Day 428 I just want to flush my d**n toilet!

China tries me some days.... it's been several of THOSE days as of late.  I had to succumb to a Big Mac and fries earlier this week to avoid a near breakdown.  You think I'm kidding?  Not even.

For a country with 1.4 billion people, you would think there would be a way to mainstream things in the name of efficiency.  I have decided that this is not the case, as every body needs a job in China. 

Take for example "cards"....

I must carry no less than ten cards since coming to China, and
that does not include the three credit/bank cards I brought with me.
I have a coffee card, a school ID card to purchase lunches and items
from the convenience store, a card to swipe to get into my gate and
building at the apartment complex, my China bank card, the subway/
bus card, a hospital card, an insurance card, a gas card, an
electricity card, and a 'reclaimed water' card. So. Many. Cards.
A way to put China to work, I guess. 

I have meters all over my apartment.  The electricity card gets
inserted outside my front door.  The gas card for my stove gets
inserted under my kitchen counter.  The reclaimed water card
gets inserted in the meter, IN MY SHOWER.  What is a
'reclaimed water' card you ask?  It is the ability to flush my toilet!!!
Of which, I have not had that ability for two days now. :(

They moved the office of the reclaimed water. Thankfully, my
friend Alejandra had to go through this same process last
weekend, so she sent me a picture so I knew where to go.

I walked in to the office of "Ocean Ambiance Property
Service."  It seemed like a good sign.  I could use a little
ocean ambiance these days.  Like, for real.

After much chittering in Mandarin (the three ladies working behind the counter, NOT ME), I was able to catch about every 10th word.  With the usual game of charades, I was finally able to figure out that they were telling me to come back at 1:00pm.  Now these people were helping other customers, so I did not understand why I was getting sent away.  Begrudgingly, I returned to my apartment, used a bucket of water to flush my toilet AGAIN, and made myself some lunch to wait them out until 1pm.

I returned at 1pm, hoping for success.

It was not meant to be.

A fourth woman was now working behind the counter.  She took my card and money, and it seemed as if this transaction was going to work.  Soon though, she handed me back my card and money and said "Go Home!"  

What the what???  

After another game of charades, I gathered that I had credit on my card (I thought I recharged it before I left for the summer).  So I went home.

I changed the batteries in the meter. Just. In. Case.

I inserted the card....the meter 'whizzed'....

I flushed the toilet. Nothing.

I took pictures, typed in what I had done in to Google translate, and trudged over to the "Ocean Ambiance" office for the third time in two hours.

I showed her my pictures.  I showed her my translated message...

Google translate is a beautiful thing... "I changed
the batteries, inserted the card, but my toilet
still will not flush."

She said, "Work?"  I said, "No, it won't work", (as I waved my hands like the Chinese do for "no").

She then said, "Ummmmm....Work?  Work.....er?"  Oh!  "You will send a worker?!  Great!"  To which I said, "Xie! Xie!" and bowed graciously.

About 30 minutes later, this kind man showed
up at my door.  He took the batteries out, put them
back in.  Check. He took the card out, put it back in.
  Check. He turned the water off and on at the meter.
Check, check, and still nothing.  Then he turned the
 water off and back on at the toilet.  I don't know why
 that would work, but it did, and now I can flush the
damn toilet once again.  Geesh. 

The good news?!  About 5000 flushes costs me all of 18y, or $3.00USD

If you'd like to get your giggle for the day,

Chinese engineering beats any Redneck ingenuity

I've ever seen.  Watch closely as my friend, Robert,

turns on the water in the men's bathroom at school.

Lollllllzzzzzz!!!!

G'nite, y'all!

Day 426 The Exorcist

As I pedaled to school yesterday, the cranes were up and active,
and the morning crew of construction workers were on their way
to work for the day.  BNDS International Department is under
serious construction and expansion for next school year.  They
have some extraordinary plans for our building.  It is going to
be state-of-the-art freaking incredible.

I know very little Mandarin, but these migrant
workers work their a$$e$ off; long hours,
not the best conditions, and everything is
pretty much done by hand.  Each worker carries
the tool they own, and that is what they do for
a living.  Some will carry a hand saw, a
shovel, a pick ax, and those with automatic tools,
like a jack hammer, are further 'up the ladder'.
Between my few Mandarin words, and a
game of charades, each day I pass the workers
and thank them for their hard work on my school <3
Their faces light up :)

It's hard to see their smiling faces here; I was sitting on my
bicycle pantomiming, and thanking them for making
my school beautiful. They're likely thinking, "Crazy laowei!"

In the A level diploma program, I have the good
fortune of getting a small group of students for a
second year of Psychology.  This semester I am
teaching Psychopathology, my wheelhouse, and
they are loving learning about all forms of mental
illness- what causes it, the symptoms, and how
to treat it.  It is such a foreign concept in their
culture; they love learning about it.  Interestingly,
this year they are beginning to share stories of
depression, schizophrenia and even suicide in
their families or hometown villages.  This subject
has long been a taboo in their culture.

They received lessons on the historical perspective of our
understanding of mental illness, from Hippocrates' four humors
to periods throughout history when 'madness' was believed
to be the result of demonic possession.  We looked at how
mental patients were treated in asylums and talked of exorcisms.
My Chinese babies are naive to so many things, so
with Halloween around the corner, I decided to throw
a fall party at my apartment with a viewing of The Exorcist.
I couldn't wait to scare the bejesus out of them!!!!

Michael was in charge of getting a bootleg
copy of The Exorcist- the Chinese are very
resourceful, they copy anything and everything, lol.

They were still all smiles before the movie began, lol.

I made them a chili supper, with peanut butter and honey
sandwiches.  They loved it; they never had chili before.
I baked apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for dessert,
using the case of apples I was given at work this week. 

Then I lit some candles, turned off the lights, and it was showtime!

I think the scene that caused them to scream the most was when
Reagan crab walked upside down on the stairs. Even Watson
screamed like a girl!  It was so much fun watching them
watch the movie.  There really was a lot of psychology involved,
and they got it....I was a proud Momma K.

After the lights went up, they were all a-chitter
and laughter.  Movie night was a success!

I think the next one will be Shutter Island
or maybe Sixth Sense????

After I walked the kids back to school (IN THE DARK!) the kids blew up my phone for the next hour... here's a sampling of what they said:

I was nervous walking into a Westerner's home for the first time.  It was beautiful, and the food was so delicious.  Thank you!  My cat loves the smell of your house, lol.

This is the first party night I have ever been to (this boy is 18 years old) it was so much fun!  Thank you for everything, it was wonderful!

Thank you, Ms. McDaniel for the wonderful food and the wonderful night together. Though I miss a lot of scenes, this is the first time I finish a horror movie!!!  (Lisa covered her eyes for every scary scene, then when it was over, every time she asked, "What just happened???")

Thank you, Miss!  Your food was so delicious, I want to be your daughter!

Really, thank you for the delicious dinner and dessert. Wish you have a good night and weekend. Wish everyone sweet dreams and no nightmares!

With that said, G'nite, y'all!

Day 420 Simatai Great Wall

My school is really an amazing place to work.  In addition to all of the perks we receive (paid housing, airfare, classroom 'decorations' fund, free coffee card, free lunch card which includes shopping at the convenience store on campus, getting spending money to attend school field trips, being issued an Ipad, laptop, external memory hard drive, Apple TV, and receiving regular 'gifts' from administration, etc.) they also plan periodic trips for the faculty members and their families. Today the school visited the Wetlands Park.  I did not attend because I am still under the weather.

Last weekend, though, they took three busloads of us to Simatai Great Wall.  It was a gorgeous fall day, and it is now second on my "Top Five" things to see or do in and around Beijing.  It was a good 2.5 hour bus ride (comfortable motor coaches, no less!), and it was OH. SO. WORTH. IT.  I cannot wait to go back again, and I do not like visiting the same sections of the Great Wall twice.  I've become a bit of a Great Wall snob in my stay here in Beijing.  I am not a fan of the restored 'touristy' sections, and I prefer the natural sections. However, this place was absolutely gorgeous.  I've convinced Hank that he must bring his wife Luciane here for a romantic weekend when she comes to visit this spring.

Getting three buses of Chinese staff and
all of their dependents together was like
herding cats in the military.  head counts,
whistles, and hurry up and wait! Rob,
Hank, Zach (a teacher friend's son) and I
were the only Westerners along for the ride.

We had no idea what beauty awaited us
just beyond this gate :)

This is Beijing Wtown, which is a UNESCO
World Cultural Heritage Site, rated in the top
25 of global scenery to not be missed.

The village had a series of canals that you could
take a boat ride through the 9 square km village.

It actually is three ancient villages that have
been restored, and they all sit at the base
of the Simatai Great Wall in Miyun County
in northern Beijing. The villages and this
section of the Wall date from the more recent
Ming and Qing dynasties, 1368-1800.

At every turn, there was something beautiful to see.

I was snap happy snapping photos!

Took this pic of Rob taking a pic of
"Zhenyuan Escort Agency".  I guess every
little village needs escorts?
Or maybe just Rob needs an escort? BOYZ.

And I will never pass up a door..
anywhere in the world. 

I mean never. ever.  I want it to share it's rich
history with me...who has passed through this door?

There were very few Western faces, as per usual, so they
were snapping photos of us, as per usual!  Some try to be
so sly and sneaky about it.  I would catch them, and
just started photobombing every person I saw as we
walked through the village.  Zach got in on the act; and
he thought it was great fun :) Crazy laoweis!

The village opened up to a large courtyard...

Where there was some sort of performance happening.

There really was something beautiful to see everywhere you looked.

As we made our way through the village, it finally became clear
where we were going..... UP THERE to the Simatai Great Wall.
We were suddenly thinking that maybe we should have bought
the cable car ride going UP, rather than going down!

We found the path, and started the climb.  Note that I still
look relatively fresh in this picture, lol

What a view :)

We finally made it to the Wall, and starting
climbing even further up to the first watch tower.  

Because it is not fully restored, they limit the
number of hikers per day.  Parts of it are quite
crumbled and treacherous.  Sometimes I was
on all fours, hands over feet, and once I was
clinging to a chain, as the path was less then
two feet wide with a vertical drop straight down!

And still, up we climbed...

We did over 986 vertical meters in all- whew!

But, Oh. My. God.  Look at that view!!!

We ate. it. up!!!

I mean, we were up there; look how far up we climbed :)

The vista was amazing...a beautiful blue sky, clean air, fall day.

Through nine watch towers, and up to the highest point.  I was
a little wilted, and winded, and a bit shaky, but I was still
The. Happiest. Girl. In. China :)))

Me and my hiking buddy, Hank-
and a fellow Hoosier. My face was
as red as my BSU Tshirt, lol.

While the guys hiked to the last tower (it
was a dead end- I didn't see the point, lol)...

I watched a group of Chinese coming up the last tower,
and this woman made the entire climb carrying a
hand blown sugar serpent.  Because why???

After the boys came back from the final climb, we then
caught the cable car for a quick ride back down to the village.

It really was a picture perfect day.

We worked up quite the appetite, so we stopped for a snack.

This was our view as the boys enjoyed a cold beer (not the little boy:).

As we came through the village, we saw all of these Chinese
with their feet in a fountain.  The water was HOT!

I hesitated all of 2.3 seconds, and my shoes were off and my feet were in!

Zach tried to put his whole big self in :)

I swear, after just 10 minutes in the hot springs,
when I put my hiking shoes back on, I felt like
I was good to go for another 10km.  

As we took different side streets back through
the village, I was snap happy once again.

So many cool things to see, hear, taste,
and touch....I was loving living in the moment.

So beautiful.

Happiest girl in China right there!

G'nite, y'all!