is everyone listening to the backstreet boys? didn't those mothafuckas break up like ten years ago, or some shit? britney! you know she is a crazy bald bitch, right?
six months
it's like every popular song is about love or dancing. where the songs at about killin' fools? hatin' yo job, being poor? smokin' drinkin'? women gettin' a bad rap? gettin' bush out the motherfuckin' white house? angst, pain, sufferin'? you know what i mean, real life shit. enough with this bunny rabbits, ice cream, and flowers shit.
one year
i met some peeps here who feel me. they say i should get my ass to beijing or shanghai. things are more western there. they got all the dope shiznit there.
two years
we going to ktv (karaoke) tonite? that is super. i would love to sing a love song.
later that nite
how about that song from titanic that is sung by celine dion. i love singing it. here goes guys! near, far, wherever you are, i believe that my heart will go on...........

i have no idea why good music sounds like RZA from the wu-tang clan. maybe it is because i am listening to hip-hop as i write. maybe because the music he produces, in many ways is the exact opposite of what i hear on regular basis. i love it here, but i know the cities on china's east coast have more options when it comes to what one may want to hear. i have met many chinese who do have similar tastes: a couple rock guitarists, a few young MCs, and i sat in with a great jazz quintet, the latter being in beijing. we all are trying our best to make those styles more popular here. i think the young generation wants it, they just do not know where to look. that is where we come in. honestly, i have heard some good pop music here, and the traditional chinese music can be really cool. there are also some great traditional instruments that i want to learn to play. the language is also very musical. one reason why i am trying to become fluent. it is very tonal; the pitch of a word will change its meaning. it is actually documented that musicians have an easier time learning the language. this may have the same effect in reverse. potentially, i could be surrounded by a billion chinese with an innate sense of scales, tones, and pitch. let's get the band back together!?

edub

hey baby, you look good.

there are three different types of women in chongqing: the prostitute, the gold-digger, and the traditionalists.

1. the prostitute is........well, just that.

2. the gold-digger is the chinese woman who is out for a foreigner, no matter what they look like. they just want a foreign man who can buy them shit. also, maybe there is some sort of prestige to having a foreign boyfriend because it sets them apart from the millions of chinese women without. what i do not like about this scenario is most of these men are losers. that does not phase the gold-digger because he has money. when i am witness to this in a bar or club, it can become quite disgusting. these bum-ass fat, old geezers with these skinny little, young girls. it is a relationship that is headed toward the dark sea of unsatisfying, artificial happiness.

3. most women in this country, i would classify as traditional girls. they are nice, kind-hearted women just like women back home, but there is one difference. you cannot really date them. it is all the way or not at all. i mean, you can get to know them, but the physical part that comes along with dating is slim to none. if you want a little sensuality, well you had better expect on becoming their boyfriend for a long period of time. oh believe me, i am all for buying the cow, i have had my share of free milk, but i feel these traditionalists do not experience enough in the dating department. "hey, just because you had sex with that guy does not mean you need to marry him. i know, i know, he was your second, and you are almost 26. what in the world are you going to do! oh, no!" i am just saying that having intercourse with a man does not mean he is the one. honestly, what the fuck do i know? maybe it is a good thing to be conservative when it comes to the opposite sex. no one-nite stands, mistakes, less chance for pregnancy, disease. hopefully the man they marry does not turn out to be that cat strolling around the red-light district so he can experience another woman. in the future i know i will meet more men and women, hopefully having to revise some of these statements. i do not want to generalize and place women into these three categories, even though i just did that.

as for myself, well the whores are out. i know that would make a great story, but i cannot bring myself to paying for it. i guess it was the way i was raised.
gold-diggers. nope. that scene is phony and in many ways repulsive.
that leaves the old-fashioned chinese girl. of course that will not happen unless i meet one i am truly into; that may take a while. i could have a girlfriend, it is very easy to do so, and use her to better my chinese. but then i would feel bad when i dumped her after i became fluent. there is the fourth option of the foreign variety, but there could be another post dedicated solely to the dating scene for foreign women in china. actually, there is an entire blog for just that.

to the ten or so people who actually read the drivel i churn out, do not fret. i will begin to post something new every week so check back. do me a favor and give me some feedback. comments, what you want to know about, anything. it should be easy to leave your thoughts, and it will make for better writing on my end.

edub

where is the toilet?

as some of you may know, china is filled with holes in the ground. some of these holes are actually used for the deposit of feces. you can find western toilets, they are around, but sometimes you just have to go. the first time i used a squatter was the beginning of october. i was in a small town, small meaning 500,000+ residents, and my stomach had not adjusted to the spicy food here yet. i was far from my homebase, so i had to use the restroom at the restaurant. luckily, it was not too dirty. sometimes they are filthy. no need to get into details, but let's just say i missed. i come out and there are two ladies who work at the restaurant in the hallway. my chinese was terrible at that time, so i try and tell them i am very sorry and i can clean it up. they don't even seem to give a shit (no pun intended). they just say, "welcome to our restaurant". so i got the hell out of there. i really believe they did not mind. this would at least give them a good story to tell their husbands, or kids, or something. "hello ping, how was your day?" "well, today i cleaned up a foreigner's poop". "a foreigner's!" "surprisingly, it looked just like yours baby."

anyway, i have gotten pretty good at using them. of course, i would like to sit down if i have the option. you know, read the paper or the back of the toothpaste. sometimes, the restrooms offer no privacy, because bodily functions are not a big deal here. but here is a photo of a clean, private one. maybe you can imagine how disgusting they can get.

holiday season

yeah, it has been awhile. if you lived in a place where there were gorgeous women at every turn and cheap booze, you would not have time to write either. they say the women are beautiful here because of the hot weather and spicy food, it does something for their skin. i could blog about the eye candy all day, but let's move on to the unusual way that two big american holidays are celebrated here: christmas and new years.

does anyone here actually know the true meaning of christmas? of course not. well some know it has to do with the jesus dude. i ask them what they know about it. "uh, he was born in a grass house". check, manger. "his mother was mary". yeah, that is right. "then he died on some wood". cross, you got it! that is about it. then i go into this spill about people who believe in him, the miracles, resurrection. one of my students said, "teacher, that's impossible". not that i would, but it is forbidden to actually preach to my students. i can give them the history lesson on religion, but if i tell them they are going to hell i would be out of here quicker than the brits when they took off with hongkong in 1898. for those who do not know hongkong has since been returned to china in 1997.

christmas time is here! yeah, another time to celebrate for virtually no reason! many of the chinese between the ages of 16 and 30 buy these inflatable bats/hammers/mace. they sell them everywhere around the holiday season. you buy these things, congregate in an open area, then proceed to beat the shit out of other people with them. i ask why is this done? the response, "it's fun". you can also spray each other with shaving cream and anything else that comes out of a can. i got drunk and got into the middle of a crowd and got beaten. in the very center of the city there will be thousands of people doing this. it actually can get dangerous. they bring out a shitload of cops for this. of course, they especially like to beat foreigners. i think the chinese just love an excuse to party. new years is no different. same thing. besides being drug out into the street and beaten, new years is not really that important. my friend kern says that this whacking does not happen in beijing, so maybe it is a southern china thing. chinese new years is the big holiday here. fireworks galore. it goes by the lunar calender so this year it is february 18. maybe i will take one of those blow-up bats and whack them on their important holiday. you know, "because it's fun".

kickin' it in china

i love china. it is great. everyone is so nice and pleasant to be around. i actually taught my students the word pleasant this week. the best part about teaching is getting to know the students. i would rather hang out with the students than teach them, but teaching is my job. they always want to take you to eat or go to KTV, aka karaoke. the trick here is to get the students to like you. it is better they like you than they actually learn anything. of course, i hope my students learn something. beer is always involved with food and KTV. sometimes though, i think i could drink this country under the table. they love to drink, but there is always a time when they slow down. i usually say, "let's have some more". then they say "are you sure"? then i tell them in america we like to drink, then puke, then pass out. do not get me wrong, there are some drinkers here, but i guess it is complicated to explain. complicated, another word i taught this week.

i have to mention the squating. it is amazing. everyone, and i mean everyone, in china can squat. i do not mean squat like a catcher in baseball. it is sort of the same, but with your heels on the ground. trust me, no one in the west can do this. they will squat while they read the paper, smoke a cig, eat, wait for the bus. i must say this is one thing i am extremely jealous of. i have been practicing. it seems so comfortable.

for all the people of color reading this, i think the chinese and africans/african-americans have the same roots. the chinese love fried chicken, i mean they love it. KFC is a major chain and it is always packed. i get watermelon at just about every meal. they bring it out like they bring bread back home. you go to a restaurant and sure enough, here comes some watermelon. i love it. they also love entertaining, and being entertained. singing, dancing, hearing songs, whatever. a few people have told me that they know the chinese man is a minority in america, also the black man is a minority. we are both trying to better ourselves against the man. so that means we are brothers, or comrades.

one thing about china that is not so cool, is the music i hear on the regular. i will post soon about the music. that is another whole ball of wax. until then, peace, i miss everyone.

by the way, this is the first drunk blog i have posted. i must have hit the backspace key about a hundred times.

still available in the US?

i believe my blog has been banned in china. it only took two months. i tried my best to keep it pro-china. i am pro-china. this is a test to see if you yanks can still read the posts, because as for now, i can only create them, but not actually review what i have written.

school finally begins!

so my first week of school is just about over. it has gone okay. i did not start until this week because all my students are freshmen. in china, freshmen have military training for their first month of school. nevertheless, my teaching load is pretty heavy. no more drinking every nite. oh well, i am still working less than in the US. hopefully i am making a difference with some of these students. many seem really responsive to learning english. i have classes of about thirty students and office hours of about ten students. the classes last and hour and 45 minutes, with a ten minute break in between. sometimes i let them out early. i am trying to make the class fun for everyone. one good thing is all my classes are on the same floor, in the same building, and the same lesson plan. they are all the same, just different students. i always get a huge HELLO! when i walk in. i know it will be tough come the end of the semester. twelve weeks left. after that though, i get to travel all around china, and get paid. i cannot fucking wait. here is a photo of a couple of my students.

what the fuck! was that an earthquake? oh, it was just north korea testing their nukes.

alarms

i live on a college campus. it is nice because a couple blocks away is the downtown area with all of the traffic and noise. but on campus at nite it is pretty quiet. almost dead quiet. they school takes away the electricity of all the students at like 11:00. no tv, no internet, shit no lights. the only people up past then are the foreigners and security guards. of course outside campus there is still crazy action going on. since i am on campus, the university or somebody, plays this music through loudspeakers that can be heard throughout. every weekday this music plays at 6:30 in the morning, then at noon, then at five pm. this shit is on the tick for about twenty minutes. i have learned to sleep through the morning wake up call. but i am usually in the apartment at noon. sure enough, here it comes, the same music i heard the day before, the day before, the day before. it is like 1984, okay everyone awake. everyone go to lunch. everyone go home. like we are a mass population of clones. i am suprised there is not a, everyone go to sleep jingle. by no means is this music entertaining, it is becoming quite annoying. i guess the phrase that readily comes to mind is, it feels so communist.

partying, chinese style

at mizzou i was a volunteer at the asian affairs center. doing this work afforded me an opportunity to travel to china. i met a man there named bill, who was from chongqing. a few days ago we finally got to see each other again. he took me to his hood to show me around and meet his colleagues. as soon as we get there, we go into a banquet room of this restaurant. food is being served on a table that has a huge circular plate. you just spin this plate around and grab whatever looks delicious. it is all chinese food, some that looks familiar, and some i have no clue what it is. i try it anyway. i figure i might as well enjoy china and what it has to offer. even if i do end up with a tapeworm or something. while the servers are bringing out the food, i notice they began to open bottles of this clear liquid. i think to myself, here we go, out comes the baijiu (bye-joe). baijiu is this alchohol that chinese men love to drink. the women do not really drink it, and if you are a man and do not drink, it is considered disrespectful. one of the americans i have met claims she can use it to clean off the paint on her windows. and i am putting this down my throat. so at this dinner the men toast everyone and anyone with shots of baijiu, constantly. after about an hour of this, we leave to meet bill's wife. his wife has a friend with her, who i think bill is trying to set me up with. she was not bad looking and her english was really good. one think i have noticed about chinese women is most do not really shave and they will wear the same outfit over and over again. it is like they are wearing a superhero costume, or maybe they are just on the cusp of the new wash cycle. so as of yet, i am not really into them. after we meet up with the women, we all go to get massages, the legitimate kind. the massage takes about an hour. they actually wash your feet, and they end with rubbing a bag of hot rocks all over your back. it was very nice. my feet have never been so clean. when the massage was over, what happened next? you guessed it, more food and baijiu. i am thinking, we just ate two hours ago!! of course it is another huge meal that consists of many more dishes. also at both meals, they hand out packs of cigs. i have finally run out of camels, and i think certain types of chinese smokes are making me feel like shit. all the drinking is not helping. after this we all go home and pass out. the next day we get up and eat breakfast. i am wearing my same clothes because i stayed over, but so is everyone else. the men and the women. they are all superheroes. after breakfast we walk along the river. bill lives near the yangtze river. the longest river in china. it is a nice walk, but i am feeling really crappy because of the chinese squares, and the last thing i want is more chinese food. of course before i leave to go back home, we eat a huge lunch. we just ate breakfast two hours ago!! i can barely eat, i just pick at the rice to satisfy my new group of very hospitable, chinese friends. sometimes i long for chinese food from home, like the kung pao chicken. ed likes his chicken spicy. i have not been able to find that here. anyway i get home and sleep the day away. i felt much, much better, when i awoke.

partying, american style

i have a couple of folks from the peace corps that live on my floor, and like i said before, this immediately gives me someone to go out with and explore the nitelife. i was invited out for dinner and dancing with a new group of foreign teachers. the teachers within the peace corps are under a certain set of restrictions than myself. their salary is a third of what i make, they cannot really do any traveling until their commitment is up, and their commitment is at least two years. needless to say, they still know how to party and do it very inexpensively. we all met up around eight and went to this restaurant i have already deemed my favorite. they have western and chinese food there. spaghettie, pizza, chicken fried steak, it is all delicious. after dinner we walk around the streets of the city drinking beer. a huge bottle cost about 40 cents. i love drinking on the street. while we walk around, i find out how small this world really is. one of the girls i just met went to 'ole mizzou. another girl who is with us, is from kansas city and went to truman state in kirksville. more midwesteners half a world away. after getting our drink on outside we go to this dance club. this club plays western music you would hear in the US. it is also a place where other laowai (foreigners) go. laowai, by the way, is a word you here on a regular basis. the chinese like to say it when they see you. i went into the restroom and i heard it. i also noticed some chinese guy staring at my junk when i was taking a piss. this club was alot of fun, chinese girls dancing on the bar, and a live band between DJ sets. after a long nite of drinking and dancing we take a taxi back home. not much different than a nite out in the US, except for the whole being in china thing. i only met a few members of the peace corps, but there are over twenty in this city alone, and every saturday nite the plan is drinking and dancing. i also heard there are nearly a thousand foreign teachers in the chongqing area. i am enjoying meeting new people and discussing why they came to china and how they went about making it happen.

GO USA

back home i spout off many criticisms i have about america: race relations, foreign policy, the government in general. i felt by coming here it would give me a different outlook on the US. so in turn i would have to leave the states to feel more like a true american. since today is the five year anniversay of september eleventh, i think i already feel more patriotic. there are articles in the chinese newspapers about the anniversary, of course i cannot read any of them, but i do get to speak to some chinese about the event. it is nice being able to give them a perspective from a US citizen, that they otherwise would not have gotten. i have already done this with race relations in the US. the chinese really only know what they get from television. i am going to be asked a thousand times, "do you play basketball"? i don't really mind it, those chinese, you gotta love 'em. i am interested to get into good discussions about thanksgiving and christmas with my students and others, when those holidays come around. oh, and i find it amusing that i have been told a few times to not speak about the bible. i can bring up general ideas from it, but no preaching. it seems as if every chinese person thinks that since i am american, i must be a christian and really into jesus. there are missionaries around, but i have not met any. didn't mao kick them all out in '49?

your comrade brother
edub

okay everyone, this is the end of my first full week in china. i arrove here in chongqing on wednesday. the man i was sitting next to on the plane snapped a couple of photos of me with his phone. i guess he had to have proof when he told his friends that he saw a laowai (foreigner). the chinese are funny and extremely nice. they will stare at you all the time. when i am walking around i hear random hellos. anyway, upon arriving from the airport, we reach my apartment building. my first impression of the building was, what a shithole. but then i walk into my apartment and i was like wow. it is really nice. the a/c is cold, i have all new furniture and appliances, television, washer, hot water, and high speed internet access. in many ways it is nicer than where i was living back home. one problem is the apartment is on the eighth floor and there is no elevator. everyday with all the stares. play on words. chongqing is known for the three hots. hot weather, hot food, and hot women. i came just at the right time, because the weather is starting to cool down a bit. it is becoming quite nice. never any sun, though. it is either gray or less gray. the food and the women are the hottest in china. i have already seen a huge difference between here and beijing.
i have met all the other foreign teachers. there are six of us. three of us have been here a year and the other three just starting. along with myself there are two peace corps volunteers. they live on my floor along with this alcoholic english snob. he apparently has a drinking problem, and when he gets drunk, madness ensues. a guy and a girl from the peace corps. they both seem really nice. there are other volunteers all over chongqing and through them i already have a network of friends to party with. another teacher is a sixty year old man who has his own place and a car. he says he wants to retire here. i do not know how he drives in this traffic. it does not seem like you obey any rules of the road, you just drive. drive in the other lane, run red lights, whatever. the last teacher all the chinese i have said, you guys will get along. i think it is because he is a black dude from chicago. and you know what, we have gotten along. he has given me the scoop on everything. actually i think all of us are going to mesh well, save for the drunk from the UK.
i am sure there is more to say, but i will save it for my next post.
oh yeah, i finally saw my first baby pissing wherever it wanted. it was in supermarket, disgusting. they sell diapers, but apparently no one buys them.
peace out commie style.

first impressions

well i arrive in beijing on monday. my plane was a half-hour late, customs took forever to go through, even still there was my good friend matt kern waiting for me. it was nice having someone here i already know. i have this great feeling about china as soon as i arrive into beijing proper from the airport. there are people everywhere. well this country does have over a billion people. the streets are filled with cars, bikes, buses. i love all the bikes. everyone rides them from young girls to old men. the buses are packed with chinese like sardines. the cars are all suprisingly nice. i have not seen one bucket. audi, honda, lexus, the same ones we have and some we do not. we walk around the major spots. my friend here is living the lush life. his apartment is off the heezy and it is on the park ave. of beijing. hunger sets in. i want to immerse myself into the chinese culture. when in rome. so for food we went to eat pizza. the pizza was good, but the belgian beer was even better. okay, so maybe the immersion will start later, if ever. they got everything over here we got, but here it is a little bit different. kfc and mcdonalds are all over the place. i did have a long flight so the night was cut short.
the next day i wake early to head to the forbidden city. this place is the must see of beijing. i just think of the movie the last emporer, that was filmed there. it is huge and took over three hours to walk around. well, it is a city. so i took lots of photos and got a few stares. i love the stares. a chinese man will see you and then tap his buddy that he is walking with, so they both can get a good look at you. i am a tall black man in china, which helps because i can easily get the photos i want without having to get in front of anyone. after the forbidden city, i walked all around this area similar to times square. i had a bigmac and then thought, why the hell am i eating this shit. i need something authentic. i go to this vendor and he is selling something that looks like a gyro. sounds good to me. i pay him, less than one dollar american, then began to eat my gyro. well it does not necessarily taste like lamb. you know what that means. that's right kids, cat in a pita pocket, yum yum. tomorrow i leave for my city, chongqing. it is about and hour and a half flight southwest from here. next post will come for the CQ. peace out. edub

Welcome to Chinamandingo

Well... I'm going to China tomorrow morning. Stay tuned for some sweet stories and information about stuff.