Christmas in Sanya, South China's Hawaii :)

A group of four of us, Derick, Kirsten, Jeanette and I, flew to Sanya, South China early in the morning on Christmas Eve.  A few months earlier we'd all made these plans together.  Some of us were wanting to get out of town and simply forget Christmas this year without our loved ones near, and Jeanette was having a milestone birthday the day after Christmas.  So this trip was dubbed "The Christmas That Wasn't and 30th Birthday Blowout!"  This girlie just wanted to get her a$$ in the water and toes in the sand, and pay a little tribute to the Zac Brown Band :)  I took so many pictures in four days, I'll let them tell the story...

So, as I mentioned, Sanya Beach is known as the 'Hawaii of the
Orient.'  It was looking like Hawaii with this giant pineapple plaza.
Sometimes those Chinese architects are just outrageous :)

                                               

One thing I will say about China, is EVERYBODY has a job.  Outside of the
heavy equipment like dozers, cranes, and wrecking balls, all other labor
here is done by hand.  Sewer line needs replaced in the apartment complex?
There will be a whole contingent of laborers with their own pick axes and shovels.
No kidding, they carry their own tools to work.  (I would choose the leaf blower :)
Here a crew was all along the boulevard digging up the foundations for
new utility poles to be installed.  I loved that here in South China
the workers were wearing hats like you might see in Vietnam.

We landed in a small airport and had about a thirty minute ride to our
'deluxe hotel accommodations'. Actually, the Sanya Backpackers Hostel
was perfect- we were just two blocks from the beach and right in town
where all the restaurants and action was to be found- perfect :)
Seriously, though, we had a private en suite room which was great.
We didn't have to stay in a dorm with 10 others, and it still was just $22/night.
The owners were awesome, and we met such cool people who also
'have backpack, will travel'.  That's just how this girlie rolls- one backpack :)

As soon as we got checked in, we dumped our gear and headed
for the beach.  It was cool and overcast, but we were anxious
to see the view, and we were hungry for some fresh seafood.
They have some very strange Christmas decorations in China...

...because nothing says 'Christmas' like a bunch of Chinese lanterns and Co^^ie flags!

If that doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, maybe a creepy Santa
with his tongue hanging out and an Indian dot on his forehead will
make you want to don a cap and say , "Ho! ho! ho!"
China is just so weird sometimes, I can't help but giggle.

Which is why Jeanette and I put on our reindeer antlers
(or moose horns) to take a stroll on the beach.
In China, anything goes.  I mean ANYTHING.

See?!  I mean ANYTHING goes!  I have no words for this...

There's just something about grown Chinese people frolicking in the waves
with oversized kiddie beach toys...how can  you not laugh at this?!

I looked up from my beach chair, and O M G, there
sat a grown a$$ man smoking a cigarette, and drinking
a beer IN WATER WINGS!  How can you not laugh at that?!

I couldn't help myself; I ran right over and had to have my picture with him :)
Then true to Chinese form, all of his friends, neighbors, and relatives came
over with their cameras and iPhones to snap pictures of the green-eyed laowei.
It was fifteen minutes of laughing, smiling, and playing charades.
I was laughing and pointing to his water wings, to which he proceeded
to give me a 'gun show'- which only made me laugh harder!!!
Now I had a grown a$$ Chinese man poppin' a bicep in his water wings!
That's some funny sh*t, right there!

Seeing Bruce and Scooter beach combing in the surf in their
'matching outfits' about sent me over the edge ;)

We enjoyed a tasty lunch on the beach- and so far the vacation was off to
a fabulous start.  It just needed to be about 10 degrees warmer with blue skies.

This was my view from our table at the restaurant.  I love seeing
sailboats at anchor in a harbor...makes me want to be on one of them.
If you look closely behind the motor yacht, there's a submarine at anchor!
You don't see one of those everyday :)

This couple was just too cute; I had to snap a pic.

and dem' Chinese babies are soooo cuuuuute!

Now, the Chinese, they love to snap pictures....of themselves....repeatedly....posing in all sorts of awkward, contrived positions....  It was just comical walking down the beach, watching them.

This looks natural, right?

Or this pose, with the selfie stick?

                         

                                    Or the one in the hat?  Or the other one
                                    frolicking in the surf with her scarf
                                   blowing in the breeze :)

Or this one- she had a whole crowd gathered to take her pic!  Such silliness.

Christmas morning Jeanette and I treated ourselves to brunch, then headed to the beach.

It was at least a little warmer, mid-70's, but still cloudy.

Jeanette and I were hoping to go scuba diving this trip.  It's all we talked about for months.
She had gone diving in the Philippines when we flew there in November.
Well, we went to no less than five different dive shops, and none of them had a dive master
 that could speak English.  At the last shop, they pointed to their sign and said 'English'.
 People, read this sign!  It's mostly Chinglish!  It just did not seem like a safe idea
to have a language barrier with a dive master.  I didn't feel like a game of charades
sixty to eighty feet underwater. We decided we best not chance it.

I looked up from my beach chair, and this guy looked like
he was using a tuning fork on this other guy's ear.  Whaaaatttt?!

I'll be danged; you CAN get your ears tuned up!  I'll pass, thank you.
My mother told me to never put sharp instruments in my ears.

Instead, Kirsten and I decided to build a sandman,
it was Christmas Day, afterall.

And of course, the Chinese beachcombers never miss a photo op :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM SANYA BEACH, SOUTH CHINA!

That evening we ordered pizzas in, and watched my favorite
Christmas movie...can you guess?  I had to keep at least one tradition alive :)

Dining out is interesting fare- you pick your fish,  crab, lobster, squid, eel, sea cucumber, and other strange
creatures from an aquarium, hear them club it in back of a tent, and then it appears on your table
in about 20 minutes with all the Chinese trimmings.  Don't worry Ellen, I could never choose a
puffer fish like your baby Tyson for dinner :/

The day after Christmas, we hopped on a crowded city
bus to go to the Yalong Bay Tropical Paradise Forest Park.
No matter where you go, all modes of transportation in China
 are crowded.  Except for maybe a yak.  You can't pile too many
Chinese people on a yak.

We all chipped in for Jeanette to ride an ostrich for her 30th birthday.  Seriously, how many
 people can say they rode an ostrich for their birthday?!  Happy Birthday, Jeanette, you've
become a treasured friend already.  Here's to your next thirty years, pretty lady!
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFwKen080XY

These next photos of me feeding an ostrich are hysterical-  My faces! lolllzzzz

Please be gentle....

Oh, God, is he gonna bite?!

I can't understand what you're saying....

...but are you sure this really is safe?!  Does it hurt?!

Oh. My. Good. God.  Pleeeeeeease don't eat me!
Seriously, what is up with my face???  I don't even know....

Must get back to my happy place, among the orchids :)

Because here, in the park, I shall cherish every tree and piece of grass
which entertains me to joy and happiness.  Chinglish makes me happy :)

And Chinglish signs with pictures?!  Even better!  How can you not sit
on the throne, look up at the door, ponder a sign like this, and NOT crack up?!
Sadly, I had to wipe the shoe prints off the seat before I sat down.
The former attendant violated picture #1.
And to think I used to b***h about the seat being left up...
There's been a rising evolution to my bathroom b***hing since I moved to China.

Jeanette needed a little liquid encouragement before she
walked across the swinging bridge- her fear of heights and all.
I found it curious that there was a bar next to a swinging
bridge.  In the US, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

How about Jeanette's frozen smile?! 

I thought the view was amazing, you could see clear down to the
ocean and Yalong Bay.  I'd take a swinging bridge over feeding
an ostrich ANY day of the week- no beer involved.

We strolled through some beautiful gardens...

And a misty rain had settled in briefly at the top of the
mountain.  It added to the Chinese ambiance. 

We opted to not take the city bus back, but hailed a taxi
instead.  I sat shotgun, and was in awe of this guy's
thumbnails.  Many Asian men will have a long pinkie
nail or thumbnail.  It is a sign of socioeconomic status
in their culture, an indication that the person does not do
manual labor.  There are hundreds of millions of manual
laborers here in this country, as I mentioned earlier.
He did have pretty nails, but I would not want them touching me!

We had a serious hankerin' for some western food, and we ended
up at this sports bar that was recommended by our hostel host.

The birthday girl got her birthday wish- margaritas
and a Western burger and fries :)  So tasty....

Sanya Beach is an interesting place.  Though it is in the
southernmost part of China, it has a very large Russian
influence, because the island basically developed
through tourism- catering to wealthy Russians as a
vacation hot spot.  There were many Russians on holiday.

I expected to see signs in Russian and Mandarin when we
went to Harbin, China, over the New Year holiday for the
Ice Festival.  It is very north in China, near the Russian border
and Siberia.  I just didn't expect to find Russians in Sanya.
It made for interesting sightseeing and people watching :)
Most every Russian man I saw had a huge beer gut
and a bulbous nose- all that Russian vodka, I suppose.

It was well after midnight, and we were walking back
to our hostel.  True to China form, there are people
working around the clock.  China is always in a state
of flux, and under construction.  An entire crew was
demolishing and renovating what was obviously a
clothing store.  They were pitching pieces of
mannequins out onto the sidewalk- photo op :)))

For our last day in Sanya, we signed up with this Aussie to
take a hike through a mountain village up to a waterfall.  Since
scuba diving in Sanya was a bust, we were especially looking
forward to this hike.  We had heard of squatters villages all over
the country, people who are 'unregistered', and are eeking out
an existence in a self-sustaining way.  This is the sort of thing
I love about traveling to new countries and cultures.

Check out his 'hiking shoes'!

As we hiked our way up the mountain, we came to the village which is a former Japanese Naval encampment.  Hainan
Island was under Japanese rule in the second world war, making Sanya the home port to the Japanese Imperial Navy.
Now the decrepit barracks are homes to about 100 or so Chinese villagers.   They are all 'unregistered', meaning
there is no record of their birth, and no accounting of them in the census.  The impoverished conditions they
live in was very sobering to take in and absorb.  

The mirrors on the doors are to ward off
evil spirits.  It is believed if the 'evil one'
were to see his reflection in a mirror, he
would flee and not enter in to their home.

Likewise, we saw many 'boxes' along the dirt road where chickens
were sacrificed...it is a common tradition to make a sacrifice every 12 days.

It was a very sobering sight with kids playing among the
feral pigs, dogs, cats, chickens, rats, and filth.

In spite of the living conditions, they are self sustaining, essentially cut off
from the outside world. They farm the valley in mostly rice paddies.

They harvest the fruit trees like papayas, mangoes
and coconuts...

They grow banana trees...

They catch fish in the reservoir, and use the damned water to flood their rice paddies.
We hiked along side the reservoir, as we made our way up the mountain...

...to their main 'cash crop'...groves of betel nut palm trees, carefully irrigated and tended to.
These betel nut groves account for 95% of Hainan's national crop.
Here's an article about the industry:

They live in mud encased bamboo huts, while they work the betel nut trees.

The towering palms were beautiful

This is what they harvest and sell.  Betel nut.  It dates back thousands of years
all throughout South East Asia.  The nut, with a piece of leaf, and lime, is
held in the side of the mouth and chewed.  It causes you to salivate like
crazy, and your saliva turns red.  You see red spittle all over the sidewalks
in South China.  I noticed it in Thailand and the Philippines, too.  People
will smile, and their mouths and teeth are stained red from the betel nut.
Sometimes their teeth are completely decayed, and they can have a 'glazed
look about them.'  It's said to have stimulating effects, similar to a cup of
coffee, yet others describe feeling high, and then wanting to sleep.  Like
 chewing tobacco, it is linked to causing oral cancers.  It is not a controlled
substance however, and it is readily available from vendors on the street.

We continued our hike up the mountain...

Where we had a beautiful view, just sitting in nature :)

And the only sound was a waterfall rushing over the mountain rocks

I have been all over the world, and I will NEVER pass
up an opportunity to stick my head in a waterfall!

  

...or to play in the water with a stranger I don't know,
who was wearing only his boxer shorts and a smile :)

Soaking wet, climbing rocks, in a beautiful place- Happiest Girl in China right there :)

Selfie time!

As always, we met such fascinating people, from all over the world.
I love hearing people's stories of where they come from,
how they got to this moment in time, and where they are headed to next.
Listening to people's stories is like food to my soul.  We are all connected.

Something I have become more acutely aware of, since I took off for China on my own a few months ago, is that people are simply people.  There's nothing to fear in leaving home; in fact, there is so much to be gained.  When you are stripped down of your creature comforts, your support network, your daily habits and routines, and your 'home base'...you suddenly gain a deeper awareness of self, and you are forced to simply BE in the moment.  We spend so much of our time in our heads.  We have this constant mind chatter that is always planning, organizing, mulling over past hurts, trying to make sense of our lives, stressing about the future....it's endless.  It's exhausting.  It's pointless, really, because it robs us of the beauty of the moment.  Much of the time it leaves us feeling depressed, or sad, or empty inside, because so much of that mind chatter is self critical.  Why do we spend so much of our waking energy stuck in this negative loop?

Stripped down, we get back to the basics, like really 'seeing' our surroundings, and becoming attuned to each life giving breath we take.  This is why I say I am the happiest girl in China.  It has been a painful process getting here.  I have friends and family who don't understand my motivations.  I am not sure I had an answer for them at the time.  But I realize now, how much we are burdened down by our own pain.  It took me leaving all of that behind, even if for a year or so, to gain a clearer, healthier perspective of my self and my life.  I was not happy where I was; and I was really stuck in the mind chatter.  

Please don't get me wrong. I loved raising my children, all five of them.  Though that time in my life was extremely chaotic and stressful in it's own right, just the busy-ness of a household of seven of us, I can say it was an especially happy time in my life.  I loved being a wife and mother. I loved creating a warm and safe home environment.  I loved cooking for my family.  I loved supporting the kids in their endeavors.  My ex and I were very involved in every aspect of our children's lives, and we all did a bang-up job.  We have five amazing children, who are all successfully making their way in the world, several with families of their own. But once that chapter of my life- 'motherhood'- was essentially over, and I was 'empty-nesting', I found myself caught up in the mind chatter more than ever.  As a result, I flipped my world upside down in a big way, before I came to China.  

Now, I am an eternal optimist at heart, and I have to believe there is goodness to be found in every situation and circumstance.  There are life lessons to be learned, and at fifty-one years old, I know I am not done with growing or learning.  What I want to learn now, more than anything, is simply a new way of BEING.  I want to choose happy, and I want to feel better about myself and my present situation or circumstances- whatever they may be.  I believe happiness is living, fully present, in the moment.  It is a new way of BEING.

So I say, people are just people.  No matter where you are in the world, look around you.  There are people in pain, people who are lost, people working, people who are absently existing, people who are in love, people who are laughing, people who are tired, people who are lonely, people escaping through addictions, and people simply going about their daily lives.  It doesn't matter if you don't speak their language.  We are all connected in our humanness- in our hopes and wishes and dreams. We smile, we laugh, we hurt, we cry- we are humans.  We really need to do a better job of attending to and caring for one another, and it begins with ourselves.  I have discovered that my mind chatter- my hurts, and defenses, and my own emotional baggage- keeps me from really living a life fulfilled. It is the humanistic therapist in me that wants a life truly fulfilled.  Holding on to any negativity is contraindicated to self-fulfillment.  So how does one go about finding that fulfillment?  I am not really sure, but I know that it all begins with being in the moment, and quite simply, smiling.  

I find myself smiling a lot in China, more than I have smiled in a very long time.  I smile at simple things, I smile at curiosities and things I do not understand, I smile when I wake up to a blue sky (which can be a rarity living in Beijing!), I smile when I enter the classroom, I smile on the subway, I smile at people walking their dogs, I smile every morning seeing grandparents walk their little grandchildren to preschool.  There really is much to smile about in this world.  

So these are the things I pondered, as I sat on the rocks, in the jungle, my hair soaking wet from the waterfall, and I listened to the people and their stories all around me.  Soon it was time to leave this moment, to put on my shoes, hike back down the mountain, and back through the village.  

And then, it was like I received confirmation from the universe, that I am right about this 'smiling and living in the moment' thing.  It was as if all the children in that broken down village came out into the street to see ME as we were passing through.  I crouched down to their level, smiled, and laughed, and invited them to play with me. 

  

 And there, you can see, is the happiest girl in China.

So while this trip began with the dread of my first Christmas away from home- 

my head filled with the mind chatter of my mistakes, and hurts, and shortcomings-

 of Christmas traditions blown apart... in a tiny village with children, I began to feel

 that veil of self-recrimination and self-doubt lift.  What an unexpected gift.

Life is beautiful.  

Each and every moment is beautiful.

So, I choose happy.

Jeanette and I placed our dot to signify 'home', and we caught a plane for our next adventure :)
The frozen tundra of Harbin, North China, here we come.

Day 123 Christmas, The Chinese Way

I love Christmas.

It's one of my favorite times of year.  The traditions start in earnest on Thanksgiving, as we pour over the sale ads and map out our Black Friday shopping.  Yep, I'm one of THOSE crazy people out shopping at 3:00am.  I love celebrating the Advent season in church. I love decorating the log cabin. I love burning pine scented candles.  I love building a fire in the fireplace.  I love baking cookies, and decorating the cutout cookies with my girls.  I love setting up the Christmas tree, and decorating the house.  I love giving a 'special ornament' each year to my kids.  I love shopping for the perfect, thoughtful gift.  I love wrapping presents, and making each gift 'pretty'. I love adding a ribbon and charm to each person's Christmas stocking. I love finding stocking stuffers; it's the one time of year I buy lottery tickets, lol.  I love delivering trays of cookies to friends and neighbors.  I love preparing Christmas brunch. I love watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for the umpteenth time.  I love all the traditions I created over the years.  Christmas has always been a special time of year for me.

And the reality is, I blew that apart this year.

All of it.

I filed for divorce, the log cabin was sold, and I took a job 13,000 miles from home, teaching Chinese kids about psychology.  Being alone, this far from everything comfortable and familiar, has made me apply much of that psychology to my own big self.  Being here in China by myself has left me with a lot of time to think about things. Oh, the things you can think.

It's taken me going halfway around the world to find myself, to love myself again, to face my shortcomings and faults, and to smile when I'd rather be crying.  Believe me, there's been plenty of crying.  It's all a part of healing, and I am okay with that.  I have to keep facing forward, finding comfort in the slightest of things, and most of all, maintaining my faith and my sense of humor. I cannot afford to fall down on my own here in China. I only have myself, to pick myself back up again. Without my faith and my heavenly Father, and the ability to laugh at the craziness of my life, I would be lost, for sure.

So with all of this in mind, Christmas looming around the corner was something I just as soon would have liked to forget- except that I couldn't.  Christmas is the celebration of my Savior's birth, first and foremost.  It is also a thousand warm holiday memories, fifty-one years in the making, that have shaped and molded me to this very moment in my life.  So this Christmas, I find myself in a largely agnostic country, away from family and friends, where I don't even own an oven to bake Christmas cookies.  The solution?

Slap on some ridiculous reindeer antlers, and smile :)))
To which one of my students said to me, "I like your
moose horns, Mrs. McDaniel."  I busted a gut on
that one, and told them Santa's sleigh was not pulled
by eight tiny moose!  I then proceeded to recite to
them the entire story "Twas the Night Before Christmas"
from memory- and they were quite impressed :)

Christmas in China is basically the Christmas that isn't.  It just is not celebrated here in China.   Instead, there are sheep and rams going up in the stores everywhere.  The coming year in the Chinese calendar is the year of the sheep.  There are a few Christmas decorations about the city, but just a few...

Here's the one lone Christmas tree in the neighborhood.
With a creepy Strawberry Shortcake Mouse?
Or maybe it's a cat?  I don't even know.
There was no nativity to be found anywhere.

The only time I saw the words "Merry Christmas" was this
lighted display on the east side of the city where there
is a large ex-pat community.  But again, from this sign
Christmas is just for beer, and shopping, and enjoyment,
and more beer....

When I get to feeling sorry for myself I will succumb to
a McDonald's filet o' fish meal for dinner.  This was
greeting me at the entrance of McDonald's, a very sad
half decorated Christmas tree, and an even more sad
falling over tree made of happy meal boxes.  The
only thing about this scene that made me smile was the
thought that my OCD self wanted to evenly disburse
the pathetic ornaments, and straighten up the
happy meal tree.  Yeah, that thought made me chuckle.

It is still strange to me that Christmas is not celebrated in China.  Businesses are not closed.  Schools are in session. The majority of Chinese families do not celebrate with gift giving.  That much makes sense, since so few Chinese are Christians. Still, it is crazy to me that school is in session this time of year! Where's the two week vacation to which I am accustomed?!

The Chinese teachers don't mind working, because December 24 & 25 hold no special meaning. Likewise, the kids don't mind being in school.  Thank God that for the first time ever, in the history of the school, the Western staff was granted a four day Christmas holiday! Naturally, we had to be back to teach on Sunday, December 28th. Working on a Sunday to 'give back' a day off work is The Chinese Way. Geesh....

Well, we tried our best to make a little Christmas magic happen here at BNDS....

My friend, Rob, donned a Santa hat that he wore faithfully the weeks leading
up to Christmas as he taught his guitar class.  (As a side note, I would
like to join his students so I could get reacquainted with playing a guitar.)

My friend Liz had her various choral groups performing carols in the
atrium of the school before lunch time the week leading up to our break.
Take note of another pathetic Christmas tree on the right, with it's star hanging down.
The kids, however, sounded amazing- beautiful four part harmonies :)

There was an "Awardmas" Ceremony the week of our
holiday, which had nothing at all to do with Christmas.
It was just recognizing the academic achievements of
students who are enrolled in the A level degree program.
We have IB, A level, and AP degree programs at BNDS.

I was shocked to see one of my students playing 'background music' as
student's names were called to receive their certificates.  Watson is
the biggest goofball in my class, not your typical introverted Chinese at all.
Yet, when he sat down to the piano?  Holy cow!  I was blown away.
That's what twelve years of dedicated practice sounds like- masterful.

The Advising teams of each grade level held a Christmas
door decorating contest to breathe some holiday
spirit to our sterile, academic facility.

Our team won for Grade 11!  Not all of the kids were present for the
picture, but each of them made a stocking to hang on the fireplace mantle.
I had to explain to them how "the stockings were hung by the chimney with care".
On their stockings, in their attempts at writing letters to Santa, they wrote things like,
"I wish to get all A's this year."
"I hope to get 2300 on my SAT's in January."
"I wish to get to go to my dream school."
"I wish to make my parents and teachers happy."

Christmas has an entirely different meaning here in China, I guess.

What does Christmas mean to me this year?  It's hard to say, really.  I tried to keep some traditions alive from afar.  I searched for the perfect, thoughtful gift on Amazon, and had them packaged and sent to the kids.  I did a bit of Christmas shopping here in China, to take gifts home with me when I visit in February, but even that was a challenge. It was an hour's subway ride with two exchanges to get to an IKEA, the only place I could find Christmas wrapping paper.  It was even questionable Christmas wrapping paper at that.

Nothing says 'Christmas' like a skinny old man, in elf shoes,
carrying a stack of wheat, in the snow,  with a gray kitty following him.
How I longed for even a Dollar Tree to buy some decent wrapping
paper, gift tags, and ribbons :(

Getting a care package from the States this time of year says 'Christmas' !
Thank you, Stephanie, for sending some much needed love at just the
time when I needed it most.  Nothing says <3 like a giant jar of Jif
peanut butter, lotion, earrings, a necklace, scarf and book :)  She knows me well.

Rather than staying in the city, feeling lonely for all things home, and feeling guilty for my Chinese colleagues covering my classes over the holiday, I do what I normally do when I feel blue...

I get on tripadvisor.com and start scoping out the next place I want to go to when I get the chance! There's just something about shopping for flights, looking at accommodations, reading restaurant reviews, and pouring over the 'things to see and do' that just helps me get back to happy.  My daughters Carissa and Ellen do the same thing :)  I have done this ever since I was in college.  As soon as I could scrape some $$ together, I bought a plane ticket for the next school break.  It was my reward for working hard and sacrificing sleep through the final push of each semester's end.  I've continued this tradition all my adult life, too.  I love planning vacations.  I love cross referencing websites for the best airfare.  I really love finding the best hotel deal with the best view, free wifi, and breakfast included! I just get a kick out of finding some place new, some new experience, to put on my bucket list.  I guess planning and organizing trips are a pleasant perk to my OCDness :)

So, my next destination? 

Sanya Beach, South China.  It's known as 'The Hawaii of the Orient'.  Stay tuned!

G'nite, y'all!

Day 119 Celebrations Abound

Though BNDS is a school of primarily Chinese National students, the mission
here is to prepare our students for college in the Western world.  In fact, this
time of year many of our seniors are receiving their letters from applying for
Early Decision at colleges and universities mostly in the US, UK, and Canada.
(Think Dartmouth, Cornell, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, MIT, UCLA, Purdue, etc.)
As part of their 'world education', the school holds an International Day
highlighting the customs and culture of a given country.
Can you guess which country was featured this week by the flags?

MEXICO!!!
And I was so happy to have Mexican food catered to
the students and faculty in the cafeteria at lunch :)
I was also happy to see this guy, whom Len and I
met at his restaurant in a hutong on the northeast side of
 the city.  The fresh pica was amazing! The only thing missing
 was a tasty margarita on the rocks to top it all off! lol

This is my friend Mahoma, who was instrumental in the
planning of Mexico's International Day-
it's his home country :)

All of the following pictures are from our BNDS Christmas party.  I have NEVER attended a Christmas Party like this one!  I mean, they rolled out the red carpet for the faculty and staff.  It was incredible!  As we entered the foyer to the ballroom, we were each handed our first glass of champagne.  It was the first of many glasses of champagne ;)

We had imported cheeses, meats, and crackers during cocktail hour.  You have no idea how tasty it was.  For me to find a decent cheese it's two exchanges and an hour's subway ride across the city. So, unless it's been months since you have had a decent brick of cheese, only then can you appreciate having a platter of cheeses spread before you. It was pure heaven!  

But wait!  The main course! I nearly cried when they brought out our dinner- ROASTED TURKEY! DRESSING!  POTATOES!  SWEET POTATOES! VEGETABLES! BASKETS OF BREAD!  Oh. My. Good. Lord.  The meal was topped off with blueberry cheesecake, too. I had been feeling so homesick for a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner- neither are celebrated in China.  (My Mom, bless her heart, said to me, "What?! You didn't celebrate Thanksgiving in China?!  No, Mom, we all had to work- the Pilgrims didn't land in Asia :/ )  I ate myself silly the whole evening, and didn't feel the least bit guilty about it!

While the beer, wine and cocktails may have helped the evening along, it was so much fun to see and hear everyone laughing and dancing and kicking off the Christmas season.  Christmas is not a holiday that the Chinese celebrate, since it is a Christian holiday.  In fact, the kids were in school Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, business as usual. For the first time though, BNDS gave all the Western teachers these two days off work, plus Friday, to get a five day mini vacation.  Do they know how to treat us right, or what?!  Seriously, I cannot even imagine how much money was spent on this Christmas banquet feast for us all.  It was soooooo nice, y'all :)

This is my friend, Lloyd, looking dapper in his tuxedo!
Lloyd is responsible for ordering textbooks and materials for
our classes, he helps with equipment issues in the classroom
(every classroom is equipped with a smartboard), and if you
ever need a movie, even the most obscure psyc related film,
he can get it for you.  If he doesn't already own it (he has
over 1000 movies in his personal collection), he's got
connections for a bootleg copy :)  Go, Lloyd!

Me and my Honduran friend, Alejandra :)
The picture may have been blurry due to the champagne- oops.

Jarrod, my Calculus teacher friend from the US, was
chowing down on the leftover sweet potatoes for dessert :)

Brandon (Chemistry teacher from Indiana!), his wife, Marie, from the
Philippines, and baby Calioppe, who is the very best behaved little
girl I have ever seen, besides my Emily and Ellen :)

John heading back for more....seriously, why are
all of these pictures blurry?!

Matt (Naval Academy and Harvard grad) is
planting some Christmas sugar on his sweet wife, Kacie.

This is Chase, one of my seven office mates.  He is my
'Second Best Man on the Ground' in China!  He speaks
very good English, and is an invaluable resource for me :)
He teaches me silly Chinese line dances- move over Electric Slide!

Some of my besties here in China, Ali from Honduras, and Zuong from Vietnam :)

There was much singing of Christmas carols, and dancing the night away!

I love this lady, Betty. Not only is she the head schoolmaster, but
we are about the same age and enjoy sharing stories of my
children and her only son.  She wished she had been able
to have a large family, but she was bound by the One Child Policy.
She is from the cold artic city of Harbin, China, up near
the Russian border.  You will see her beautiful city when
I share pictures of our New Year's trip to Harbin.
It was the coldest I have ever been in my life- not even joking.

There are 70 teachers in all in the International Department, from all over the world.  What a great bunch of people :)

And this is my "Best Man on the Ground" in China.
This is my good friend, and office mate, Edwin.  He is a
Physics teacher (and still single, ladies!) and he is one of
the kindest people I have met.  He sings beautifully, too!
He's such a happy person, and a dedicated teacher.
He's awesome.  He reminds me of my big brother,
Kent, who I know I can always turn to when I am in need.
Edwin drew me a map to the hospital, and gave me a
much needed hug when I got the news from the nephrologist.

When the dinner party broke up at 10:30pm, lots of folks headed to KTV.  KTV is karaoke, and the Chinese LOVE their karaoke.  It's also done very differently than back home.  There are huge KTV buildings covered in neon lights all over the city.  But rather than a typical bar atmosphere, you can choose the size of room you want to rent for the night.  With that, you also choose what snacks and drinks you want to be served, and then I guess you sit around and take turns singing to each other.  I would rather sit in a dentist's chair!  Karaoke is not my thing, so I politely bowed out and called it a night. I guess many were at it until the wee hours of the morning, while I was fast asleep :)

Besides, a group of ten of us had a brunch date at Lilly's the next morning.
It was the most delicious Western breakfast I have had since I have been
here in Beijing.  I now know where to go for my favorite meal of the day!
We had to get fortified at breakfast to do our best bargaining at the
silk market- we were all on a mission to do some serious Christmas shopping!

Cheers, y'all!

Day 116 Oh, China, you slay me sometimes :)

I realize I have been 'out of blog commission' for quite some time.  I know, it's bothered me, too, people.  But really, thanks for your questions and concern, I do appreciate it immensely.

The short story for my MIA is serious computer issues, serious internet connectivity issues, serious VPN issues (which is necessary for me to even access Google around the Great Chinese Firewall), two major holidays which netted in two more awesome travel trips (blogs on those vacays will be coming, too) and that brings me nearly to the end of our first semester which includes grading research papers, writing and grading exams, catching up attendance records, and counting down the days until I FLY HOME!!!!  17 days, 12 hours and 42 minutes, but really, who's counting?!  THANK GOD we get the month of February off, this girlie needs a break.

So, many of you already know that I lost my right kidney in what I call a 'cancer scare and God moment all rolled into one' six years ago to this week, actually.  Having just one little feller hasn't slowed me down one iota.  I still sail, snow ski, scuba dive, audition for Survivor (and was medically cleared to participate- and then they chose the sex therapist over me that season- I was THIS close, y'all,) travel the world, dodge Chinese traffic, you know- real dare devil fare.

Well, about two months ago I started having weird symptoms.  Now I am living in a totally new environment, eating all sorts of weird s**t, breathing polluted air like I'm a pack a day smoker, so I don't think much about it.  About three weeks ago, I started pulling the pieces together somewhere deep in my psyche and it dawned on me, "hmmmm.....I wonder if I am having a problem with my kidney?"  When I hit the five year 'all clear' mark, and was released by my nephrologist back home, I assumed I was home free.  When I met with my family doc before coming to China, she assured me I was the picture of health and sent me on my way to China with an armload of samples for all sorts of drugs as a going away present.  Sadly, I burned through the antibiotics in my first six weeks here. The 'Beijing Haze' got the best of me early on.  Suffice it to say, the LAST thing I wanted was any sort of health issue in a foreign country, with an insurance system I don't understand, and a language I do not speak. Saying "Ni Hao!" is about the extent of my Mandarin thus far.

It was time to put on my big girl panties and get some medical answers.  I was experiencing far too many restless nights in the not knowing.  I bravely pulled out my insurance card, got out my reading glasses to read the fine print, and dialed the number.  As I waited, my heart was racing.  When the line picked up, I get automated Mandarin, and that was my first introduction to the Chinese health care system.  I called back listened to the Mandarin chitterish at least four times, before I recognized the numbers for 'press 1 for....' 'press 2 for....' etc.  Thank God that beyond 'hello' I can at least count to 10 in Mandarin.  I said a silent prayer on the fourth go around, and randomly selected 'san' (that's 3) and lo and behold I got an English-speaking person.  Okay, she was a Chinese woman with a very thick Mandarin accent with all sorts of English mispronunciations, but at least it was progress!  I take my victories where I can get them, people :)

She asked the usual demographics, and then got to my list of current symptoms and concerns.  I explained that I had one kidney, and I was having some concerns that it was not doing so well.  I told her I needed a blood and urine test to check my numbers, and I needed to see a nephrologist, if possible, depending on the lab results.  She took down my information, said she would try to arrange for an appointment, and said she would call me back.  I breathed a sigh of relief, hung up the phone, and waited...

...all of 10 minutes.  No joke.  Score one point for the Chinese health care system!

Now, to see a specialist in the US might take you at least 4-6 weeks to get in to your family doc. Only then can you get a referral to the specialist, and only then you will likely be told it will be another 6-8 weeks before you can actually see the specialist.  Sounds about right, huh?  

Did I mention that I called the insurance company on a Sunday afternoon?  And she called me back in 10 minutes with an appointment for Tuesday? As in two days away?  Things were looking better already.

The following day at work, my Chinese office mate, Edwin, looked up the subway lines I needed to take to the east side of the city, drew me a map from the station to the hospital, and he wrote down the hospital name in Chinese characters, just in case I needed to stop some random person on the street to point me in the right direction. Our school liaison assured me that since I was being seen at the 'biggest and best' hospital in Beijing, and my doctor was in the International Department, I should not have any problem with a language barrier.  I was skeptical, but hopeful, about that.

I got up the butt crack of night to join the other sorry suckers making the
morning commute on Beijing's ridiculously crowded subway system.  I
squeezed myself in the back of the last car, and popped a squat on the
floor with the locals.  Squatting is how the Chinese rest.  It's not unusual
to see grown men squatting in the middle of the sidewalk, smoking
cigarettes and chatting it up.  I guess squatting is comfortable for them;
they've had a lifetime of practice at squatting over the squatty potties.
What I didn't take into account is I am 51 years old, with a trick right
knee that is unaccustomed to squatting for an hour long train ride.  I
nearly missed the twenty seconds the door was opened at my stop. It took
 me a good 18 seconds to pull myself up from the squatting position. That left
me less than two seconds to push myself out the door with the rest of the crowd!

With map in hand, I managed to find the hospital in pretty short order, but it was another good twenty minutes of asking no less than five people where the International Department was located.  When all else fails in China, find a young person; they usually know some English. Between Google translate, a good game of charades, and lots of smiling and kind gesturing, I can usually get what I want.  I found what looked like a young candy striper/attendant in a blue and pink coat with a matching hat. Bingo!  She didn't know much English, but soon we were on our way, and I was following her through a labyrinth of hallways, doorways, elevators, in and outside two other buildings, and finally she delivered me to the office of my health insurance.  I bowed graciously to thank my petite pathfinder profusely, as the insurance rep greeted me with a "Good Morning!"  Praise Jesus, somebody speaks English!

Next was the usual fare for first time appointments, except everything about Chinese healthcare is unusual to me.  I simply signed this here, and signed that there, handed over my passport and insurance card and hoped I was on the right track.  I got up at the butt crack night, allowing two hours to navigate my way to the doctor.  By this time, I only had 10 minutes left to go and it seemed I was no where near the doctor's office yet.

I wasn't.

Next I had to go buy a hospital ID card. down the hall around the corner, and God only knows where. Yep, you BUY a hospital card. But it was only 5y, which is all of eighty-five cents. Armed with a new hospital card in hand, I retraced my steps back to the insurance office to simply ask, "Do I get to see the doctor yet?"  Nope, I needed to go to Medical Records.

I tried to explain that I didn't have any medical records with me.  She looked at me like I had three heads, and escorted me on to an elevator. I don't even know if we went up or down, I was so turned around at this point.  It seemed we were in the hospital basement, or maybe the morgue, where we finally ended up at a wire fenced window. Behind the fence I was facing a nurse in a white cap that looked straight out of the 1950's.  I took a look around at the puke green walls and some funky smell I could not identify, and suddenly I had the realization that I was in the middle of a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I was facing what looked like a Chinese version of Nurse Ratchett! My escort chittered in Mandarin to Nurse Ratchett, then said, 'OK. She take care of you.'  As I was left alone, I turned to Nurse Ratchett, and offered my best morning smile :)  She paused to answer the phone, and no less than three other Chinese people came rushing to the window trying to push past me. Where did they come from?! I never even heard them- sneaky SOB's.

See, there's no sense of personal space in China. It is every man for himself.  Lines mean nothing here. Seldom is there ever a formed line to anything, anywhere.  It's simply a mass of Chinese humanity pushing their way toward the fresh vegetables, or to the counter at McDonald's, or through a subway door.  I may be small, but I have quickly learned to push with the best of them.  When I get pushed past pissed off, my green eyes flash, and then they typically will part like the Red Sea for me. Well, those three Chinese men 'got the look' and I believe I saw Nurse Ratchett crack the slightest smile as I stood my ground.

As it turns out, Medical Records is where you get your 'chart'.  For the Chinese, it looks like a composition 'blue book' except it has the symbol stamped in red on the front.  You know which symbol I mean.  I was given what looked more like the typical medical chart.  When the Chinese have an appointment to see their doctor, they first go to medical records to get their blue book. (Hence, the three pushing vultures behind me).  During their appointment, the doctor makes notations in their blue book, and after their appointment, they return their blue book to Medical Records to be stored.  Interesting concept.

Nurse Ratchett handed me my chart (how does it already have stuff in it?) and I ask her where do I go to see the doctor? She shrugged her shoulders, and that was the opening the vultures were looking to swoop in past me. I pushed my way past the three shouting men, and found my way back to the elevator.  I was in the basement afterall, so I found my way back to the insurance office One. More. Time.  I've been at this game of charades and mazes for well over an hour, in the 'International Department' where I was the only Western person I had seen all morning.  (I knew I had good reason to be skeptical about this venture). The only reasonably English speaking Chinese person I could find was back at the insurance office.  By my third arrival to her desk, she was clearly not happy to escort me back to the elevator, to another floor, past a nurse's station, where she ordered me to "You wait HERE."

I politely sat HERE.  'Here' was a hallway of what looks like a converted hospital
floor.  What was formerly a patient's room, is now a doctor's office.  Chairs line
the walls, and tables or racks sit outside each door,which hold the patient's
charts. A nurse from the nurse's station will place your chart in the order
 you are to be seen by the doctor, according to your appointment time. The
table in the foreground was for my doctor, the rack was for a dermatologist
next door.  Nephrology, dermatology- you know, they go together
like peas and carrots.  Further down the hall must have been OB, for all
the expectant mothers milling about.  I am still amazed by the Chinese way,
it is so different from what I am used to.
Notice the blue books laying on the table, where you can also see my chart.

Now, notice that my chart has been moved?  Only because I had to scare the
vultures away.  At one point, there were four Chinese people crowded around that
table. One of them picked up my chart, and they were all reading through
it.  THEY WERE OTHER PATIENTS WAITING TO BE SEEN- WTF?!
Clearly there are no HIPAA violations in China!  I told you these people
 have an issue with personal space and boundaries.  Geesh.

Well, Dr. Wang Li (or Dr. Li Wang, I'm not really sure) seemed to be a nice enough man.  He's about sixty years old, spoke broken English, but we managed ok.  Doctors here in China do all of their own 'work'- they weigh you, check your height, blood pressure, temperature, etc.  I explained my situation, and showed him the results of the medical check I had on my second day after arrival in China.  If you remember, we all had to go through a medical check and register with the police department with in 24 hours of arriving in China, to receive our temporary resident Visa.  I could not read my report as it was all in Mandarin, but I could see some numbers that were in red ink, and I assumed they were about my kidney function.  Let me suffice it to say, my numbers have always been slightly above the normal range, ever since I have had just one kidney. but they have been stable for five years at just slightly above normal.  Dr. Li (Wang?) confirmed what I suspected, but he rightfully wanted to run a new CBC and urine test to get a more accurate picture.  Once I received my test results, I was to call back for a follow up appointment.  I left his office armed with lab orders written in Mandarin, and no clue as to where the lab was located.  I was sent back to the elevator and up to the insurance office.  I wasn't greeted with a friendly 'Good Morning!' by the fourth time I appeared at the insurance woman's desk.  She got me pointed in the right direction, and I had to go to a nurse's station down the hallway. The nurse led me to another waiting area, placed my chart on a table outside another door, and I politely took a seat and hoped for the best.  The vultures descended on the 'lao wai's' (foreigner's) chart once again, to read through my personal information.  This time I didn't even bother.  It's amazing to me how quickly I can adjust to what we ex-pats call "Chinese normal."

I was eventually called in to the office, which was a large room set up like a Red Cross Blood drive. I took a seat behind partition number 'leo' (6) while another nurse dressed in a 1950's nurse's cap got all of her vials and syringes ready.  I am THE WORST about giving blood.  Not in the sense that I freak out, get queasy, and pass out.  I have the world's tiniest veins, and I don't give up blood easily.  She checked both arms, my wrists, the tops of both hands.  I pumped a rubber ball; she smacked my arms. As we went through this whole routine for the second time on each arm, I was wondering how I could play charades to tell her that the nurses back home can usually hit a vein with a butterfly.  By the third and fourth hardy smacks on my arm, she got up and left.  I was all set to pantomime being a butterfly, when she returned with a butterfly in her hand.  Praise Jesus!  I breathed a sigh of relief, she hit me on the first try, and she got her three vials of blood.

Then she handed me two empty vials...

I look at her like, "What's this for?" and she hands me two flimsy little plastic cups (like the size of a child's cough medicine cup). She points to the door, and it becomes clear I am to return with two vials of pee.  Interesting.  I wander the hallways looking for a bathroom sign.  I end up BACK AT THE INSURANCE OFFICE FOR THE FIFTH TIME, and the lady looks up to see my face. She gave me a disgusted look, grunted (the Chinese do this funny grunt thing to show disapproval), and she pointed out and to the right.  Out and to the right I went, glass vials and flimsy cups in hand.

I wish I had taken a picture of the flimsy cups. They weren't actually cups, more like a tiny bowl, that was a bit wider at the top.  Actually, it looked like a miniature version of the plastic dome lid you get to a salad at Wendy's- are you with me?!   It even had a little flimsy tab, like the dome lids on the Wendy's salad bowl. You know what I'm sayin'?  And they were FLIMSY- not the sturdy clear plastic dome of a Wendy's salad bowl lid.  It's important to the story...

At this point, if you are a man, PLEASE stop reading.  Seriously, just. stop. here.

Ladies, you may continue on...

Only a woman can appreciate the calamity about to be bestowed upon me.  If you are in the 'older woman category',  you might want to grab a tissue.  And stop drinking your coffee.  At our age, I am well aware that when a woman gets to laughing, well....

I don't want you blowing hot coffee out of your nose, while you are sitting at your desk at work.   Worse yet, I don't want you giving a urine specimen in your panties as you read about my unfortunate urine specimen tale.

So I am dressed for work, as I hope to return to school after this half day fiasco at a Chinese hospital. I have on dress slacks, heels, a sweater, scarf.  I am carrying my purse, down winter coat, hat, mittens and another scarf-, as it's freezing a** cold in Beijing these days.  Oh, and I am holding my two glass vials, and two FLIMSY cups in my left hand.

I walk in the bathroom, and it smells disgusting.  Worse than any public squatty potty I have been in, anywhere in China.  The floor is filthy, sticky, and just plain gross.  I start stuffing hat, mittens, scarves into my coat sleeves.  I peek in the potty, and of course, it's a filthy squatty potty.  I roll up my pant legs.  I look for a peg to hang my coat and purse, there is none.  I throw my coat over the door, sling my purse over my shoulder, and begin to shimmy out of my drawers with one hand.  It's a helluva balancing act.

I pee in the cup, sort of, and realize there are two cups, one for each vial.  I have the vials in my free hand.  I stop peeing long enough to separate the two FLIMSY cups, and look for a 'clean enough' spot to set the one pee cup on the floor.  I take aim at the second pee cup, and I take a glance at my first pee cup on the floor beside me. PEE IS QUICKLY LEAKING OUT OF THE BOTTOM OF THE CUP!  Wtf?!

Crap! Crap! Crap!

I hurriedly lay the second cup down, and take the rubber stopper off one of the vials with my teeth.  I set the rubber stopper down to pour the pee, which is running everywhere, into the vial.  I'm praying I can get enough in there, because I have pee everywhere.  All of this is happening from a squatting position in a filthy dirty squatty potty, mind you.  Those of you who know me well, know that my OCDness is already in high gear over the filthiness of this whole scene, and now I have pee on the floor, pee on my hands, pee everywhere.  I fumble around, (still squatting) trying to get some baby wipes and hand sanitizer out of my purse.  My purse falls off my shoulder, I lose my balance, more pee spills, and I accidentally KICKED THE RUBBER STOPPER out the door! Can I not catch a freakin' break?!  If you remember from way back when, in my first few weeks here, I had to get used to stepping up into a squatty potty, and remembering to step down out of the stall after my business was finished.  So, the stopper rolled out the door, down the step, and who knows to God knows where.

Pee on one hand, no stopper for the vial, another vial in the other hand yet to be filled, another flimsy pee cup on the floor still, my drawers around my ankles, yet I can't let them really be around my ankles as I am trying desperately to keep everything off of this dirty, disgusting floor- and I am trying to breathe through my mouth through it all....it was at this point when all I could do was laugh.  I laughed my ass off in the stall, as I fell out the door, as I cleaned myself up, and when I found the errant rubber stopper. (Praise Jesus!)  All I could think was, "Oh, China, you slay me sometimes!"  I was laughing so hard I was crying, as I cleaned my everything up at the sink :)





And for the rest of the story....

I got my results back, and it was as I had expected.  I have progressed to Stage 3 Chronic Kidney Disease.  Thankfully, I already had plans to return to the States for our February break. (Yep!  We get the whole month of February off school :)))  I called my specialist from back home, and I am taking my results with me for a consultation when I see him on February 10th.  I am sure I will need to make further adjustments in my diet, maybe medicine, maybe more, maybe not at all.  I am just praying that I can ride out Stage 3 for a good twenty years. Stage 4 is dialysis, Stage 5 is a kidney transplant.

And yet, I remain hopeful.  It could always be worse.  So, I choose happy :)