May 8, 2010: Back in the USA!

Yes, I'm back home. My lungs couldn't take China anymore. I'm so glad to be back with my furry kids, back where the sky is blue, where you can buy Newman's Own Honey Mustard salad dressing, and where you can drink water from the tap! I'll have some musings later on my China sojourn.

April 28, 2010: My sweet Sashi

Unlike her glad-handing brother Sami, my Bengal cat Sashi won't let non-family members pet her. While the Chairman of the Board Sami will run downstairs to meet and greet any visitor, Sashi will run up those stairs or at least retreat to a safe distance. Then something unusual happened. I talked to my mother last night, and she told me that recently Mike, Bebe's dad, had stopped by. That's when the miracle occurred -- Sashi entered the kitchen where they were, went up to Mike, and let him pet her! My mother said she couldn't believe her eyes. I firmly believe that Sashi sensed that Mike was feeling grief over the loss of Bebe and was offering her sympathy. I have good kids.

April 24, 2010: So long, Deyang!

Sunday I'm moving to Fuzhou, on the coast across from Taiwan. I was offered a chance by the company I work for to transfer to Minjiang University where a position had opened up. Of course I took it. I have no great affection for Deyang. Don't get me wrong -- the people are kind and helpful, but the city is drab, dusty, and dreary. I can count on one hand the number of sunny days there have been since I came here. From what I have read online, there are a lot of cultural and historical things in Fuzhou (unlike Deyang!). And maybe the students at the University will be more interested in learning (please!). Oddly enough, the students in my one all male class (mostly "bad" boys) all wanted to take pictures with me after our last class! And I felt bad for sweet July, my favorite student, who cried when I told the class I was leaving. As I left my classroom for the last time, it struck me that I had to do something. So I went back to the chalkboard and wrote "Elvis has left the building."

April 21, 2010: Requiescat in pace, Bebe

I learned today that a feline buddy of mine back home had died. I knew he was very ill but was hoping and praying that he would win the fight. His name was Bebe and belonged to our neighbors Pam and Mike. Bebe was a black, long-haired cat, only six years old. He was a big boy and very sweet. I used to "Bebe-sit" when Pam and Mike went out of town for short trips. Bebe was always as good as gold and a great conversationalist. I'll miss our chats.
Bebe developed renal failure. Despite the best care of the good people at the McGehee clinic and his parents' love, Bebe lost the fight. Pam and Mike had to make that decision no parent of a furry kid ever wants to make. Bebe is in animal heaven now. Hey, Bebe, ask for my angel Ming Li. She'll show you around. And go see the Bucket Seal...

April 17, 2010: I was worried about the wind-heat attacks

I've had an awful cold for the past few days, dear readers. You know, the kind that makes you feel absolutely wretched. Last night, I kept waking up with coughing fits (interrupting a lovely dream in which I was making out with Hugh Jackman). In China, you can't buy OTC drugs, band-aids, etc. in the supermarket. You have to go to a pharmacy. Today, when I went on my weekly excursion downtown, I went to a drug store. I showed the clerk "cough syrup" in my handy phrase book and mimed coughing. She consulted the pharmacist who indicated a package with a lovely water color image of a cluster of yellow berries on it. When I got home, I googled the only word in English on the package insert -- Qiangli Pipalu. I got a link to the English website of the manufacturer. I found this (as well as dosage info):
Indication & Action: For cough and yellow-phlegm or difficulty of expectoration , painful swelling of the throat, choking sensation and painful distention in the chest due to wind-heat attacking lung and entering the interior to leading fire.
Thank goodness I got this medicine! That leading fire was getting to me, to say nothing of the wind-heat!
BTW, here's another example of charmingly inept Chinese to English translation (from my apartment complex):

April 11, 2010: East Lake Park

Saturday Leanne and some of her friends took me to East Lake Park, probably the only green space in Deyang. First we climbed the steps up to a pagoda on top of a hill. Leanne said it was 200 steps, and I don't doubt her. My legs were feeling the burn by the time we reached the top! On the way up, I got a panoramic view of Deyang and its omnipresent smog. At the top, the air was fresh and cool, and we got a lovely view of the green park.










We walked down along a path through the woods on the hill. There were tumble-down homes off the path where people live in what could best be described as Appalachian-style poverty. I don't know, however, if it could be any worse than living in some of the urban decay I have seen.
The path went down to the lake which was lined with carnival games of chance. Prizes were mainly stuffed animals of various sizes and kinds (hey, look -- a knock-off Garfield!). One of Leanne's friends gave me a big red plush heart he won tossing bean bags. So sweet of him! There were also carnival rides like the ones that used to be set up in shopping center parking lots when I was a kid. Leanne asked me if I wanted to ride a rickety looking roller coaster. Uh, I'll pass on that! There was a rather down at the heels looking Buddhist temple next to the roller coaster. Guess you could make an offering before trying your luck on the roller coaster.
To be continued...

April 9, 2010: Moe, Larry, and Curly take Deyang

I played some Three Stooges shorts (from the select DVDs I brought to China) for the two classes I had today (8:10 to 9:50am and 4:20 to 6:00 pm). No surprise that the boys were a big hit! Some of the guys in one class even stayed after the bell rang to catch the end of the last short. It was great to hear the laughter and see the smiles. Comedy like the Stooges' knows no cultural barrier. Nyuck-nyuck!

April 3, 2010: I Can Haz Cheezburger...

And I did! When I was in beautiful downtown Deyang the other day, I went to the McDonalds and had a double cheeseburger combo meal (17 yuan or about $2.50). I prefer Wendy's over McD, but this was delicious. I felt like Happy Cat!

Speaking of cats, I saw a mao strolling on the grounds of the apartment complex. Unfortunately, he was too far away for me to get to before he disappeared. Bummer.

Happy Tomb Sweeping Day! We have Monday off for the holiday. Quite a few of my late Friday afternoon class students left early to go home for the long weekend. Wish I could go home for Easter. I'll really miss Grace-St. Luke's Easter morning service.

I went downtown again specifically to get some take-out food from Peoples Supermarket (I saw egg rolls in the cooked food section the last time I was there. I got some and a couple of packages of cooked noodles). Anyway, I also went into the big department store in Deyang -- Yang Yangs. Oddly enough there are two of them within about 3-4 blocks of each other (oh, and both have a supermarket floor!). They have most of the Western department store cosmetics, but, except for Adidas, Nike, and the like, the clothes brands are different. I did buy an adorable purse (the purse brand is cat-themed). What was odd and uniquely Chinese was that, when I was approaching the second Yang Yangs, a small dog ran past me. It was with a woman but, as is the usual case here, not on a leash. I watched as the dog strolled into the open door of the department store. I expected the woman to call it back. Nope, she strolled in after it. I went in, too. Nobody said anything or even raised an eyebrow as she strolled all over the store with Fido tagging along with her. Imagine being in Macys and seeing an unleashed dog sauntering around with its owner. I only hope Fido didn't raise his leg on a shoe display...

March 28, 2010: Mordor, a Mao, and Another Odd Bus Ride

If you felt that the Eye of Sauron felt a bit stronger Saturday, it was because my ring and I crossed over into Mordor. It was totally inadvertent, I assure you. My new personal assistant Leanne, a student-worker in the International Office and a total sweetheart, said she would take me to the biggest supermarket in Deyang. So Saturday morning, along with her friend Song, we embarked upon the bus. After a trip around downtown Deyang, we ended up at our destination…Wal-Mart!!! At home, I don’t go to Wal-Mart because of their corporate political outlook, anti-unionism, and exploitation of workers. But, well, we were there, and I didn’t think I should be rude to Leanne and Song. So I, in my Che Guevara t-shirt, entered the Gates of Mordor. I promise I won’t do it again.

Back in the Shire, after stowing my purchases from the Dark Side in my apartment, told Leanne and Song that lunch was my treat and they were to pick the place. They took me to have fish in a little place in the ‘hood. Each table had a whole in the center with a gas burner in it upon which a metal bowl sat. Seasoned oil in the bowl was brought to boil as a whole fish, chopped into pieces, was dropped in, along with vegetables. I was given a less spicy broth to put the pieces of fish and veggies in, but it was still HOT! Yes, Sichuan cuisine is spicy. It was good though. As we walked back to my apartment, Leanne said she wanted to clean it. Now my apartment needed dusting (I had bought Pledge and a dry mop in Mordor), but it wasn’t that bad (see picture). I figured it wasn’t a diss. Leanne is just that sweet and helpful. Have at it, I said. She and Song mopped and dusted the floors and furniture. I’ve met so many truly nice people in China.

How many people can fit on a Chinese bus? I found out the answer today – as many as the bus driver will allow! I rode downtown today on a double-decker bus (I stayed downstairs). Apparently school is also held on Sunday morning because there was a horde of kids leaving the big middle school on the route to downtown. A horde got on the bus. Yet our Ralph Kramden still kept letting people on the bus at the next stop, despite my telling him "Dude, enough already!" He stopped admitting more riders only when the door would not close. Yet another adventure in Deyang bussing which I survived!

I made amends for going to Wal-Mart by going to my preferred supermarket, “Deyang People Market.” Later, when strolling around a place which had a lot of knick-knacks, toys, sundries, and miscellanea, I found a Che Guevara coffee mug! Of course, I bought it. Wait, it gets better – I saw a mao! He came up to me as I “kitty, kitty-ed” and almost let me pet him.

Tomorrow, I introduce my students to Johnny Cash…

March 26, 2010: Odds, Ends, and TGIF!

I'm so glad it's the weekend. After a bit of warmer weather, it got cold again. People who know me know I like colder weather. However, it's one thing to be able to enjoy nippy weather then be able to go into a nice warm building. It's another thing to have to make a fifteen minute walk in said nippy weather then to have to go into an unheated building to teach for up to four hours at a time. I have never felt so cold in my life. This is the building I teach in. Those open balconies you see are not separated at all from the inside corridors. That cold air just blasts on through! I can only guess what summer will be like...

I saw this bird one day while walking through the neighborhood I mentioned before. I had to walk over to take a closer look. It's a large, beautiful black and white bird chained to a perch. Made me so sad to see it chained up like that.

On a lighter note, the babies and toddlers here are beyond adorable! The parents and grandparents love it when I wave at their pride and joy and say, "Hello babee!"






Some more scenes from the 'hood.:

March 23, 2010: Another Mission Accomplished

Another bus ride downtown! The Ralph Kramdens of Deyang are virtuosi of the horn as they maneuver around the streets of the city. I love how they don't slow down when some slow-moving vehicle is in front of them. Nope, they just lay on that horn! When I was waiting at the bus stop to go home, some moke was walking in the middle of the bus lane, oblivious to the bus horn blaring at him and to the shouts of waiting passengers (including me). He finally moved away.
I opened a bank account today so my paycheck can be direct-deposited. Armed with a piece of paper saying in Mandarin that I needed to open a bank account (I had a Chinese colleague from the college write that out), I marched into the China Construction Bank. Once again a pretty young woman who spoke some English helped me out. I now have a Chinese ATM card!
I ran a few errands before going back to a little sushi bar I had eaten at Saturday. A delicious shrimp tempura sushi dish costs 12 yuan ($1.75!). I walked back to the bus stop through one of the many shop filled streets you find in Deyang. I passed a little restaurant. There, picking at leftover greens on the ground, was a chicken. I wanted to yell, "Run, little chicken, run! You could be tomorrow's special!"

March 22, 2010: No More Aching Back!

Saturday, after getting my cell phone set up (ET called home Sunday!), I asked Zhou You Feng if there was a supermarket nearby. I hoped to find peanut butter which wasn't at my local supermarket. Helpful as usual, she directed me to one. Actually I had been in the first floor of the building which had all kinds of little shops (mostly knock-off design clothes, shoes, etc.)on it. I went up the escalator to the store. It was big (that's what she said...) with a large housewares department, as well as the usual supermarket stuff. Whilst in the bedding department, lo and behold, it saw a long rectangular, molded latex foam pillow. It was thick and cushy...Eureka! I could use this to sleep on on my plywood board, I mean, mattress. I took it home and put it under the sheet where I could lie on it (15 years of Claudia cuddled against me under the covers means I don't move around much at night!). It worked! Yay! Thanks, Bu Xie! But no peanut butter!! :-( Please work on that, Bu Xie.
Here are some more pics of downtown Deyang.

March 21, 2010: Happy Birthday Claudia!

Happy Fifteenth Birthday, little girl! Your mom misses you.

Bu Xie, Zhou Yu Feng, & (hopefully) Relief for My Back

This is Bu Xie ("You're Welcome"), my good luck New Year Tiger (if you haven't figured it out, it's the Chinese Year of the Tiger). I don't know why he has a fish on his nose, but, anyway, I bought him in beautiful downtown Deyang, and he seems to have brought me luck!You see, I went downtown to explore and get international cell phone service. I rode the bus from the apartment complex to downtown (left). Riding in a bus, car, or taxi here in Deyang is an experience. Memphis drivers are models of caution and decorum by comparison! Along with said motor vehicles, there are bicycles, motorcycles, motor scooters, bicycle rickshaws, and pedestrians all in the same street! Horns are honking and lanes are changed constantly. You cross the street at your own risk because the bicycles, motorcycles, motor scooters, and bicycle rickshaws are apparently immune from traffic lights. I've sworn at many a one who has almost mown me down (swearing in a country where nobody understands you is fun ;-)!). When I rode in the taxis to and from Shifang, the cabbies must have wondered about my gasps, whispers, and muttered oaths as we narrowly missed disaster at each turn!
Anyway, having survived the bus ride, I wandered around and did some shopping. Bu Xie was my first purchase.Later I bought some shoes. My Chinese shoe size is 36! I'm a US size 6N, but here I have big feet for a female. In any case, the shoes are cute (sort of Mary Janes but soft leather uppers) and comfortable and fit.
Cell phones are big here (just like the US), and there were scads of cell phone stores big and small downtown. Blaring loud pop music outside the stores' entrances apparently is a marketing ploy whose appeal alludes me. I settled on (or Bu Xie led me) to a very large China Mobile store staffed with young ladies in uniform. I, the Meiguoren (American), walked in. Of course everyone looked at me (I'm used to it now). A pretty young girl asked in English if she could help me. I tried explaining that I wanted a plan so I could call from China to the US (and call locally). The girl, whose name is Zhou You Feng, and I went back and forth with her good but still limited English and my very limited Mandarin ("I don't speak Mandarin" is my best phrase in Mandarin) and a bit of drawing. There was soon a small crowd of young sales associates gathered around us, Zhou You Feng giving them play by play in Mandarin. I decided to say that I needed to call my mother back home since family, especially mom, is very important in China. Bless her heart, Zhou You Feng offered to let me use her cell phone to call my mom (I told her it was late at night back in Memphis)! To make a long story short, it turned out my Motorola Razr could work with a new SIM card. My angel Zhou You Feng guided me through all the rather complicated process. After getting the SIM card, she walked with me (carrying my shopping bags) the several blocks to the CM location where I needed to set up a long distance account. We talked on the way over about me teaching English in Deyang and her wanting to study more English (she didn't have time with her job). I told her that her English was better than a lot of my students (Truth!). In the end, Zhou You Feng and I exchanged cell phone numbers. She said to call her if I needed help with anything, and I told her to call me if she wanted to practice English. What a sweetie! Xie xie ni!
Gang, I'll tell you about the potential solution to my back breaking hard bed problem later...

March 19: The hood

The weather has been lovely here for the past few days -warm and sunny. For the first time I didn't have to wear a sweater and a shawl in the classroom nor have to blow on my hands to keep them warm (I felt like Bob Cratchit at times!). Anyway, during the very long break between my Friday classes -9:50 am to 4:20 pm!- I went out into the neighborhood next to my apartment to go to the great little bakery I had found. This neighborhood is awesome, full of little shops, restaurants (sort of), street vendors, you name it. The first time I went was last Sunday when I took these pictures. Some of the shops are obviously chain or franchise like the one I went in which was like a much larger Claire's Boutique (if Claire's also had office/school supplies and socks and clocks...). It had Hello Kitty! stuff (Hello Kitty! is big over here. Yay!)! Other shops are open fronted, Mom and Pop kind of places.
Pineapple on a stick is big around here. Street vendors, like the one in this pic, sell them. They are cut in a quite artful spiral kind of shape.
(to be continued later...I'm really tired!)

Still March 13: I was right!

Okay, I go to the hotel restaurant for dinner. It was busy but still plenty of tables open. I get taken to a VIP dining room! There I am -- one person at a table for eight. Anyway, I had very good (and spicy!) Kung Pao chicken. When I left the restaurant, I went outside to see the back garden (pictures later). After a bit, I went up to my floor. Guess what? Yep, there was a young lady staffer ready to escort me to my room. Maybe this is like that Fawlty Towers episode -- they think I'm the hotel critic! j/k. Very gracious people (above, hotel garden at dusk).

Added March 19, 2010:
I've finally got internet in my apartment. Here are some more pictures from Shifang.

March 13: Toto, I don't think we're in Memphis anymore.

Greetings, dudes and dudettes! I'm at a "Western" hotel in Shifang (a sub-division of Deyang) that has free internet in-room. I decided to spend the week-end here since the promised internet connection at my apartment is not. Oh, I'm complaining loud and hard about it...we shall see. Anyway, I put quotes around Western when referring to this hotel because none of the staff speaks above minimal English (probably less, if any, French, German, Spanish, etc.) and the beds are the Chinese version of Western, meaning a box-spring. Period. Yep, you're pretty much sleeping on the equivalent of a sheet of plywood. I have the same set-up in my apartment at the college. But I forgive this since I was able to catch up with "Lost" (my brain is being blown) and "The Office" (love Andy and Kevin's "second breakfasts." He's a big Hobbit!). And the staff is so nice and helpful. What's odd is that, when I came back from walking around the part of Shifang near my hotel, there was a young lady staffer by the elevator on my floor to go with me to my room and open the door. She had an earpiece so I think that the front desk staff watched for when I walked into the lobby and called her to say that the clueless Meiguoren (American) chick is back! Seriously, nice people. Glad I know how to say "I don't understand" and "Thank you!" (I say that a lot.)
I had the breakfast buffet here at the Hongda Golden Bridge Hotel. I want my Special K and bagels! I don't think I can get use to veggies at breakfast. Thank goodness for the watermelon and "coffee cake" (closest description I can think of). I selected something that looked like a miniature version of Jack Aubrey's beloved "Drowned Baby" ("Drowned Preemie"?). Looked like a bun but white and glutinous. Not to my taste -- too doughy.
Saw my first Chinese cats today! One let me pet it. The mao (cat) said "meow." I miss my maos!
Folks, this isn't "tourist China" here. This is industrial, earthquake stricken China. The air is a solid here. I might as well take up smoking. To be continued...

March 3, 2010

I'm leaving for Deyang, China tomorrow! It will be a trip of 9,558 miles, a flight time of 22 hours and 29 minutes. I'll be there for almost a year.
These are my furry kids Sami, Claudia, and Sashi (l-r). My mother will be keeping them. I'll miss my babies. Claudia will be 15 years old this month. I'll worry most about her.