This morning I woke up a bit late, so i decided to just grab breakfast at the conveince store right outside of my apartment (Lawson's are the 711 here). I bought a japanese fast-food rice and crab roll and then noticed a carbonated beverage that said "grapefruit" on the outside.
"mmm, grapefruit juice" I thought to myself as I left the store. I opend it up in the taxi on the way to school; it was alcoholic, a carbonated grapefruit mixed drink for 40 cents. Not wanting to waste money I drank the whole thing.
So ya, I was a little loose for the first half hour of school. This morning I taught a lesson on the bill of rights.
First I had the students come up with a list of what they thought the job of a government is (they came up with the same list that I think american college students would, but in a different order: For instance the first thing they listed was "preserve harmony through strict laws," and then "ensure jobs for everyone and redistribute wealth through taxes" and then finally "ensure the rights of citizens"). We then discussed what rights the government should support--education, fair judicial system, free press, property, etc (they came up with everything except for "fair judicial" on their own). This all took about an hour.
Then I listed the bill of rights and we spent the next hour discussing the first and second amendment. The students were wary of protecting freedom of religion and freedom of assembly (wary doesn't mean they were against it, wary means that they came up with good reasons for fearing that those two could lead to unrest). And they were all staunchly against gun ownership, though we discussed reasons why it might make sense for people to own guns.
After this discussion, we split the class into groups of five (we combined all of the students for this activity, so there were 20 total students) and had them come up with the bill of rights/basic laws they woudl enact if they started their own country. (one of the groups decided that a basic right should be the right of euthenasia--this group inluded my student Alps [yes, Alps; the kids decide their own english names so we also have students named Kingdom and Mr. Bean] who believes the entire practice of marriage should be abolished).
After school today a big group of us went to a karaoke bar (yes at 3 in teh afternoon) where we sang and got drunk utnil 7PM; when we went to dinner.
I walked from dinner home alone (I just wanted to wander a little bit) and had two recountable experiences. First, as a recognizable American, street vendors constantly try to sell me worthless shit (I've taken to responding that I don't know what they're talking about in chinese), but today I was pissed. A guy came up to me and tried to sell me wheels that attach to my shoes, and he was being really pushy "you want to buy, very cheap, good price, just for you," so I pulled the first thing i grabbed out of my pocket and got right up in his face and started saying "ni yao jigga? Ni yao jigga?" (you want this? You want this?). Of course the first thing I grabbed out of my pocket was a nail clipper (I don't know why that was in my pocket either), but he still backed right off. Secondly, I was crossing a street and a cute young woman came up to me and asked if I spoke chinese ("pu tong wa") I replied "yi dien dien" (a little bit) and she started motioning towards herself, another woman with her, and then towards me and speaking quickly.
this was around the time that I realized she was a prostitute (look a few lines up and you'll notice I'd had a few drinks--otherwise I would have already realized instantlythere would be no reason for a random chinese woman to come up to an american and ask him if he spoke chinese); so at this point I start loudly saying "bu yao, bu yao" (I don't want it, I don't want it) and regardless of this she followed me for a block.
i'd say that pretty much sums up my day.
On saturday I went to the Jade Buddha at a temple in Shanghai. It was amazing, the first room has these three 15 foot tall buddhas, each doing different things with his hands (one is holding a lotus, one is doing the meditation hand, and another is holding the sun)--and then along each wall there were 15 10 foot tall wood carvings of other buddhist deities. There were small birds perching in and on the statues of the buddha. Don't worry, I took a ton of pictures.
In the back of this pagoda was a 4 story carving of many Buddhas. The Jade Buddha room has a buddha carved from jade, but also 1000 small buddhas in all of the walls. You're not allowed to take pictures in that room, but we did anyway (taking them whenever there was no one in the room praying, it feels weird being a tourist in a place of worship).
After the temple I went to the top of the Jin Miao tower (currently the tallest open building in shanghai, though a taller one is opening soon).
And on Sunday I spent the whole day wandering around the Bund area (the river bank, which is the french colonial area, and the big shopping district). I bought myself, finally, the fake rolex I wanted (and got it down to 80 quai, see my earlier post to find the desire for cheaper, so I felt hosed, but not too hosed). And I looked at a lot of pearls.
More to come later.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Villaged and Shanghaied
I am a complete man magnet in the south of China.
In the village (more to come about it later) on the final night of our stay we invited the entire population of the town to have a bit of a farewell party. Several of the men of the village saw me playing with one of the kids (I was swinging her around through the air) and they all came up to me at once. At first I was afraid that they were angry, but in fact they wanted to know how much I weighed (102kg) and then they wanted to show me the biggest man in their village (85kg). I picked up their biggest guy, at which point every one of the men around me started feeling my limbs, particularly my thigh muscles amazed them.
Then the three biggest men in the town insisted on arm wrestling me (I won). They then insisted that I arm wrestle their biggest guy with my left hand only while he got to use both of his arms (he won). Then they made me lift the two biggest guys at the same time. Everyone in the town cheered (we all won).
Two days later in the Stone Forest (more to come about our trip later) the owner of a restaurant came up to me and our group to inform us all that I was very handsome.
Several men on the train came up to me as well, including one who gave me the best compliment I’ve ever received. We were sitting as a group outside of our cabin, and this 20ish guy walks up to us, looks at me and announces, “You are so….you are so..MAN!”
It turns out that guy was a recent college graduate who now runs a Communist Youth program (more about communism to come—sorry about all the apologies for non-posts, I’ve only recently gotten my computer back).
We finished our first day of class at 3PM today; my class actually went a bit long because we’d fallen into an interesting conversation about Richard Cory, the song by Simon and Garfunkle, not the poem (more to come about class).
The six teachers, and many of the Chinese kids have decided to go see a movie about the Rape of Nanking, an old movie that’s just been translated into English. Before the movie starts we needed to pass about an hour, so we stepped into a mall. It looked like a small mall from when I first walked in, but have now realized that it is, in fact, 13 stories tall with a huge inner atrium; it is the single biggest, most terrifying mall I’ve ever been in.
I’ve also realized that I’m terrified of mannequins. Because they’re terrifying.
Also, I am officially in love with Shanghai. The French colonial buildings (the school in which we’re teaching was built in 1913, and is in the colonial style) make stark contrasts directly next to the sky scrapers. And this city is chock full o’ skyscrapers. And the tall buildings don’t look like the ones in, say, Manhattan or even Hong Kong; they are all intensely futuristic and oddly shaped—the tops of towers end in spires, and flowers, and balls, and arches, and glowing lights. Across the side of most buildings are splashed three story high definition TVs.
The food is amazing; you want a delicious pork bun, that’ll be seven cents please. Would you like a gigantic (and furiously spicy) Hunnan dinner (the best Chinese food I think I’ve ever had), that will be two dollars please.
And the smog. There is so much smog. The air becomes hazy about a block away. The whole sky is gray, and you can stare at the sun anytime of the day. Yet it gives the whole city almost a blade runner appearance. I love it.
In the village (more to come about it later) on the final night of our stay we invited the entire population of the town to have a bit of a farewell party. Several of the men of the village saw me playing with one of the kids (I was swinging her around through the air) and they all came up to me at once. At first I was afraid that they were angry, but in fact they wanted to know how much I weighed (102kg) and then they wanted to show me the biggest man in their village (85kg). I picked up their biggest guy, at which point every one of the men around me started feeling my limbs, particularly my thigh muscles amazed them.
Then the three biggest men in the town insisted on arm wrestling me (I won). They then insisted that I arm wrestle their biggest guy with my left hand only while he got to use both of his arms (he won). Then they made me lift the two biggest guys at the same time. Everyone in the town cheered (we all won).
Two days later in the Stone Forest (more to come about our trip later) the owner of a restaurant came up to me and our group to inform us all that I was very handsome.
Several men on the train came up to me as well, including one who gave me the best compliment I’ve ever received. We were sitting as a group outside of our cabin, and this 20ish guy walks up to us, looks at me and announces, “You are so….you are so..MAN!”
It turns out that guy was a recent college graduate who now runs a Communist Youth program (more about communism to come—sorry about all the apologies for non-posts, I’ve only recently gotten my computer back).
We finished our first day of class at 3PM today; my class actually went a bit long because we’d fallen into an interesting conversation about Richard Cory, the song by Simon and Garfunkle, not the poem (more to come about class).
The six teachers, and many of the Chinese kids have decided to go see a movie about the Rape of Nanking, an old movie that’s just been translated into English. Before the movie starts we needed to pass about an hour, so we stepped into a mall. It looked like a small mall from when I first walked in, but have now realized that it is, in fact, 13 stories tall with a huge inner atrium; it is the single biggest, most terrifying mall I’ve ever been in.
I’ve also realized that I’m terrified of mannequins. Because they’re terrifying.
Also, I am officially in love with Shanghai. The French colonial buildings (the school in which we’re teaching was built in 1913, and is in the colonial style) make stark contrasts directly next to the sky scrapers. And this city is chock full o’ skyscrapers. And the tall buildings don’t look like the ones in, say, Manhattan or even Hong Kong; they are all intensely futuristic and oddly shaped—the tops of towers end in spires, and flowers, and balls, and arches, and glowing lights. Across the side of most buildings are splashed three story high definition TVs.
The food is amazing; you want a delicious pork bun, that’ll be seven cents please. Would you like a gigantic (and furiously spicy) Hunnan dinner (the best Chinese food I think I’ve ever had), that will be two dollars please.
And the smog. There is so much smog. The air becomes hazy about a block away. The whole sky is gray, and you can stare at the sun anytime of the day. Yet it gives the whole city almost a blade runner appearance. I love it.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Everyone, I'm sorry I've been out of contact for so long. As you know the Chinese government sees fit to censor web pages that it feels represent dangerous counterrevolutionary ideals. Some such websites include www.bbc.co.uk, www.cnn.com, and www.bryanhaut.blogspot.com (the most subversive of all). As such, I will be emailing my posts to my father and he will be posting them to the site. A huge post will be forthcoming when I've had time to transcribe my journal onto a computer but I'd like you to know that I am in Shanghai, staying in a giant, beautiful apartment in the center of the city. It is a huge step up after spending the week in a 72-person rural village, sleeping on the ground, and then spending more than 25 hours on a train. As always, you can reach me at my email address. Also, you should know that the guy next to me in the internet cafe (they make you give your passport # to get internet access!) is watching what appears to be the craziest kung fu movie of all time -- one guy appears to be able to make bamboo come alive -- and everyone else in here is playing Counter-Strike. I might as well be in Korea.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
This Town is the LA County Fair
My beard comes through in a pinch.
The guy who owns the apartment where I’m staying has been giving a discount to me, meg and ben (he has been charging the room across the hall, where some of our other friends are staying, about 50% more). We are pretty sure it is because he is obsessed with my beard—which being red and thick is quite novel. Every time I enter the flat he laughs, walks over, and gently tugs on my beard.
He has also taken to offering me cigarettes, which I feel I cannot refuse—so I’ve gotten adept at thanking him, letting him light them, smoking about half without inhaling, and then surreptitiously getting rid of the cigarette. Maybe I should buy some to return the compliment and favor.
Today we went to a sporting good store to get some more things we need—mosquito coils and iodine tablets just in case. And then spent a few hours walking through the ladies’ market in Mong Kok. For the most part the Ladies’ Market sells women’s clothing, but it also specializes in fake luxury goods, primarily watches. I used the watches to practice my abilities haggling. Eventually I could haggle a fake Rolex from the initial offering of $380HK down to $170HK, which Meg (who has been here before) said was a very good job, getting the price under half the initial offer (PS: that’s $22 for the fake $10,000 watch). If you've ever been to the LA County Fair, all of the items for sale are proudly marked "Made in China;" turns out they sell the stuff in real China as well. So, the market reminded me of the LA County Fair, but along with any fair there has to be fair food. Appropriately there are people hawking foods on sticks all around, and I enjoyed a huge bag of fried octopus with chili sauce on a stick (for about $1.25).
We leave tomorrow for Guanxhou and then Yunnan where, it finally turns out (like it’s going to last), we will be working building roads for a new village.
PS: I did not buy the Rolex, because Meg insisted that I could buy the same item for way cheaper in Shanghai.
The guy who owns the apartment where I’m staying has been giving a discount to me, meg and ben (he has been charging the room across the hall, where some of our other friends are staying, about 50% more). We are pretty sure it is because he is obsessed with my beard—which being red and thick is quite novel. Every time I enter the flat he laughs, walks over, and gently tugs on my beard.
He has also taken to offering me cigarettes, which I feel I cannot refuse—so I’ve gotten adept at thanking him, letting him light them, smoking about half without inhaling, and then surreptitiously getting rid of the cigarette. Maybe I should buy some to return the compliment and favor.
Today we went to a sporting good store to get some more things we need—mosquito coils and iodine tablets just in case. And then spent a few hours walking through the ladies’ market in Mong Kok. For the most part the Ladies’ Market sells women’s clothing, but it also specializes in fake luxury goods, primarily watches. I used the watches to practice my abilities haggling. Eventually I could haggle a fake Rolex from the initial offering of $380HK down to $170HK, which Meg (who has been here before) said was a very good job, getting the price under half the initial offer (PS: that’s $22 for the fake $10,000 watch). If you've ever been to the LA County Fair, all of the items for sale are proudly marked "Made in China;" turns out they sell the stuff in real China as well. So, the market reminded me of the LA County Fair, but along with any fair there has to be fair food. Appropriately there are people hawking foods on sticks all around, and I enjoyed a huge bag of fried octopus with chili sauce on a stick (for about $1.25).
We leave tomorrow for Guanxhou and then Yunnan where, it finally turns out (like it’s going to last), we will be working building roads for a new village.
PS: I did not buy the Rolex, because Meg insisted that I could buy the same item for way cheaper in Shanghai.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Revelry and Confusion
Late Saturday night (that would be early Saturday morning for those of you in the states) I managed to meet up with Megan and Tri.
On Sunday morning we all went and wandered around Nathan street to find internet access so we could determine when and where we had to meet with the higher ups in our program. After doing so we went into a building and started hitting random buttons on the elevator--each floor was a different dim sum restaurant (it's quite bizarre, the door would shut then open and you'd be standing in the middle of the same SHAPED restaurant with different decorations). We decided on the sixth floor and ate dim sum for about two hours--the hargaw and the bao were the best I've ever had, but all in all the empress in Los Angeles now seems pretty authentic.
We had to meet with Michelle (the woman "in charge"--that is to say, she's in control in the same way that the guy who throws the ball onto the roulette wheel controls where it lands) at 4PM in the Hong Kong Central MTR station--which we did after some confusion. The first question Michelle asks me and Meg is where is our luggage as we are supposed to be leaving right after dinner for Yunnan. We eventually explained that it was stupid for us to split up (we leave and then the others follow)--so now the whole group will be going to Yunan leaving tomorrow (short train to Shenzhen, then an overnight train to Yunnan).
We will be working at a former leper colony (no longer any leprosy, I promise) either doing habitat for humanity type work (building houses for the people there) or we will be helping out with the summer harvest for two weeks. At first I was a little upset about this plan--because I came to China to teach. But when will I ever get a chance to travel to rural, Western China to work the wheat harvest. This is as foreign a place as I coudl get, I think. So I'm very excited, and a bit nervous (read, happy some people I know are coming with). The people who live in this area WERE lepers many years ago--they're now cured--but there is such stigma against them that they cannot return to their former lives.
Yesterday, July 1st 2007, was both the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China and National Chinese Communist Party Day. After a very long Cantonese dinner that Michelle got for the group Tri and Meg and I went to watch the fireworks. Tri has just graduated from the Kennedy School of Government so we went to the flat of one of his friends from the K-school who is now a diplomat in Hong Kong (the Chinese government gives you REALLY REALLY REALLY awesome apartments if you're a diplomat, this place is huge). We watched the fireworks from the roof of the building (there were fireworks firing from the tops of five buildings, three on the Hong Kong side, one on the kowloon side) as well as a HUGE display fired from a barge in the bay. We couldn't actually see the ones from the barge (another building blocked us)--but I could hear that it was the biggest display of my experience. We then came back downstairs where we played HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) 10th Anniversary Monopoly. I was really into the game, but around 1AM my jetlag caught up with me (I'm amazed I managed to stay awake from 8AM to 1AM the day after landing in Hong Kong, basically my jetlag is gone) so I left the game and fell asleep on a couch. After the game ended an hour later we decided that it would be too hard to get back to Kowloon (where we are staying) and so we stayed in the apartment (thank god, real air conditioning). I've just woken up, and am about to take a shower (all of the showers in the Kowloon guest house are "wet bathrooms" where the whole bathroom is the shower). Then we'll spend the day in Hong Kong (I am going to try to get a few of us out to Lantau Island).
I don't know if I'll be able to post from Yunnan (I doubt it) as we've been told there may be no electricity or running water. I am going to be one smelly person when I get back.
On Sunday morning we all went and wandered around Nathan street to find internet access so we could determine when and where we had to meet with the higher ups in our program. After doing so we went into a building and started hitting random buttons on the elevator--each floor was a different dim sum restaurant (it's quite bizarre, the door would shut then open and you'd be standing in the middle of the same SHAPED restaurant with different decorations). We decided on the sixth floor and ate dim sum for about two hours--the hargaw and the bao were the best I've ever had, but all in all the empress in Los Angeles now seems pretty authentic.
We had to meet with Michelle (the woman "in charge"--that is to say, she's in control in the same way that the guy who throws the ball onto the roulette wheel controls where it lands) at 4PM in the Hong Kong Central MTR station--which we did after some confusion. The first question Michelle asks me and Meg is where is our luggage as we are supposed to be leaving right after dinner for Yunnan. We eventually explained that it was stupid for us to split up (we leave and then the others follow)--so now the whole group will be going to Yunan leaving tomorrow (short train to Shenzhen, then an overnight train to Yunnan).
We will be working at a former leper colony (no longer any leprosy, I promise) either doing habitat for humanity type work (building houses for the people there) or we will be helping out with the summer harvest for two weeks. At first I was a little upset about this plan--because I came to China to teach. But when will I ever get a chance to travel to rural, Western China to work the wheat harvest. This is as foreign a place as I coudl get, I think. So I'm very excited, and a bit nervous (read, happy some people I know are coming with). The people who live in this area WERE lepers many years ago--they're now cured--but there is such stigma against them that they cannot return to their former lives.
Yesterday, July 1st 2007, was both the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China and National Chinese Communist Party Day. After a very long Cantonese dinner that Michelle got for the group Tri and Meg and I went to watch the fireworks. Tri has just graduated from the Kennedy School of Government so we went to the flat of one of his friends from the K-school who is now a diplomat in Hong Kong (the Chinese government gives you REALLY REALLY REALLY awesome apartments if you're a diplomat, this place is huge). We watched the fireworks from the roof of the building (there were fireworks firing from the tops of five buildings, three on the Hong Kong side, one on the kowloon side) as well as a HUGE display fired from a barge in the bay. We couldn't actually see the ones from the barge (another building blocked us)--but I could hear that it was the biggest display of my experience. We then came back downstairs where we played HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) 10th Anniversary Monopoly. I was really into the game, but around 1AM my jetlag caught up with me (I'm amazed I managed to stay awake from 8AM to 1AM the day after landing in Hong Kong, basically my jetlag is gone) so I left the game and fell asleep on a couch. After the game ended an hour later we decided that it would be too hard to get back to Kowloon (where we are staying) and so we stayed in the apartment (thank god, real air conditioning). I've just woken up, and am about to take a shower (all of the showers in the Kowloon guest house are "wet bathrooms" where the whole bathroom is the shower). Then we'll spend the day in Hong Kong (I am going to try to get a few of us out to Lantau Island).
I don't know if I'll be able to post from Yunnan (I doubt it) as we've been told there may be no electricity or running water. I am going to be one smelly person when I get back.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
I've made it to hong kong.
At 7:15AM when my plane landed it was 90 degrees and drizzling.
I spent the day walking up and down Nathan Road (imagine Broadway, but lined with Banyan trees), looking into shops and just reveling in the locale.
Then I took the ferry across the bay to Hong Kong island proper. I walked through the city (imagine Manhattan, but with a rainforest mountain in the middle, and slightly more asian people) and then took the tram to the top of Victoria Peak.
THere is a path that winds for 50 miles around the whole island; I walked for a while down this path until it started pouring rain (I could actually see teh squall coming across the bay from Kowloon).
I managed, in the evening, too meet up with two other people from Harvard. So while there's still confusion about where we're going (let's just say Harvard deans are now telling the program that if they send us to a leper camp the shit will hit the fan) at least I have people to stay with.
More to say later.
At 7:15AM when my plane landed it was 90 degrees and drizzling.
I spent the day walking up and down Nathan Road (imagine Broadway, but lined with Banyan trees), looking into shops and just reveling in the locale.
Then I took the ferry across the bay to Hong Kong island proper. I walked through the city (imagine Manhattan, but with a rainforest mountain in the middle, and slightly more asian people) and then took the tram to the top of Victoria Peak.
THere is a path that winds for 50 miles around the whole island; I walked for a while down this path until it started pouring rain (I could actually see teh squall coming across the bay from Kowloon).
I managed, in the evening, too meet up with two other people from Harvard. So while there's still confusion about where we're going (let's just say Harvard deans are now telling the program that if they send us to a leper camp the shit will hit the fan) at least I have people to stay with.
More to say later.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Leaving in 12 hours
My flight to Hong Kong leaves in 12 hours.
I land at 7AM on Saturday.
I will spend at least one night in Kowloon, at the north end of the bay. I'm staying with a couple of other people from school. Then on Sunday I may be leaving for Yunnan or Guangxi province. There's been some confusion about what we will be doing for the first two weeks. I'm supposed to be teaching in large cities--but the Chinese government changed final exams for high school students.
What I do know is that I'm going to be gone from now until August 29th. I will be in China, Taiwan and Japan.
I'm excited and nervous.
I land at 7AM on Saturday.
I will spend at least one night in Kowloon, at the north end of the bay. I'm staying with a couple of other people from school. Then on Sunday I may be leaving for Yunnan or Guangxi province. There's been some confusion about what we will be doing for the first two weeks. I'm supposed to be teaching in large cities--but the Chinese government changed final exams for high school students.
What I do know is that I'm going to be gone from now until August 29th. I will be in China, Taiwan and Japan.
I'm excited and nervous.
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