Stranger No More

We were on a mission to go to the school clear across town in order that Jed could talk with the increasingly avoiding Anna. I left the instructions written in Chinese in the hotel room but we suspected that all mini-busses go to the same places. We were right and an hour later at our destination. We were feeling really good about being just in time for lunch and when we walked into the hotel next to the school and got to room 302 we were pretty bitterly disappointed to find that no one had told us the office had moved from the hotel. We had no idea where to find anyone and Carlos’ cell phone was off. After hitting a net café to see if we might run into Scott or Carlos, (we didn’t), we headed back to the school and figured to ask the gate guard person. As I was miming the question she just pointed to the building behind her and signaled four, (si). We found them and had a bit of a bitch session that no one had told us but Scott indicated he had been there right around noon so we figure we must have just missed him. After gorging on lunch, (yeah, it was Chinese food), Jed resigned to not seeing Anna and we left to find our way to the Square to otherwise fill our hours. Since the school is at lunch for two hours there were a bunch of kids shooting hoops on a couple of basketball courts. I ended up playing for about 20 minutes until I couldn’t breath any more. They pretty much cleared out for me and one kid to go one on one. Now, I don’t have mad ball skills or tight handles but I had some height on him. It was playground ball with no fouls and as I gasped for breath I kept saying, ‘Wo shr san-shr-wu!’, ‘I am 35!’ but they didn’t seem to care. In fact when one kid got tired another switched in with fresh legs. Quite a workout and I feel it a bit today. It is intimidating sometimes when you consider that the impression you make is going to be somewhat representative of all Americans. I got run. As Jed and I left I was gasping for air long enough after that he offered me his asthma inhaler.
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Made it to the Nine Dragon Screen. It was right next to the bowling alley we had already been to. Jed remarked that the tour book that we write might not include it. It was pretty anti-climatic but the grottoes are such a tough act to follow. It was pretty much a big blue wall with nine dragons on it. We just did the order wrong, should have marveled at the screen and then gone to the grottoes. The history alone, though, makes it worth seeing in case it sounds like I am completely off of it. The link I included yesterday suggested an hour and a half but there was really no way we could stretch it past ten or fifteen minutes. I suspect at night it is a much more remarkable site with the floodlights on it.

We decided that since we were so close and it was before 1pm, (the price doubles at 1pm to Y10 a game), that we’d bowl a quick game. After getting into our shoes we had about eight minutes to speed bowl. We made it. I bowled a 126. Yup yup. Being too cheap to bowl at the new rate we bailed from there and headed to a foreign language bookstore we had seen. They are pretty much bookstores for the students but offer nothing of great value to us. An English-Pinyin dictionary would be great to have. Pinyin is the Chinese language spelled out using Roman characters.
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Wow. We went yesterday. So amazing. I got so many great pics. I also bought a great old wind-up alarm clock that has a Red Party member waving Mao’s little red book of quotations. It kicks ass. I overpaid at Y50, ($6.00), and was offered one later for Y30, (san-shr), but that is what I get for buying the first one I saw. Jed bough a switch-blade for Y10.

The bus ride back was the most amazing ride I may have ever been on. Loud techno dance music blaring while the driver weaved through traffic. Not just the traffic going our way either. If there is no oncoming traffic, (or doesn’t appear to be as we barrel around corners), all lanes are open for traffic. We had Bai tell him that he drove it like he stole it and he said it was okay because his relatives were police officers. So pretty much just like America. I was hoping that his relatives were doctors. It is unbelievable the way they drive. You never see an accident or even dented cars as they are always riding the horn and the brakes as much as the gas. Yesterday, near where we stay they had a public service display of photos of people killed in traffic accidents blown up to 3′x4′ in the park square to warn people of the dangers. Really seemed inappropriate since it was very near a school and many kids were checking it out. Far too graphic.
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Today in Scott’s Senior II, (high school juniors), class the lesson involved poetry and words that rhyme. After explaining for a while and getting them to offer up rhyming words for a word he provided, he gave them ten minutes to write a short poem. Not everyone got the rhyming thing. In fact, his first class was rough. Very non-participatory and after the allotted time only four poems came forward from a room of thirty-plus. The second group did much better and in fact came up with some great stuff.

I love you. But I don’t tell you.
Because if I tell you I will die.
I am not afraid of death.
I am afraid after I died
Nobody love you so much like me.

Went bowling last night. Met up with Bai and Scott and went to this place that Bai knew. The cost of bowling is dependent on the time of day and since we were there in the evening it was Y20 per game so we only bowled a couple. Bai had to leave to prepare for a college presentation and Scott wanted to head home to go over his lesson plan so there we were, Jed and I, downtown at night again. Went to the ATM and decided to head back to Red Flag Square a different route only to find it blocked by a large historic district. We cut through an alley that looked straight out of Mad Max with random fires burning, some with people huddled around them some without, and bunkhouses for the migrant construction workers. We figure that since we see school girls riding bikes through that we should be fine. As we were about to exit the alley we spotted a nice looking bar to our left and after poking our head in decided to venture in. We ended up in the corner of a balcony with ‘Hello, Darkeness’ by Simon and Garfunkel playing. Rather then be left alone to enjoy it we were soon joined by a very drunk police officer. He kept saying he was sorry, ‘only a little English’ and making gestures like shooting a gun. Oh, and hugging us. I got a picture holding his badge.

I’m stuck with ATM but no travellers checks. Well, I have travellers checks but should have cashed some before I gave my employer my passport to get my work visa. Hopefully he’ll be back this weekend.

If leaving is right
I will choose it
Watching your back is far away
I only tear alone

Some of those kids wrote some deep stuff, eh? How cool is it to be able to write a poem in a foreign language? At the age of 15.

Miss you.

O

Remember the stories about the Japanese coming to America with such a strong Yen, (money, not desire), that they could just purchase whatever they wanted? Yeah, well I bought 3 dvds, (Y23 - $2.50), 2 audio cds, (Y16 - $1.75), a black leather jacket, (Y300 - $36), in a mini shopping frenzy yesterday.

Oh. Did I say Jed was a cool guy? That must have been before he asked me with a straight face in all seriosness if I was alive during the Cold War. Punk. He said he read about it but was too young as it ended to remember anything. He then went on to ask if I ever had to do the ‘hide under your desk fallout drills’. Punk.

We went to the pizza place with Scott and Dan last night. It was really right about what I expected. Think, um, weak school cafeteria pizza with odd things like corn on it. But not in the cool California Pizza Kitchen way.

Hope to meet with the big boss guy today and sort some things out. It turns out that once you are here you have to give a 15 minute presentation to the other
teachers, the Chinese-English teachers and the 3 people on the school staff and if it doesn’t go well you are gone. It is really less about the topic and more about the delivery but I should choose something that I will have confidence in. I feel pretty good having been speaking publicly for almost as long as I can remember I just better pick a comfortable topic. Your suggestions are welcome.

Using my new turbo laptop at the net café for the first time. Cool.

- O