So, I thought when i came home that life would be slow, calm, relaxing....
Well... That didn't last long. We have Chipmunks in the house. Yes. IN THE HOUSE!
My sisters were ten minutes ahead of me in getting home, and they call in hysterics saying "there is a chipmunk in the house!" It was in the kitchen, ran down the hall and into my sisters room. They went to check it out, and it ran into my parents room. So they shut the door, and put pillows in front of it so that it couldn't get out. When I got home, we grabbed a cardboard box, a stick and the broom and went hunting..... The box was by the door and mom had the broom, and I went looking for the rodent. I flushed him out from under the bedside table and he ran straight into the box. YES! Mom put the broom in front of the box and I closed the flaps and we took the thing outside. Now, chipmunks are generally thought of cute... so I wanted to look at him. I crack the box open a bit and he jumps out at me and runs across the yard... Aiyo!
Well, thats done, right? .....nope. My middle sister left, and my mom and I ran some errands leaving my littlest sister at home. She calls and says "It was on the stairs! It ran back into the basement!" So, mom and I head home to help...
My sister had closed the doors down stairs to try and keep the 'munk in one room. When I get home, Hannah and I head down stairs with the box, and a stick and the broom. I hear it, but can't tell where it is... Then I hear glass tinkling together and the only thing that makes that sound is on top of my dresser. I opened my door and there it is... on top of my dresser! I scare him off and he jumps into my closet runs down my clothes, across my feet (I might have 'eek'ed') under my bed, climbs up my curtain into my window and up into the ceiling..... AH!
Well, I go get the rat trap, put some peanut butter in it, and set it in my room. Grab my pillow and I move upstairs. I don't want this thing to be crawling on my in my sleep.
Hannah goes downstairs to put clothes in the laundry and she screams 'I see it!' So I go back downstairs and there it is, sitting in the corner looking at me. I creep up and place the trap near it, and the box on the ground near it too. But it runs down the length of the basement and disappears into a corner. UGH!!!
Well, we get sticky traps and set them around the basement, and haven't seen them since... We think there are two.
I'll keep you posted... Gonna go check all the traps now.
Until next time.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Post-Post: Year End from the Plane
Year End - Reflection
I’m sitting, mostly comfortable, in seat 37D of American Airlines flight 288 from Shanghai to Chicago. Going on hour four of a nearly fourteen hour flight, and I’m hoping to stay conscious for all of it. Dinner service ended a bit ago, and the cabin lights have been dimmed… so I might be in for an uphill battle with sleep.
I’m writing this because I’m too lazy to reach down and dig out my phone cord, connect it to my computer and work on editing videos. They need to be done, but since my computer and hard drive are already situated on my tray table and I have ten hours, I might as well procrastinate more. But the real reason I’m writing is because I’ve the need to reflect on my life in the last ten months. I blog regularly, and so I am not lacking in the department of getting things out into the world. My blogs have varied between moment by moment run downs of my life’s events and emotional pondering. I enjoy writing both styles, and I think this one will be more of the latter.
I had all these thoughts I wanted to share, but as I’m sitting here…hum of the plane in my ears above the sound of Elle Goulding singing… nothing comes to mind. Isn’t that always the way. There’s a moment where the dams could burst— where tears could pour, screams could burst, and words never allowed to be unsaid could be spoken — and in that moment you know you can’t. So you put on your best ‘little dutch boy’ face and stick a finger in the dam so it doesn’t burst. For me, usually I just want to get by myself before I let go. Public shows of the ugly cry or strings curse words is rarely beneficial. But then, when I am alone… the dam is no longer ready to burst. The mind is a strange thing that way.
I digress… my thoughts are still not appearing, but I’ve had a new one. Numbers. You may or may not know that I was a Math major in college. I graduated as a Math minor, but only because I couldn’t stay in school for one more year - I’m one class away from being officially a Math major… So that’s what I call it. (Again with the digressing) Numbers. I like numbers. I like being able to work with them. To test myself. Finding new ways to add or multiply quickly. I admit, proudly, that I do math problems for fun. (#go check out khanacademy.com) Numbers don’t lie…. as someone wiser and probably dead once said “two plus two is always four.” The world can be broken down into numbers. This web page you are reading is a collection of zeros and ones called binary code that the entire internet uses.
What do numbers have to do with my life? Well, I’m going to break down my first year in China into numbers…. Here we go.
10 - the number of months I was in China. The number of months I didn’t get to hug my mom. The number of months that I had a home somewhere new. Where no one I grew up with ever saw. The number of months that could produce a child. It’s mind blowing to think someone could have found out they were pregnant just after I left and they’d have a baby by now.
13 - The day of the month I use to count. I left the US on September 13… So I always count months based on that date. Oct 13, Nov 13, Dec 13, Jan 13, Feb 13, Mar 13, Apr 13, May13, June 13….
9 - The number of coffee mugs I collected from the various cities I visited. My idea of a vacation includes a combination of a few things: outdoors, fewer than acceptable showers, new experiences, food, and if it’s a proper civilized adventure - there is a Starbucks where I can buy a mug. It might be the one thing that makes me high maintenance. And I don’t care. I love the Starbucks mugs. I have one from nine different places around the world. (11 if you count the two I have from America that are slightly different)
2 to 7 - The jump in countries I’ve visited. Before I graduated China I had placed foot in USA and Canada (which almost doesn’t count) But now returning home, I’ve been to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong (which just recently was absorbed as a special area of China so….) and China. There is this ‘game’ of sorts that I heard about during the past year - It’s called the Travel Age. Your travel age is the number of countries you have been to. In the last year, I’ve aged from 2 all the way to 7. The point of the game is that your actual age, and your travel age should match. Which means, I’ve got a ways to go…. But I like this game. And I’m going to play forever…. =)
13:50 - Thirteen hours and 50 minutes…. The estimated time of our flight. We are making good time, and I think we’ll land 45 minutes early…. No complaints on that one.
# - This isn’t a number. It used to represent a number. Now it’s called a hashtag. Its a marker for other things. (#nosuchthingastoomany) And I am fully guilty of using them regularly. I don’t twitter - I ‘gram. Instagram may or may not be addicting, and I love it. I think I figured it out once that I ‘gram on average 8 pictures a day. Now, I don’t. But when I am traveling it is really easy to throw 10 to 15 up a day… so averaged, 8 is about right.
20 - I don’t know if I even want to include this number because I’m not sure of it… But it’s apart of my year reflection. I am guessing I’ve lost 20lbs this year. Now, I’m not certain if this number is even close. But I do know that my weight has shifted. I’m not carrying it around my middle so much as in my legs. All the walking and biking I’ve done has beefed up my leg muscles. The other indicator of shifted weight, is that none, I repeat none!, of my pants stay up unless they are elastic. And even some of those are temperamental. This could totally be a result of no dryers in China. Nothing has the option to shrink back up. I’m gonna get home, wash and DRY my jeans and we’ll see for sure.
% - This one isn’t a number either…. This is more of a concept. Percentage. Percentage of time, and of life that I’ve missed, and that I’ve gained. I’ll start with the more depressing end. I’ve missed so much in the last 10 months at home. My little sister’s first year of college, and her visits home. My other little sister got contacts, braces, and grew a foot. I missed it. I didn’t get to see her play volleyball or basketball. And those are the easy things to measure because they are visible. My mom probably scrapped, and she got her hair cut. My dad might have thought up of a new classic dad joke, and I didn’t get to give him shit for it. [Speaking of dad jokes, I just heard a good one. Here goes: Dad and son are are in the kitchen. Dad pours a cup of coffee and son asks “How’s the coffee dad?” Dad replies “Ah, like having sex in a canoe.” Son, confused, asks “What? is that good or bad?” Dad answers, “Means it’s close to water” Dumps the coffee and walks to the living room.] So there are a lot of things I missed with my family. Now, for the slightly more positive side. I gained so much in the last ten months. Things my family might not ever get to experience. All of the numbers above outline them. I scuba dived in Thailand. I saw Ankor Wat in Cambodia. I drank too much wine in Singapore. I ate scorpions in Beijing. I hung off a mountain, literally, in Xi’an. All of these things are fairly normal for me. I have put on this backpack, again literally, of worldliness. Packing my hiking backpack with a weeks worth of clothes and getting on a train is normal. I am so thankful for the opportunity to go and do and see all that I have. But it’s something my family hasn’t done. Each person is individual, but until this last year we were all very close. We lived similar lives in the same place with similar experiences. And now there is this very large block of different. I don’t really have a point with this observation. I haven’t had a ton of time recently to think about home and being different. But a month or so back I thought about it. And farther back than that we were told about re-entry, and how sometimes the places are the same, but you are different. I’m curious to see how ‘home’ looks and feels with my worldly backpack on.
I’ll be on the ground in about 8 hours and I’ll let ya know how the first few days go.
Until next time.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Beijing ! !
Once we returned to BJ proper, there was ample time to explore the more touristy sections of town. Nate, Kirstin, Hannah, Jen and I set off into town to see what we could see....
We ended up down on Wangfujing street... which is popular among tourists and Western folks because of the crazy food available. We weren't there for long because it was extremely busy and crowded but we did sample some interesting cuisine...
Here's the list:
- Scorpion: There were skewered and moving prior to a quick deep fry and salting. Tasted a big like popcorn chicken. Not bad at all.
- Cocoon: Looked like turds on a stick. Was airy and crunch and the after taste was awful! I think they were silk worms, but we're not sure....
- Snake: tasted like fish... had a strong sea food taste. Very tough. You could tell it had spent its whole life moving, because it was a tough muscle to eat.
They were all deep fried and salted and.... Hey, you only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough.
Later in the weekend, I also had some spicy squid... Which was fishy, and really really spicy but good.
Saturday was the wedding! Hannah (an FoC teacher) and Jacob (a Chinese man) got married in the afternoon. It was a great service, a good meal, and the dancing to follow was a ton of fun! About 40 or 50 FoC members were there to celebrate and on top of the wedding it was just excellent to fellowship with each other. Most of us haven't been together since February.
We danced into the wee hours of.... well we had to leave the hall at 1130. But we started dancing at 8.... so it was hours long.
Needless to say, my body was done.... Two nights of sleeper trains, climbing a huge ass mountain, hiking to the great wall two consecutive days, not sleeping one night, walking all over BJ, and then dancing all night.... My muscles kept saying "SIT!" and my mind kept saying "There's so much to see!" and I was inclined to listen to my head..... haha.
Sunday after the wedding, I ventured down to Tiananmen Square and meandered some shops there, and then we explored Olympic park, and hit up a hot foreigner street and then back home late again.... Sleep is really just a suggestion at this point.
Today (Mon) has been real chill, and I've been able to tell you about my adventures.
And lastly.... Unbelievably.... It definitely hasn't sunk in yet, but I fly back to the US of A tomorrow afternoon. Somehow I've been gone for ten months. I've lived as an expat for nearly a year of my life and not only survived, but I've thrived! I've been awakened, I've been made even more alive. I've seen culture, food, and people that I'd not even heard of prior to September last year. I've made friends from all over the world, and a piece of my soul will always remain in China. I'm coming back in two short months, but today marks the end of a section of my life. But at the same time, today is the starting gun at the beginning of another spectacular adventure. Here's to re-entry and reverse culture shock. To homemade chocolate chip cookies from mom, and cheese curds. To being able to hug my mom, and see my little sister play basketball. To movie quote wars with my other sister and a pedicure with Gram.
America, here I come. Brace yourself. ;)
Until next time.
We ended up down on Wangfujing street... which is popular among tourists and Western folks because of the crazy food available. We weren't there for long because it was extremely busy and crowded but we did sample some interesting cuisine...
Here's the list:
- Scorpion: There were skewered and moving prior to a quick deep fry and salting. Tasted a big like popcorn chicken. Not bad at all.
- Cocoon: Looked like turds on a stick. Was airy and crunch and the after taste was awful! I think they were silk worms, but we're not sure....
- Snake: tasted like fish... had a strong sea food taste. Very tough. You could tell it had spent its whole life moving, because it was a tough muscle to eat.
They were all deep fried and salted and.... Hey, you only live once. But if you do it right, once is enough.
Later in the weekend, I also had some spicy squid... Which was fishy, and really really spicy but good.
Saturday was the wedding! Hannah (an FoC teacher) and Jacob (a Chinese man) got married in the afternoon. It was a great service, a good meal, and the dancing to follow was a ton of fun! About 40 or 50 FoC members were there to celebrate and on top of the wedding it was just excellent to fellowship with each other. Most of us haven't been together since February.
We danced into the wee hours of.... well we had to leave the hall at 1130. But we started dancing at 8.... so it was hours long.
Needless to say, my body was done.... Two nights of sleeper trains, climbing a huge ass mountain, hiking to the great wall two consecutive days, not sleeping one night, walking all over BJ, and then dancing all night.... My muscles kept saying "SIT!" and my mind kept saying "There's so much to see!" and I was inclined to listen to my head..... haha.
Sunday after the wedding, I ventured down to Tiananmen Square and meandered some shops there, and then we explored Olympic park, and hit up a hot foreigner street and then back home late again.... Sleep is really just a suggestion at this point.
Today (Mon) has been real chill, and I've been able to tell you about my adventures.
And lastly.... Unbelievably.... It definitely hasn't sunk in yet, but I fly back to the US of A tomorrow afternoon. Somehow I've been gone for ten months. I've lived as an expat for nearly a year of my life and not only survived, but I've thrived! I've been awakened, I've been made even more alive. I've seen culture, food, and people that I'd not even heard of prior to September last year. I've made friends from all over the world, and a piece of my soul will always remain in China. I'm coming back in two short months, but today marks the end of a section of my life. But at the same time, today is the starting gun at the beginning of another spectacular adventure. Here's to re-entry and reverse culture shock. To homemade chocolate chip cookies from mom, and cheese curds. To being able to hug my mom, and see my little sister play basketball. To movie quote wars with my other sister and a pedicure with Gram.
America, here I come. Brace yourself. ;)
Until next time.
GWA: Meets THE GREAT WALL
This blog is titled "The Great Wall Adventure" and the purpose behind the name was I'd be in China and the Great Wall is a staple of China.... I still believe this, but China is so so so much more than just the Great Wall. Also, It took me ten months to get to the Great Wall. But it was a heck of a trip there.
I arrived in BJ (Beijing) from Xi'an on Thursday morning. (I had to think about that for a bit... all the days blur together when you're traveling) We took the subway to our 'home' for the weekend, and then gathered camping supplies and headed out to the Great Wall. Another friend, Mike, borrowed a car from a friend and was able to take all the supplies while the rest of us subway/bus/taxied out to the rendezvous point. We hiked up into the woods about 10 or 15 minutes and chose a prime camping point, and then hiked another 20 minutes to the base of the wall. The section we were near is called the 'wild wall' because its overgrown heavily. We crawled into the base, and up to the top of the wall and took a look around. We returned to camp, and each of us had a job. I started the fire, Becca helped with wood, Ben and Kirstin and Thomas set up camp a bit, Micah and Hannah and Nate were all over getting supper ready. We made spaghetti. Mike drove back into town to get Jen from the train station. Its about an hour or so by car.
After dinner we gathered around the fire and talked and sang.. FoC loves to sing. The rain set it about that time, and we scrambles to set up tents. I should mention that upon initial attempts to set up the four tents we brought, only three of them had poles, and some of the rain flys didn't match up. The group decided that it was nice, and we all had sleeping bags, so we would just sleep under the stars. Rain shot that plan in the face, and so there were were.... Setting up mismatched tents in the dark, in the rain, and among friends. Again, it was Hannah that chimed in with a quintessential quote, "Getting stuck in the rain alone is miserable, but getting stuck in the rain with friends is an adventure." And we expanded that to our whole ordeal. It could have sucked, been awful, full of complaints, and huddling in tents. But we laughed through it, sang through it and kept the fire going to dry off as we got wet. =)
It was about 1 am when we turned in, and the girls tent had five of us. So I channeled my inner sardine for about an hour and a half, and then decided to just get up. I rustled up the fire, and got a good flame going and a short bit later a few others woke up and headed up to the wall to try and see a sunrise. (still raining , mind you) I had just climbed 6000+ meters on Wed. and decided to tend the fire. Later in the morning, we all were relaxing around the fire, and suddenly the rain quit, the sun came out and broke up the clouds and blue sky appeared like a gift from G-d. We packed up camp a bit, and then headed up to the wall because blue sky! That second trip to the Wall was soooooo worth the rain and no sleep. I could see for miles, the wall stretched along the ridge, nestled into the dark green of foliage around it.... We climbed up to a turret and just gazed in awe at the ancient technology that created the wall, and the blessings of a crisp blue sky filled with fluffy clouds.
The only tainting in my mind was the idea of the Great Wall in its original form and also its current state. I would have loved to see the wall when it was built. To have seen its glory, how the rocks fit together and were patrolled to watch for mongols.... But then again the wall workers died by the thousands during construction and the wall didn't even serve its purpose. But also.... I would love to see it today had it been untouched by humans. To see what nature would do to it.... Because even the section of 'wild' that we explored was rebuilt some. The bricks were too new, not nearly enough erosion for how old the wall is..... But I did get to see two ancient wonders in less than a week. Both of them older than Jesus. Wow.....
But my legs were yelling at me again because of the hiking. haha.
The last thing for the day was the car ride home. Mike's friend loaned him a car. A Jeep Compass. Its a mini SUV. Seats five with a 'trunk' space. Well..... We had nine people and all our gear in the Jeep for the ride home...... Mike driving, Thomas in the passenger seat, Nate on the center console with stools and bags around them. Becca in the trunk space stuffed with bags and sleeping bags and gear around her. Then back seat was Hannah, Kirstin, Ben and I on the seat.... or mostly.... with stuff around our legs and then Jen sprawled across the top of us. It was one heck of an adventure and we all poured out of the car after the hour n half ride into town with indents on our legs of gear and other people, and a few of us couldn't feel lower extremities anymore..... Ha!
It's something that only happens once and is told forever. I made one comment that seemed to sum up the whole experience. I said "bases happened".... as it 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the back of a car..... (raise one eyebrow) We are all closer because of that ride. Haha
Until next time.
I arrived in BJ (Beijing) from Xi'an on Thursday morning. (I had to think about that for a bit... all the days blur together when you're traveling) We took the subway to our 'home' for the weekend, and then gathered camping supplies and headed out to the Great Wall. Another friend, Mike, borrowed a car from a friend and was able to take all the supplies while the rest of us subway/bus/taxied out to the rendezvous point. We hiked up into the woods about 10 or 15 minutes and chose a prime camping point, and then hiked another 20 minutes to the base of the wall. The section we were near is called the 'wild wall' because its overgrown heavily. We crawled into the base, and up to the top of the wall and took a look around. We returned to camp, and each of us had a job. I started the fire, Becca helped with wood, Ben and Kirstin and Thomas set up camp a bit, Micah and Hannah and Nate were all over getting supper ready. We made spaghetti. Mike drove back into town to get Jen from the train station. Its about an hour or so by car.
After dinner we gathered around the fire and talked and sang.. FoC loves to sing. The rain set it about that time, and we scrambles to set up tents. I should mention that upon initial attempts to set up the four tents we brought, only three of them had poles, and some of the rain flys didn't match up. The group decided that it was nice, and we all had sleeping bags, so we would just sleep under the stars. Rain shot that plan in the face, and so there were were.... Setting up mismatched tents in the dark, in the rain, and among friends. Again, it was Hannah that chimed in with a quintessential quote, "Getting stuck in the rain alone is miserable, but getting stuck in the rain with friends is an adventure." And we expanded that to our whole ordeal. It could have sucked, been awful, full of complaints, and huddling in tents. But we laughed through it, sang through it and kept the fire going to dry off as we got wet. =)
It was about 1 am when we turned in, and the girls tent had five of us. So I channeled my inner sardine for about an hour and a half, and then decided to just get up. I rustled up the fire, and got a good flame going and a short bit later a few others woke up and headed up to the wall to try and see a sunrise. (still raining , mind you) I had just climbed 6000+ meters on Wed. and decided to tend the fire. Later in the morning, we all were relaxing around the fire, and suddenly the rain quit, the sun came out and broke up the clouds and blue sky appeared like a gift from G-d. We packed up camp a bit, and then headed up to the wall because blue sky! That second trip to the Wall was soooooo worth the rain and no sleep. I could see for miles, the wall stretched along the ridge, nestled into the dark green of foliage around it.... We climbed up to a turret and just gazed in awe at the ancient technology that created the wall, and the blessings of a crisp blue sky filled with fluffy clouds.
The only tainting in my mind was the idea of the Great Wall in its original form and also its current state. I would have loved to see the wall when it was built. To have seen its glory, how the rocks fit together and were patrolled to watch for mongols.... But then again the wall workers died by the thousands during construction and the wall didn't even serve its purpose. But also.... I would love to see it today had it been untouched by humans. To see what nature would do to it.... Because even the section of 'wild' that we explored was rebuilt some. The bricks were too new, not nearly enough erosion for how old the wall is..... But I did get to see two ancient wonders in less than a week. Both of them older than Jesus. Wow.....
But my legs were yelling at me again because of the hiking. haha.
The last thing for the day was the car ride home. Mike's friend loaned him a car. A Jeep Compass. Its a mini SUV. Seats five with a 'trunk' space. Well..... We had nine people and all our gear in the Jeep for the ride home...... Mike driving, Thomas in the passenger seat, Nate on the center console with stools and bags around them. Becca in the trunk space stuffed with bags and sleeping bags and gear around her. Then back seat was Hannah, Kirstin, Ben and I on the seat.... or mostly.... with stuff around our legs and then Jen sprawled across the top of us. It was one heck of an adventure and we all poured out of the car after the hour n half ride into town with indents on our legs of gear and other people, and a few of us couldn't feel lower extremities anymore..... Ha!
It's something that only happens once and is told forever. I made one comment that seemed to sum up the whole experience. I said "bases happened".... as it 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the back of a car..... (raise one eyebrow) We are all closer because of that ride. Haha
Until next time.
Xi'an and one hell of a mountain
So, I've been traipsing all over China for two weeks, and haven't had a chance to tell you about it!
I'm going to try to remember it all and get it all in with out writing a whole novel in the process. =)
After spending a week in Hangzhou, I traveled with my friend, the amazing Hannah R. and our Chinese friend Summer to Xi'an. We took an overnight train leaving at 4 and arriving and 9am.... It was a good trip and I slept like a rock. Once we arrived in Xi'an, our first stop was the Terracotta Warriors! One quick bus ride out there and we were in business. It was real hot, but because we traveled to northern China overnight the humidity was low and I appreciated that!
The Warriors were pretty awesome. It was spectacular to see the reconstructed statues, but also really sad. This emperor, this ruler in ancient China was so afraid of death and what would happen to him once he could no longer control his life that he built this huge collection of 'things' that would be with him in death. These things that are still on earth, that have crumbled into pieces and are barely recognizable anymore.... (sigh...)
But the idea of these ruins being older than Jesus was pretty cool. And the area is an ongoing archeological dig... which meant that the crumbled warriors are still being excavated and reassembled. So awesome!
After seeing the warriors we headed into town, stopped at Starbucks, and then hit up Muslim street. A famous food street that has all the local favorites, and specialties of Xi'an. We had mutton soup, and homemade yogurt. All delicious. Then, we headed back to the train to go out to Huashan mountain.
We got some sleep, and then the next morning we hit the mountain!! Our hike started at 5am and boy.... did it start. The trail started off as all uphill path ways that made my calf muscles scream. But that wasn't the worst part of it.... Once the uphill finished, the stairs began. All vertical, super steep stairs that never ended.... Once the steps started, so did the chains. The paths had chain railings, and on the steep vertical stairs they were necessary for clambering up the 'steps'. It was really quite like rock climbing. And the names of these places wasn't much better... There was the 1000 foot gorge. Where all you could see walking thru it was a sliver of sky above. And then there was the sky ladder. A shorter climb but vertical like a ladder and sky above. I could tell I was alive the whole way up because my muscles were shouting their opposition to what I was putting them through, and my heart was pounding both in my chest and in my ears. I will never climb it again, but I am so glad I did for a few reasons. First, the view from the top!! Oh.... the wonders and majesty that is G0d's creation took my breath away. The peaks that floated in the sky and stretched for ever and were layered like a bunched up sheet across the land. Second, the experience at the top called "Plank Road in the Sky". There are no words to describe how terrified, excited, stoked, 'bahhhh' I was to do this. Let me paint you a picture.... Harness around your upper body. Both arms strapped in and clipped in the front. Then you have two carabineers on straps leading from those chest clips that you use to connect to the side of the mountain. Imagine walking a dog, but you are the dog. Then, you climb down a stone/ metal bar latter to a wooden plank bolted to the side of the mountain where there is pure rock on one side and nothing but airspace on the other. 6000 plus meters of drop under 12 inches of wood. It was breath catching, nerve wracking, heart racing, eye opening and any other awe emotion you can think of. Hannah said at one point 'I can't open my eyes wide enough!' And that's really the only way to describe it. There was so much nature to take in... And no way to really capture it except in person. My memory holds that beauty now....and that is enough. I was a dare devil as per the norm, and clipped myself to a bolt and then leaned back to hang off this wall, and I sat down on the wood plank to feel nothing but air beneath my soles.... to understand the grandeur that is a mountain. I could use a whole book worth of adjectives and metaphors to describe this experience, but nothing would suffice. So I'll leave it here.
We had to hike to a neighboring peak and then took a cable car down to the bottom. Bus back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and headed back to Xi'an, and caught an overnight train to Beijing. I was in Xi'an area for a total of 1.5 days. It was a whirl wind tour for sure, but I enjoyed. (once I stopped wheezing from the mountain climbing)
Until next time.
I'm going to try to remember it all and get it all in with out writing a whole novel in the process. =)
After spending a week in Hangzhou, I traveled with my friend, the amazing Hannah R. and our Chinese friend Summer to Xi'an. We took an overnight train leaving at 4 and arriving and 9am.... It was a good trip and I slept like a rock. Once we arrived in Xi'an, our first stop was the Terracotta Warriors! One quick bus ride out there and we were in business. It was real hot, but because we traveled to northern China overnight the humidity was low and I appreciated that!
The Warriors were pretty awesome. It was spectacular to see the reconstructed statues, but also really sad. This emperor, this ruler in ancient China was so afraid of death and what would happen to him once he could no longer control his life that he built this huge collection of 'things' that would be with him in death. These things that are still on earth, that have crumbled into pieces and are barely recognizable anymore.... (sigh...)
But the idea of these ruins being older than Jesus was pretty cool. And the area is an ongoing archeological dig... which meant that the crumbled warriors are still being excavated and reassembled. So awesome!
After seeing the warriors we headed into town, stopped at Starbucks, and then hit up Muslim street. A famous food street that has all the local favorites, and specialties of Xi'an. We had mutton soup, and homemade yogurt. All delicious. Then, we headed back to the train to go out to Huashan mountain.
We got some sleep, and then the next morning we hit the mountain!! Our hike started at 5am and boy.... did it start. The trail started off as all uphill path ways that made my calf muscles scream. But that wasn't the worst part of it.... Once the uphill finished, the stairs began. All vertical, super steep stairs that never ended.... Once the steps started, so did the chains. The paths had chain railings, and on the steep vertical stairs they were necessary for clambering up the 'steps'. It was really quite like rock climbing. And the names of these places wasn't much better... There was the 1000 foot gorge. Where all you could see walking thru it was a sliver of sky above. And then there was the sky ladder. A shorter climb but vertical like a ladder and sky above. I could tell I was alive the whole way up because my muscles were shouting their opposition to what I was putting them through, and my heart was pounding both in my chest and in my ears. I will never climb it again, but I am so glad I did for a few reasons. First, the view from the top!! Oh.... the wonders and majesty that is G0d's creation took my breath away. The peaks that floated in the sky and stretched for ever and were layered like a bunched up sheet across the land. Second, the experience at the top called "Plank Road in the Sky". There are no words to describe how terrified, excited, stoked, 'bahhhh' I was to do this. Let me paint you a picture.... Harness around your upper body. Both arms strapped in and clipped in the front. Then you have two carabineers on straps leading from those chest clips that you use to connect to the side of the mountain. Imagine walking a dog, but you are the dog. Then, you climb down a stone/ metal bar latter to a wooden plank bolted to the side of the mountain where there is pure rock on one side and nothing but airspace on the other. 6000 plus meters of drop under 12 inches of wood. It was breath catching, nerve wracking, heart racing, eye opening and any other awe emotion you can think of. Hannah said at one point 'I can't open my eyes wide enough!' And that's really the only way to describe it. There was so much nature to take in... And no way to really capture it except in person. My memory holds that beauty now....and that is enough. I was a dare devil as per the norm, and clipped myself to a bolt and then leaned back to hang off this wall, and I sat down on the wood plank to feel nothing but air beneath my soles.... to understand the grandeur that is a mountain. I could use a whole book worth of adjectives and metaphors to describe this experience, but nothing would suffice. So I'll leave it here.
We had to hike to a neighboring peak and then took a cable car down to the bottom. Bus back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and headed back to Xi'an, and caught an overnight train to Beijing. I was in Xi'an area for a total of 1.5 days. It was a whirl wind tour for sure, but I enjoyed. (once I stopped wheezing from the mountain climbing)
Until next time.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Adventures in the H Zeeee
So I'm spending a week in Hangzhou helping my 'cousins' with an English camp. And while I've been here, there have been some awesome adventures in the last few days. I'll run them down for ya....
- Visiting the beautiful West Lake in Hangzhou. Its considered the most beautiful place in all of China.
- A quick visit to Shaoxing to get my passport and see town with a visiting friend. It was a whirl wind, but a good time.
- Getting a foot massage where I soaked my feet in tea while they rubbed my shoulders, and they got all the dead skin off my feet, and it was most wonderful.
- Rock climbing!! We bussed/hiked up a mountain, and climbed through the bushes to a rock face where we climbed. It was awesome! And yes, it was actual rock climbing with harness, rope, belayer and real rocks with no set route. I got stuck for a few minutes at the half way point as I figured out how to hoist myself over a little ridge and keep climbing. The view from the top was so worth the climb and the sore arms that came a day later. haha.
- Swimming in the Bamboo river. Its a place near here that is in a botanical garden. We swam near a small waterfall and it was warm and basically fantastic. I love to swim and haven't gone since Thailand. I didn't catch anything from the water... so don't worry.
- Visiting the beautiful West Lake in Hangzhou. Its considered the most beautiful place in all of China.
- A quick visit to Shaoxing to get my passport and see town with a visiting friend. It was a whirl wind, but a good time.
- Getting a foot massage where I soaked my feet in tea while they rubbed my shoulders, and they got all the dead skin off my feet, and it was most wonderful.
- Rock climbing!! We bussed/hiked up a mountain, and climbed through the bushes to a rock face where we climbed. It was awesome! And yes, it was actual rock climbing with harness, rope, belayer and real rocks with no set route. I got stuck for a few minutes at the half way point as I figured out how to hoist myself over a little ridge and keep climbing. The view from the top was so worth the climb and the sore arms that came a day later. haha.
 |
| The view from the top! |
 |
| The view straight down... you can barely see my belayer. (he's wearing a blue helmet at the very bottom between the trees) |
- Visited the tea fields near here. I'd been there before, but it was cool to see again.
- Whew! Are you tired? Because I am.... Haha.
- OHH, and I almost forgot we explored a cave! I got dive bombed by a bat. And got a little muddy. But the weirdest part was that as we stood at the exit the air coming out of the cave was so cool that we could see our breath. The temperature difference between in and out of the cave was at least 20 degrees. Crazy!!
The schedule for the next few days includes KTV (karaoke), helping people move apartments, biking and taking selfies around Hangzhou, training up to Xi'an to see the terra-cotta warriors, and climb Mount Huashan (google 'mount huashan southern peak'.... just do it), then training over to Beijing, and flying home. AHHH!! It's getting so close. And I've still not convinced myself that I won't be returning to Shaoxing after my adventures.
Until next time.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Home
Home:
- A house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person or family
- the place in which one's domestic affections are centered
- a dwelling place or retreat of an animal
- the place/region where something is native or most common
Synonyms: abode, dwelling, habitation
- Home is where the heart is
- Home is where your rump rests - Pumbaa
- Home is where you go and they have to let you in
- Home is where the laundry is free
- Home is a safe place where we can go as we are and we won't be questioned -Maya Angelou
- Home is where the Wi-Fi connects automatically
I was writing this post in my head today as I rode my bike around town. I thought I had used the title before, and didn't want a duplicate. But upon inspection, I realized I hadn't written a post all about home. And, as you can see, the term 'home' has a history. It's definition is subjective to the person using it. It's been used in famous quotes. It's a part of multiple everyday idioms. There are songs dedicated to home, going home, and finding home. It's the 162nd most commonly used word in the English language. (No, I didn't know that... I just looked it up)
There are two reasons for my fixation on the word 'home.' First, I'll be leaving my home this weekend and setting out for another home, and second, my roommate Laura left the apartment today, and she leaves China tomorrow morning. Let's approach these one at a time.....
First, my departure. The concept of leaving Shaoxing for two and a half months is weird. I'm leaving a large pile of my belongings here because I know I'll be back, but the time between then and now seems unreal. I'm leaving for Hangzhou and I'll be there for a week, and then traveling to Xi'an province before going to Beijing. And then I'll be coming back to Shaoxing right? Like all of my other travels I'll be coming home right? Well... yes, but I'll be going to my home in America. The term 'home' becomes ambiguous and frankly, confusing when used so often. According to the Merriam-Webster definition, my usual residence is Shaoxing.... Or at least it has been for the last nine months. But, my native home is the bright yellow room in northern Wisconsin. The place that is most common for me is Shaoxing, but the place where my family dwells is Wisconsin. Do you see my conundrum? I'm not saying I have to decide on one or the other because I'm a firm believer that 'home' is the ground under my feet. I can make my home anywhere.... But rather, my point is this: Going Home is a concept that is so foreign to me. During my college years, that meant going back to WI. For nine months, going home meant my six floor walk up in Shaoxing. The idea of actually going back to my bed, to the house I share with my parents and sisters hasn't been an option for so long that it doesn't seem real. I think I'm trying to vocalize an emotion and I'm not sure how I'm doing..... The only thing I can compare it to is the idea of Spring in January. You know it exists. You know its coming. But it's been so long you're leery, and you're content with the snow.
The second thought is all about Laura. For the last couple years of college, and now the last year in China, Laura and I have spent a large majority of our time together. And we lived together for nine months. Now she is going home, finding an apartment, buying a car, and finishing up details for her wedding. She's diving into domestic life. Its awesome, and I'm excited for her, but I realized something. Our friendship is going to change now. We will never again be roommates. We won't see each other everyday. I will see her in July for her wedding, and possibly next school year if she visits China... But who knows where life will lead us after that. I know that we will still be friends, and that we'll strive to see each other...But our friendship will be different. Not worse, just different. It's like when you graduate from high school or college. Move to a new city or gain a new sibling. Things won't ever be as they were prior to the event. I guess I'm having a nostalgia moment because I had so much fun this year. There will never be another in my life like Laura.
Life will never be the exact same.... and a large part of me knows that its supposed to be this way. I'm excited for the unknown, for what's coming, for new adventures. I'm nervous that when I go home to America everyone and everything will be different. Either the place or the people will have changed, or I will have changed and feel differently about things. And then I'll be coming back to China.... I guess the only way to find out is to just keep moving... One foot in front of the other, finding my way home.... I'll see you soon!
Until next time.
- A house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person or family
- the place in which one's domestic affections are centered
- a dwelling place or retreat of an animal
- the place/region where something is native or most common
Synonyms: abode, dwelling, habitation
- Home is where the heart is
- Home is where your rump rests - Pumbaa
- Home is where you go and they have to let you in
- Home is where the laundry is free
- Home is a safe place where we can go as we are and we won't be questioned -Maya Angelou
- Home is where the Wi-Fi connects automatically
I was writing this post in my head today as I rode my bike around town. I thought I had used the title before, and didn't want a duplicate. But upon inspection, I realized I hadn't written a post all about home. And, as you can see, the term 'home' has a history. It's definition is subjective to the person using it. It's been used in famous quotes. It's a part of multiple everyday idioms. There are songs dedicated to home, going home, and finding home. It's the 162nd most commonly used word in the English language. (No, I didn't know that... I just looked it up)
There are two reasons for my fixation on the word 'home.' First, I'll be leaving my home this weekend and setting out for another home, and second, my roommate Laura left the apartment today, and she leaves China tomorrow morning. Let's approach these one at a time.....
First, my departure. The concept of leaving Shaoxing for two and a half months is weird. I'm leaving a large pile of my belongings here because I know I'll be back, but the time between then and now seems unreal. I'm leaving for Hangzhou and I'll be there for a week, and then traveling to Xi'an province before going to Beijing. And then I'll be coming back to Shaoxing right? Like all of my other travels I'll be coming home right? Well... yes, but I'll be going to my home in America. The term 'home' becomes ambiguous and frankly, confusing when used so often. According to the Merriam-Webster definition, my usual residence is Shaoxing.... Or at least it has been for the last nine months. But, my native home is the bright yellow room in northern Wisconsin. The place that is most common for me is Shaoxing, but the place where my family dwells is Wisconsin. Do you see my conundrum? I'm not saying I have to decide on one or the other because I'm a firm believer that 'home' is the ground under my feet. I can make my home anywhere.... But rather, my point is this: Going Home is a concept that is so foreign to me. During my college years, that meant going back to WI. For nine months, going home meant my six floor walk up in Shaoxing. The idea of actually going back to my bed, to the house I share with my parents and sisters hasn't been an option for so long that it doesn't seem real. I think I'm trying to vocalize an emotion and I'm not sure how I'm doing..... The only thing I can compare it to is the idea of Spring in January. You know it exists. You know its coming. But it's been so long you're leery, and you're content with the snow.
The second thought is all about Laura. For the last couple years of college, and now the last year in China, Laura and I have spent a large majority of our time together. And we lived together for nine months. Now she is going home, finding an apartment, buying a car, and finishing up details for her wedding. She's diving into domestic life. Its awesome, and I'm excited for her, but I realized something. Our friendship is going to change now. We will never again be roommates. We won't see each other everyday. I will see her in July for her wedding, and possibly next school year if she visits China... But who knows where life will lead us after that. I know that we will still be friends, and that we'll strive to see each other...But our friendship will be different. Not worse, just different. It's like when you graduate from high school or college. Move to a new city or gain a new sibling. Things won't ever be as they were prior to the event. I guess I'm having a nostalgia moment because I had so much fun this year. There will never be another in my life like Laura.
Life will never be the exact same.... and a large part of me knows that its supposed to be this way. I'm excited for the unknown, for what's coming, for new adventures. I'm nervous that when I go home to America everyone and everything will be different. Either the place or the people will have changed, or I will have changed and feel differently about things. And then I'll be coming back to China.... I guess the only way to find out is to just keep moving... One foot in front of the other, finding my way home.... I'll see you soon!
Until next time.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Annual Dragonboat camping; Year 1
HI! How are you?
This past weekend was Dragon Boat festival. I don't know what they celebrate... I didn't see any dragons. But I saw a few boats. BECAUSE... I was camping on the beach. Yes. Beach.
So here's the sitch.... Tony, Seth, Marie and myself planned a little jaunt to Zhoushan. Which is East and South of Shaoxing. But, you're thinking to yourself, isn't Shaoxing on the east coast of China? Well, yes... but not actually on the ocean. I'm getting ahead of myself... Let me start again.
(insert thoughtful moment)
Okay, Tony, Seth, Marie and I left for Zhoushan on Saturday. It was a three hour bus ride from Shaoxing. We stopped in town, and grabbed a taxi to the beach. It was overcast, and misting on and off, but not awful. The air was still pretty warm, but the wind picked up quite a bit as we hit the shore. After a moments debate, we set off down the beach toward a spot for our tents. In a jiffy we had our small little tents pitched, and were searching the beach for fire wood. I've camped a ton in my short life. I've even 'roughed it' a few times... but this was different. We built a fire, and had a cozy little time the first night. It rained as we slept, and Sunday was quite wet. We headed into town to see what we could see, and in search of coffee. We wanted to find a coffee shop to sit down in and spend a few hours because the beach had an entrance fee until 5pm... And we weren't gonna pay. However, our search of the very small town proved futile. Finally, we noticed some chairs and a table in the lobby of a hotel. We entered and explored a little, and our wanderings led us to a multipurpose room that was basically abandoned with a few desks and four chairs. Luckily, that was the number of people we had... so we decided to camp out for a bit until the rain quit or we could go back to our tents. We played cards for an hour or two and then were getting antsy.... Until we noticed a ping pong table behind a pillar. YES! We set it up (it was in two pieces) and discovered that there was only one paddle. HUGE LET DOWN!! But, wait, what was that odd shaped thing next to the table?? A ping pong ball shooter?? AND WE'RE BACK UP!!! So, we poured the bucket of ping pong balls into the machine and lined it up and began to play one at a time. But as happens with mid twenty year olds.... it soon turned into a war of 'person with paddle' vs 'everyone else'. The shooter would shoot a ball, and the paddle person would try to hit one of us with the ball, as we would dodge, and then throw back..... Needless to say, there were around 100 ping pong balls laying around the room at the end of each session... Which we promptly picked up and began the whole thing over again. =D! It was a lot of fun.
After the hotel got old, we left and headed back to the beach. The rain had quit for the time being, and we were curious if our tents had suffered from it. Upon our return we discovered everything intact except for Maries sleeping bag had gotten really wet. Like wringing wet. Which was unfortunate, but luckily my sleeping bag unzipped completely and we could share it. We wanted a fire on Sunday night too, but wood was wet, and conditions weren't exactly favorable. There was intense wind.... We had picked up a large stack of newspapers from the hotel, and had some toilet paper to help us get things started. After nearly two hours of barely lit newspaper, almost lit twigs, and building a rock retaining wall to block the wind, we got it! And had a nice little fire going for a few hours before the rain set in again, and we called it a night.
Miraculously, Monday morning dawned clear, sunny, and warm! We woke, and decided the ocean needed to be tested. So around 7am we hit the waves. And they hit back! The water was cold, and the waves were sizable. Surfing could have happened, but we settled for body surfing. Which is not as easy as one would think... I definitely went ass over tea kettle a couple times, and eventually was able to ride a wave or two. It was a ton of fun!
We packed our 'dong-she' (stuff) and headed out around 10am to catch the bus back to town and our bus to Ningbo, and then our train to Shaoxing. It was a short weekend, but so much fun. Despite the rain, we had some laughs, some good conversation, and some awesome camping. I had forgotten how much I love camping. After we returned to town, we set up the tents to brush any extra sand out of them and laid out damp sleeping bags. As we finished repacking the tents, Tony and I decided that camping over Dragon Boat festival is gonna be an annual thing. Next year, same time, different place.
Until next time.
This past weekend was Dragon Boat festival. I don't know what they celebrate... I didn't see any dragons. But I saw a few boats. BECAUSE... I was camping on the beach. Yes. Beach.
So here's the sitch.... Tony, Seth, Marie and myself planned a little jaunt to Zhoushan. Which is East and South of Shaoxing. But, you're thinking to yourself, isn't Shaoxing on the east coast of China? Well, yes... but not actually on the ocean. I'm getting ahead of myself... Let me start again.
(insert thoughtful moment)
Okay, Tony, Seth, Marie and I left for Zhoushan on Saturday. It was a three hour bus ride from Shaoxing. We stopped in town, and grabbed a taxi to the beach. It was overcast, and misting on and off, but not awful. The air was still pretty warm, but the wind picked up quite a bit as we hit the shore. After a moments debate, we set off down the beach toward a spot for our tents. In a jiffy we had our small little tents pitched, and were searching the beach for fire wood. I've camped a ton in my short life. I've even 'roughed it' a few times... but this was different. We built a fire, and had a cozy little time the first night. It rained as we slept, and Sunday was quite wet. We headed into town to see what we could see, and in search of coffee. We wanted to find a coffee shop to sit down in and spend a few hours because the beach had an entrance fee until 5pm... And we weren't gonna pay. However, our search of the very small town proved futile. Finally, we noticed some chairs and a table in the lobby of a hotel. We entered and explored a little, and our wanderings led us to a multipurpose room that was basically abandoned with a few desks and four chairs. Luckily, that was the number of people we had... so we decided to camp out for a bit until the rain quit or we could go back to our tents. We played cards for an hour or two and then were getting antsy.... Until we noticed a ping pong table behind a pillar. YES! We set it up (it was in two pieces) and discovered that there was only one paddle. HUGE LET DOWN!! But, wait, what was that odd shaped thing next to the table?? A ping pong ball shooter?? AND WE'RE BACK UP!!! So, we poured the bucket of ping pong balls into the machine and lined it up and began to play one at a time. But as happens with mid twenty year olds.... it soon turned into a war of 'person with paddle' vs 'everyone else'. The shooter would shoot a ball, and the paddle person would try to hit one of us with the ball, as we would dodge, and then throw back..... Needless to say, there were around 100 ping pong balls laying around the room at the end of each session... Which we promptly picked up and began the whole thing over again. =D! It was a lot of fun.
After the hotel got old, we left and headed back to the beach. The rain had quit for the time being, and we were curious if our tents had suffered from it. Upon our return we discovered everything intact except for Maries sleeping bag had gotten really wet. Like wringing wet. Which was unfortunate, but luckily my sleeping bag unzipped completely and we could share it. We wanted a fire on Sunday night too, but wood was wet, and conditions weren't exactly favorable. There was intense wind.... We had picked up a large stack of newspapers from the hotel, and had some toilet paper to help us get things started. After nearly two hours of barely lit newspaper, almost lit twigs, and building a rock retaining wall to block the wind, we got it! And had a nice little fire going for a few hours before the rain set in again, and we called it a night.
Miraculously, Monday morning dawned clear, sunny, and warm! We woke, and decided the ocean needed to be tested. So around 7am we hit the waves. And they hit back! The water was cold, and the waves were sizable. Surfing could have happened, but we settled for body surfing. Which is not as easy as one would think... I definitely went ass over tea kettle a couple times, and eventually was able to ride a wave or two. It was a ton of fun!
We packed our 'dong-she' (stuff) and headed out around 10am to catch the bus back to town and our bus to Ningbo, and then our train to Shaoxing. It was a short weekend, but so much fun. Despite the rain, we had some laughs, some good conversation, and some awesome camping. I had forgotten how much I love camping. After we returned to town, we set up the tents to brush any extra sand out of them and laid out damp sleeping bags. As we finished repacking the tents, Tony and I decided that camping over Dragon Boat festival is gonna be an annual thing. Next year, same time, different place.
Until next time.
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