New blog

For convenience and easier blogging,  I have changed my blog to fizzlegiggle.wordpress.com If you want to follow me it would be great if you visited.  Love you all!

1 hair, 2 hair, 3 hair, 4. Long hair, Short and then some more...

Have you ever considered what it would be like to go bald? You, having no hair there to blow in the wind or the intense sunburns you might receive if you forget your hat. Although I sometimes fear that I'll go bald eventually, I don't regret having my hair about an inch longer than bald.

When I cut my hair short it was liberating. I could wake up in the morning and go without combing my hair. When the wind blew there was only chilly gusts blowing on my face, not strands of hair going wild. I especially enjoyed feeling the wind through my hair which I couldn't experience with the long hair always blocking it. Since it's been one year since I chopped my hair thought I'd share what it's like now.

Yes, it's longer, but not as long as it will be! It'll be super long for a while, I'll get tired of it, and then I'll chop it all off again!! Ha!

On a side note I did survive not having water, but it was weird to shower as if I were camping.

No Water

After a fine afternoon of reciting poetry for the school's sound system we were informed that we would not have running water for the next two days. Apparently the city is undergoing some pipe changes or fixing them or something. I thought I could count on getting to take a warm shower every once and a while, but these next two days I can't even count on a cold one! The advice given to us is "to fill your washing machine and sink with water". Every bucket, filled to the brim just in case you need it the next two days.

Contemplate that too long and I remember that something like this would never happen in the US. Not being able to have running water would be unthinkable and cruel. But do I really need a shower everyday? Or even every other? Apparently in China people don't.

Beauty in a Far Away Land

I learned so much more than before about Chinese culture as I traveled away from my home in Weihai. For example, most Chinese people apparently love Chairman Mao and worship him for what he did for modern China. On top of the Avatar Mountains there were always locks on the railing. In one particular spot there were tons of them with hardly any space for more! People had written their wish on the locks, and thrown the key off the edge of the cliff so that their wish would come true. So, here are the pictures I promised:

On Obstacles

"It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings."
~Wendell Berry

Vacation

Two weeks ago I was more than happy to leave this cold, windy city and venture out into China. The part of China where the sun shines, and the rain leaves you wanting more. This was the dream fixed in the mind of my group and I. Going on vacation was a time for relaxation, warmth, and sitting in happiness.

What actually happened on vacation began as a disappointment, but ended still as week of wonderful exhaustion. As English-speaking people it was very hard to communicate our wishes so we went with the travel agency to get cheaper prices and to avoid getting lost. Going with the agency also meant that we had to follow their plan, the predetermined trip outline. Our foreign coordinator, Kelly, helped save our spots with the agency and tried to explain what places we'd be visiting on our way to Guilin. We booked a tour with a bunch of old people to try to slow down our trip since the trip to Beijing was rush after rush after rush. It turns out that old people go much faster than we thought.

Here is a list of what I places I went to, and what I did:
1. A two day train ride
2. A museum about an ancient Chinese tomb
3. Chairman Mao's hometown and home
4. Arrived at ZhengJiaJie. The Mtns where Avatar was filmed!
5. Walked down a giant staircase to the bottom of the mountain
6. Got a foot massage
7. Walked in ZhengJiaJie
8. Saw the wild monkeys at ZhengJiaJie
9. Went to the crystal store
10. Rode the train again, for one night
11. Elephant Park
12. Waterfall Park
13. Tea Tasting shop and interesting snacks
14. Fountain and hole-in-the-rock park
15. Yangshuo- Li River boat ride
16. Mud caving
17. Riding electric scooters around the countryside
18. Shopping in Yangshuo
19. Watched a traditional Chinese dance show
20. Cock fighting
21. Sang songs with the old people
22. A two day train ride back home

Ten days worth of things to do and places to see. It was a sensational experience, one that I would definitely do again given the chance. In the next post I'll give more details on a few of these, and have my pictures to try to explain the magnificence.

The food finally

So, I know it's been a while, but here is the long awaited cafeteria food we get. It's about the same everyday, with a few changes. The top picture with a bowl on it is breakfast. Lunch and dinner are so similar that I don't know the difference. Try to guess what all this food actually is.

Women's Day

Today is Women's Day! In China all the stores and attractions have discounts, and every woman and girl is told they are pretty. To say,Happy Womens Day, in Chinese is: mei nu kuaile or 美女快乐！

Here are all the wonderful women I work with at the school. Besides celebrating in China everyone back at home in the US should tell someone that she is a pretty girl, a beautiful woman, and a wonderful person.

Hot Pot

I was kinda lazy and didn't take pictures of all the food I ate in the school this week. That will have to wait til next week. I did however get to go to a hot pot restaurant for one of the other teacher's birthday. We all took Maren to dinner, got a cake and had a dance party.(Yeah!) Here are some pictures I took of the hot pot:

When doing a hot pot the server brings you a pot(this one is divided into spicy and not spicy flavor) with water and spices in it. Then she brings you many foods to drop in the boiling water and boil til they're cooked. You take the foods out with your ladels or chopsticks.

Away in Beijing

Our trip to Beijing was too soon and unexpected. We were still experiencing jetlag and the schedule our tour had was not helping our recovery. It was also frightfully freezing outdoors so that walking around was anything but pleasant. This is how the first day began.

We traveled to tiananmen square, the Forbidden City, and a big shopping place. The forbidden city was the most beautiful attraction of the day. It was so gigantic and breathtaking! My favorite part was a garden, probably where all the emperor's wives would hangout. He only has about 1,000.

The second luckily was not as frigid. It was even(dare I say)warm! We visited the Jade Factory, the infamous Great Wall, Olympic Park, and the Silk Store. Here's a picture of a funny fish made out of jade.

The Great Wall--

I really loved Olympic Park. The buildings were so amazing! I can't even imagine being able to swim in the water cube!

The third day we saw the Chinese flag being hoisted, Mao's memorial, the Temple of Heaven, the Pearl Market, and the military museum. It was mostly really really boring. The Temple of Heaven was the exception. It had peace and beauty in a garden setting. We saw the building that is apparently God's office.

The final finishing day to our vacation was wonderful. The summer palace was stunning. It was the best of the old buildings. There were a few buildings surrounding a lake in gorgeous gardens. Here is also located the longest corridor in the world.

Lastly we visited the silk street market. I didn't see any silk weirdly enough, but there were many shops to bargain at. I have found that shopping is so much more fun when there is bargaining. I like to bargain more than any type of shopping.

As our vacation came to a close I decided that it was a very fun and rewarding time to explore Beijing. It began not so good, and ended in joy. We were all overjoyed to be back home in Weihai and loved our cafeteria mystery meal.

Speaking of mystery meals, in high school I always hear the stories that we don't know what we're eating in the school cafeteria. In China we REALLY don't know exactly what we're eating, usually. This next week I'll be taking a picture of every meal to show just how mysterious the food really is.

Home

I'm going to keep this one short since I've mostly gotten used to life here in Weihai.

For the most part my room is fairly normal. A few things that caught me off guard are firstly the no heat situation, and secondly the bathroom. Having no heat is easy to deal with. Just throw on a few hundred sweaters, another ten blankets, five layers of socks and I'm good. The bathroom was ultimately shocking the first time I saw it.

In a very small room we have squeezed in a sink, toilet,(I know pretty normal) a shower stuck to the wall, and a washing machine. There is no shower curtain. We are just supposed to shower in the middle of the room and give everything that happens to be in the room a shower too. We also are not allowed to flush the toilet paper because the plumbing can't handle it.

Each day we go down about 80 steps(we live on the fifth floor)to go to meals, and back up those 80 steps. It is quite invigorating and good exercise. Hopefully I'll keep liking climbing those stairs.

To finish up, here is the view I get from my window. I like it pretty well. What do you think?

Weihai

My flights to China went very smoothly. No delays and fairly comfortable. I had an hour and a half flight to LA, a 15-16 hour flight to Seoul, Korea, and 55 min. flight to Weihai. I got to try Korean food on my longest flight. It was pretty good. Especially the seaweed soup. Yum!

We finally flew into Weihai at around 4:30pm. There we met our foreign coordinator, Kelly. She had a bus waiting for us so we loaded up and started heading to the school where we also live in dorms. The bus drove fast and to us Americans it was very crazy driving. It was quite some time before we reached the school.

When we got to our dorms, we learned many things. There wasn't very much heat, so yes, it's freezing cold all the time(as expected).

In my next post, I'll post some pictures of my dorm here, and tell more about what everyday life is like.

When Insomnia Ends

The last week or two I have totally been freaking out! I have so many new things ahead of me that I guess my mind doesn't know how to handle it in such close range.  I keep talking about moving far away...(but that's what I'm doing isn't it.)...or running away, somewhere the stress can't get through.  Today was the first I felt a lot more okay with the stress.  I still feel scared.  Somehow it's okay.  I can get on with my packing and think more crazy, instead of anxious.  This is good....I think.

I am moving to China in less than a week.  I have so much to do yet every time I try to get something done it just sits there waiting for me to stop worrying, and come do it. I know by next Wednesday I'll be ready to get on that plane and fly away, still I have to think how am I ever going to survive?

The other thing that I'm excited about today is I decided(again) that I will major in Interior Design and Architecture.  I have know for quite some time that I'm into interior design but it always seems WAY too easy! I haven't even considered architecture till now.  It really fits me. I'm always drawing layouts for houses and thinking of better ways to design buildings. For now the path ahead seems a little less fuzzy.  I guess we'll see if it stays that way.

One month left!!

I have spent the last 6 months anticipating the time that I get to go to China.  Now I FINALLY have 1 month left to wait! I'll be spending a lot of time finishing up my preparations(Buying the supplies I need, packing, etc.). 

I will be in Weihai, Shangdong province, China.  To tell a little more about the city I will be living in, Weihai is on the tip of a peninsula in the North part of China.  If I were only going for a good tour or cruise, I'd be very near South Korea and Japan.  Relative to other parts of China Weihai is supposed to be a clean place with good air, and clean, beautiful beaches.  It's also known to have quite beautiful gardens.  Besides the gardens, I'm really excited to live by the ocean for the first time in my life.  I've only been to the ocean once before and from what I can tell, I love being by the ocean.  There's an island with mountains great for hiking about 2 miles off the coast.  I wonder if I could possibly swim to the island, take a hike, then swim back.

My real purpose in going to Weihai is to teach English.  I'll have lots of little Chinese kids to teach and play with.  They're gonna be sooo cute!

This is some of what I know about Weihai, now I'll just have to find out if it's all true.  I'll be recording the marvelous adventures I have here so whoever wants to know can see what Weihai is like.