Case of the Missing Wallet

Yesterday evening, Jon and I hung out with Robin for his last evening in Shanghai before heading back home to the US of A. We had a great time sumo wrestling with his rambunctious 9-year-old cousin, eating delicious food, drinking yummy wine, and relaxing. We were having so much fun that we ended up leaving on the late side to make our train back to Suzhou….we had to seriously book it. We sprinted through the streets, through the subway, to the train station. When we got there (with 4 minutes to spare), I was completely out of breath, my throat burned, and I was all in all exhausted. I passed out easily.

After an easy cab ride, we finally made it back to our dorm. As I unpacked, I started to panic…where was my wallet?!?! I checked, double-checked, triple-checked – nowhere to be found. Did it fall out of my jacket? Did someone take it from my pocket? I was freaking out, and quite angry with myself for losing my wallet. At least there was no money in it (good thing I’m poor, right?).

I immediately called the credit card companies to cancel everything and get new everything sent to my NY home. I still had to get a new license, and cancel my Chinese bank account, but that would have to wait until the next day.

Then this morning, I was in my coordinator’s office planning to meet later on to cancel the Chinese bank card, when she got a call…the most fortuitous call ever! Apparently, my wallet had fallen out of my jacket in the cab, and the kindest man in the world remembered us and where he had taken us, and returned it to the school (everything intact). Hallelujah!

He left his number, so I contacted him and, with scripted phrases, I thanked him for being completely awesome.

Hooray for Chinese taxi drivers!!!

Over and out,

Em

Coach Carter

Last night, we watched "Coach Carter" with Samuel L. Jackson. At first, I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of watching this movie. I even started it halfway (Jon had already watched the first half) because I didn't think I'd miss anything too important. Well, I was much more touched by the characters than I would have thought. Maybe I'm a sucker for this stuff (like Coach Carter's mentality and dedication to helping kids even when the system doesn't believe in them and they don't believe in themselves), but it was still good. Here's a quote that one of the kids on the basketball team who, at first, was antagonistic towards Coach and then found him to be a guiding light in a time of need (it's originally by Maryanne Williamson):

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our dark that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people don't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Pretty moving...and deeply inspiring.

Over and out,
Em

Christmas ala China

Christmas in China is an interesting phenomenon. The only evidence of merry-ness festivities is centered around foreigners. In Shanghai, there are a bunch of fancy schmancy western stores, like Prada, Escada, Zara, Louis Vuitton (sp?)..., that have tons of lights and fake xmas trees and giant signs with oh-so-jolly Santa Clauses and "Merry Christmas" outside. It feels really bizarre, like the only way to celebrate xmas is through super expensive shopping...in a removed westerner way. Not that I'm into the religious aspects (AT ALL), but I'd rather focus on family, friends, and spending warm quality time with one another. It's a little hard to do in this atmosphere. But I'm doing my best. I an giving in to the gift-giving aspect this year, which I'm normally not that good at (I'm more of a spontaneous giver), but I figure I can give my "tourist" gifts as xmas gifts (2 for 1, baby).

Mostly, the part of xmas that has been occupying the most time for me is the xmas performance that my class is doing with the rest of the International Department at my school this coming Friday. I wrote a short play called "A Marshmallow Season" about a girl who really wants it to snow, who feels that the air is so magical this year that it will snow, about classmates' doubt of snow coming (since it rarely snows here in Suzhou), and about the snow that does ultimately come, bringing joy to all (holy corniness). Then they sing Let it Snow, singing along with music....and then 4 students have piano, saxophone, and flute solos, which is pretty cool. I thought it was going to just be awesome all around. But painful and difficult organization and planning has gone into these shananigans. I always seem to do that...make more work for myself. Right now, I can't wait for it to be over!!! I usually shy away from the cheesy xmas festivities and Santa coloring pages and mundane activities centered around a religious holiday masquerading as a Hallmark profiting scheme....eh, the two excuses get intertwined in a whirlwind. But here I had no choice. Well, I guess in reality, I like a little bit of xmas cheer, and I'm excited to see my students perform...I think they're gonna be great. And then afterwards, I can really kick my feet up and relax. Mmmmm....

In other randomness, I've been feeling sick after almost every Chinese meal that I have. Not hurling bad, but gripping-my-stomach bad. I think it might be the pans that they use....or the unclean ingredients. Either would do it. I hope it gets better....but for now, I'll make most of my own food, thank you very much.

Later friends!

C.R.E.A.M.

For those who have not been to the 36 Chambers, C.R.E.A.M. is a Wu-Tang Clan song and an acronym that stands for Cash Rules Everything Around Me. It also reminds me of one of my favorite frisbee cheers (thanks Luke!) Anyways, it's late here in Suzhou and I'm exhausted from my weekend in Shanghai, but I wanted to make a quick note of a recent discovery of mine. A good friend in Suzhou told me that money could be made on blogs by displaying a small google ad on the side. At first, I was skeptical, but I figured that any shot at earning money without doing any work was worth a shot, so I signed up for AdSense and am now displaying a google ad (which you can see on the right side of your screen) on my page. I've been trying to convince friends to click on the link whenever they visit the site and so far their clicks (16) have generated $5.33. Pretty cool! I'm planning on using on pay for all my vegetables using only earnings from my AdSense account :) Haha. Free money is awesome. Please keep clicking!

I anticipate that some of you might have some questions about payment details. Unfortunately, Google is painfully vague about how much each click is worth. From what I can gather, different ad words cost different amounts (the more unique, the more expensive). As a consequence, each click on a "more unique" ad will generate more money for my account. So far, it looks like I am averaging around 30 or 35 cents per click. I like to think of that as 1 lb of tangerines per click. Yum!

- Jon

"Old Godzilla was hopping around Tokyo city like a big playground..."

NOTE: FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T USUALLY READ THE BLOG

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE SONG FROM THE TITLE IT IS THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN OF ULTIMATE DESTINY:



Yesterday I had one of those moments where you just stop and think to yourself "What the hell am I doing here?" (But, in a good way.) I was playing basketball with a handful of security guards from the school and we were doing our best to communicate in broken Chinese and English. I was trying to explain that I was going back to my apartment to cook pasta. They couldn't understand why I would ever want to eat so late (this was at 7:15pm). It's very weird to live in a foreign country, surrounded by people who speak a different language and have a profoundly different way of acting (and seeing the world around them). It's wonderful though. It forces one to appreciate the multi-facetedness of everything around us. There is never one way to look at something. Interpretation matters just as much as the actions/events themselves and we all have our own unique ways of interpreting 0ur environment. I'm rambling on a bit more than I had intended...

I was thinking today about why I am here in China. As many of you know, I have delayed moving to Colorado and deferred my enrollment in my Statistics PhD program for one year to come to China. I came to China with three main goals: 1) explore a new country 2) learn Chinese 3) relax and enjoy myself. So far, I think I'm making pretty good progress all 3 fronts (particularly #3), but next semester I'd really like kick things up a notch in the Chinese studying department. I am going to begin formal instruction at a university. I'm looking at a semester-long, intensive study program with 20 hours of instruction a week. I'm psyched!

我很喜欢打蓝球！

再见！
Jon
P.S. I will continue experimenting more and more with typing in Chinese!

Shanghaied

We had our first visit to Qi Pu Lu (also endearingly called Cheap Street) in Shanghai this past weekend. The street is basically a one-stop shopping extravaganza. It's a bargain hunters dream. There are thousands of little stalls selling everything from freaky wigs to hip-hop sweatshirts and nothing has a listed price (so bring your bargaining skills). The place was teeming with people on Saturday and that only added to the experience. Here are a couple of pictures from our time in Qi Pu:

This is what I would look like if I went platinum and did a lot of drugs.

Wig store.

Grabbing some post-shopping food with the gang!

Happy couple :)

Despite my non-consumer tendencies, I ended up purchasing two items. A new Chinese flannel and a fake Nuggets basketball jersey.

- Jon
P.S. In other news, Hugh taught me how to text in Chinese on my phone. Pretty exciting!

Sugar in Your Gas Tank

It's been a long time since I mentioned anything about my classes. Things have been going really well at school for me. I've been enjoying my classes for the most part. I think I'm connecting with the kids despite the language/age barriers and I'm teaching some interesting material (at least in high school). I don't write much about teaching on the blog because I prefer to keep my work life separate from the rest of my life. I try not to think about work after around 5 or 6pm. This is particularly important for me while I'm teaching because there is ALWAYS more to do to become a better teacher.

This past week my PGA3 (high school seniors) class finished up the material for our math and science classes two weeks ahead of schedule! This is really a testament to the dedication and diligence of my students. I decided that we should have a party to celebrate their hard work... So yesterday, instead of evening class, I met my kids in the music room for their party. Now, I was planning on just going along as an adult chaperone (kind of like chaperoning a middle school dance), but the class had other plans. They did their best to include me in all of the goofy activities that they had planned. The whole party was really bizarre. It started off with a KFC feast (Chinese people LOOOOOOOOOOVE KFC) and then was followed by an acapella performance of some Britney Spears song by one of the students (which was awesome). After a bit more singing and drumming they started playing a game similar to hot potato. If you were the one holding the hot potato you had to perform a "show" of your choice. Basically, this game is all about watching your friends make fools out of themselves. Now, the kids rigged the game repeatedly and forced me to perform shows for them. I'm not much of a singer and I couldn't really think of anything, so I ended up teaching them how to line dance. Hilarious... I really wish I had a video of it. There was a lot more singing and goofy games. It was really fun and I think the kids enjoyed it!

In other news, I have been getting a Joke-a-Day email. Most of the jokes are terrible, but I recently got one that was sort of clever. Hope you enjoy it:

A woman in her eighties made the evening news because she was getting married for the fourth time. The following day she was being interviewed by a local TV station, and the commentator asked about what it felt to be married again at that age and would she share part of her previous experiences, since it seem quite unique the fact that her new husband was a ‘funeral director.’ After a short time to think, a smile came to her face and she proudly explained that she had first married a banker when she was in her twenties, in her forties she married a circus ring master, and in her sixties she married a pastor and now in her eighties, a funeral director. The amazed commentator asked her why she had married men with such diverse carriers. With a smile on her face she explained, ‘I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go.’

- Jon