Adventures in Asia

Last Day in Laos

2011-02-10T08:41:00.000-08:00

So I spent the last day here in Laos walking around the capital, Vientiane. It is by far the least developed capital I have ever visited. But it has a nice character to it. I visited more temples than I can count today, and loved all of them. While I am sad to see the trip end, I am happy to head home to Changsha.

The most interesting place I went was Laos' version of the Arc de Triumph. It was built from concrete donated by the US for a new runway... thus it has earned the nickname The vertical runway.
C. Johnson

Kayaking

2011-02-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, Vang Vieng was fun, but we couldn't stay there forever... so yesterday, it was on to Vientiane. Instead of just hopping on a bus and taking a long 3-hour trip down to Laos' capital, we decided to go kayaking. It was a blast!

We started by going through a couple of small rapids. Frank, Vinny and I all fell in the water... unfortunately Frank brought the trophy with him and it was never seen again. Actually, it was a fitting end for our brave mascot. Before stopping for a picnic of BBQ'd chicken and veggies with rice, we were given the opportunity to jump off a ten meter cliff into the river. Also a blast!!

Vientiane is a bit seedy for my tastes but we are only spending a bit of time here so it'll be allright. This morning I went for a walk down by the river and now I'm writing this post. This is our last full day here in Laos so I'm sure we will make the most of it.

Thanks for reading.
C. Johnson

Celebrating Spring with Aussies in Laos

2011-02-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday and today there was no power in the whole city... thus the lapse in blogging.

For Australians Vang Vieng is something equivalent to Cancun (except it is completely undeveloped still). My point is that Australians come here for spring break. So it is crazy...

The minivan from Luang Prabang was uneventful, other than the unbelievable scenery. Laos' Northern Provinces are covered with rugged mountainous terrain. Without the money for true highways, the government has essentially just paved the most frequented dirt paths through the hills, which means that it takes hours to get anywhere of consequence. The countryside is well populated, but not crowded, with most people living in thatch huts made of palm fronds. Each valley was more beautiful than the last and every time we went around a bend a dusty ribbon of road came into view and snaked endlessly through the Northern lands.

Vang Vieng is a dusty little town that thrives under the burden of Australian spring breakers. My Aussie friend (travel buddy) Jack has a quote that just about sums the place up. Last night after drinking on the river (more later) we were dangling our feet off the back of the Tuk Tuk returning to town. He lost his sandals (as I subsequently did) and he said "Well I'm not gonna buy new ones... there's no need in this town."

'The River' boasts kayaking and tubing, zip-lining and water slides, all centered around four or five river-side bars. In the wet season the bars are spread out, but now that it is dry the next bar is just about always in the line of sight of the bar you're at now.

Every morning an army of tan young bodies pile into Tuk Tuks (open air taxis) and are taken ten kilometers upstream from the town to the cleverly named Bar 1. Which is of course followed by Bar 2, Bar 3, Bar 4 and so on. As the tubers or kayakers make their way downstream, those without transportation (me and Jack) jump in the river and swim down to follow them. The party moves and keeps going in this remarkably organic fashion from 10 AM till about 6 PM. Then you pile back into your Tuk Tuks and come back to town. As you might imagine, it is a pretty raucous atmosphere... and I am enjoying myself.

I've only got a few more days here in Laos before I head back to China, and Mary. The relationship seems to have survived this short distance test which is good. I love you all and thanks for reading.
C. Johnson

Sun Bears, Waterfalls, and Boobs

2011-02-04T06:59:00.000-08:00

Another good day...

Last night Frank decided it would be a good idea to buy a box of wine. So obviously this morning when I woke up I felt pretty terrible.

At 11:30 AM, after eating a baguette with two eggs, we climbed into a saganthaw (a small truck with two benches in the bed) and made our way to the local waterfall... It was just what I needed.

Included in the park is a bear sanctuary. Laos currently has a ton of problems with the export of rare (and thus endangered) species, and the purpose of this facility is to educate the public and try to protect the local exotic wildlife. They had at least 5 small Sun Bears (as opposed to a Grizzly Bear). We then walked up on a dirt path to the waterfall, which was beautiful.

Between the waterfall and the reservation facility there are a number of small pools where one can swim in the stream. One pool features a nice waterfall (maybe ten feet high) to jump off of, and in front of that they built a rope swing. A mass of people gathered around this pool anticipating:
A) you would be really good and do a cool flip or dive,
B) you would try to be really cool but mess up and hit the water with a loud painful slap, or
C) you would make a complete ass out of yourself.
Trust me it was a pressure cooker. After several jumps somewhere around the 'low-A' to 'B' range I made one jump that was a complete 'C' and called it a day.

Outside the park I bought a nice blanket. As I was negotiating the price, the woman I was speaking to picked up her baby and started breast feeding it. This was a good tactic as I probably agreed to a price too high just to get out of there.

Tomorrow we will head to the party town of Vang Vieng!
C. Johnson

Soaking up Life in Laos

2011-02-03T05:57:00.000-08:00

Luang Prabang

Yesterday we took a 9 hour bus ride from Namtha to Luang Prabang. The ride was crowded, hot, long, and the bus broke down... twice. Last night was Chinese-New- Year's-Eve and we tried to find some Chinese tourists here to party with. Unfortunately our efforts proved to be largely futile. We did find a Hunan Restaurant that had two large families watching CCTV's New Year's programing being broadcast from Beijing. We threw out a few 'XinNian KuaiLe's' (Happy New Year), and spent a little time talking with them. Because the upcoming year is my animal (year of the rabbit) people were especially excited for me. We also spent some time shopping in the famous night market in the center of town.

Today I took a much needed solo day. Instead of renting bikes with the guys, I decided to walk around Luang Prabang. It's a charming little town full of small cafes and little markets. I visited Wat Xieng Thong. This small temple was overrun by tourists. On one hand, the temple was really cool. I have probably seen over one hundred temples in my life but I am still amazed by the dutiful effort the monks, at even a small temple like this, put forth to maintain their institutions. Unfortunately, most people were not respecting the privacy of the visiting Laos locals and were blatantly taking photos of Buddha and those praying in the temples. In Thailand or India these people would have been removed from the Temple, but Laos is more laid back and most pretended not to notice the annoyance.

Walking along the Mekong River I noticed two boys no older that six bolt out of a shack on the far bank and run into a shallow, slow moving part of the river. They were stark naked. They picked their way carefully through the shallows to a small exposed sand bar about fifty meters upstream. Once they got there they jumped into the fast moving current on the opposite side of the sandbar and giggled wildly as they flew downstream. I imagined that their mother had sent them out to go wash up, and presumed that instead of doing something boring like taking a bath, they decided to play a bit. Of course when mom asked if they were clean, they would certainly assure her that they were.

I found a second temple complex named Ban Aham. This was laid out over a large complex and includes 8 or 9 stupas with one main hall. It was nice to relax in the shade and enjoy the outdoors in one of the many large grass lawns within the temple complex. I bought a couple pieces of artwork near here as well.

Upon the recommendation of an ex-pat turned local I walked for about an hour on the far side of the Mekong River. There wasn't much over there, but again, it was fantastic to soak up the sun.

Tomorrow we will head in a minivan to a supposedly fantastic waterfall at about 11:30. There are only 8 days left in my vacation so I need to enjoy the weather as long as I can!
C. Johnson

Tiger "Tales"

2011-02-02T16:44:00.000-08:00

First thing after breakfast yesterday we rented some 125 cc Suzuki gas powered mopeds and hit the pavement. The first place we stopped was a small town just outside of Luang Namtha.

The roads off of highway 3A were all bumpy, dirty, dustbowls, but one specific road had a parade of colorful umbrellas so we followed it. The umbrellas were protecting students from the sun on their way to school. Most walked or rode on bicycles... I saw only one student with a gas powered moped.

The high school was a structure of no more than three or four rooms built on stilts. Most buildings that are not made of concrete are built on stilts. (Most buildings are not made of concrete). The primary school was on an adjacent corner. It was just a concrete shell with no visible sources of electricity running towards it. Dirty, I mean really filthy, children were playing in the small schoolyard.

At lunch we met two guys who ran tourist trekking companies in town. Being good entrepenuers, they invited us over for a drink. We started talking and the topic of tigers came up. The man closest to me told me this story: "When I was a young child I was walking my water buffalo through the jungle with my brother and my aunt. We had two buffalo. Suddenly a tiger attacked the lead water buffalo mortally injuring it. My aunt tried to protect the second buffalo, but the tiger started attacking her. My older brother was very brave, and we had a rifle, so he shot at the tiger. Then he pulled out a machete and hit it three times. The tiger ran away. My aunt lived but the tribal doctor needed to amputate her leg."

The other man told this story: "When I was very young a hunter in my village killed a tiger with some other men from his family. That night we had a huge celebration and everyone ate some of the tiger."

These may be tall tales but think about this before you write them off.... The second man's village is only accessable by a four hour bus ride (from a capital city where there are more bamboo buildings than concrete ones) followed by a four hour trek into the deep jungle. Laos is craaaazy.
C. Johnson

Crossing the Border into Laos

2011-02-01T07:03:00.000-08:00

OK so it has been a while since I posted, but the Internet has been tricky here on the border. We spent one full day in Jinghong, the least Chinese city I have ever been to. The architecture, language (in addition to Chinese), and the people are SE Asian.

We rented some bikes then tooled around the outskirts of the city. I caught my first sight of the Mekong, one of the world's great rivers, which I was pumped about. At dinner that night we complained to the waitress that Yunnan food was too bland and that we Hunnan people would want something spicier. They threw their best at us... and ya, it was spicy. While at dinner we met some Chinese guys, and after going home to change our clothes, we met them at a club on the less populated side of the river. The place was completely empty except for our new-found friends. As hard as we tried, there was no way to make this a party so we headed home early for our trip to Laos the next day.

The bus was already close to full by the time we boarded it at 11:30. The reputed Jinghong to Laos bus clearly had its true origins somewhere to the north. After clumsily taking my seat I got ready for the long trek south of the border. I passed the time by listening to audio books and pretending to be asleep.

After a few hours we stopped in Mengla, on the Chinese side of the border. All the passengers hopped off(I unfolded like an accordion) and got some stuff to eat. While we were gone our bus was packed with everything from Lays chips to some odd metal satellite looking things. It wasn't until then that I realized our driver had parked in the import/export section of Mengla's bus station.

Another hour and we were at the border. The Chinese building was a magnificently clean, new, and large hall where silence was required and the customs officials checked and rechecked each passport. Actually the guy who was in charge of our line was kind of an idiot and I noticed that he changed my name to GRAIG thinking that I had mistakenly written CRAIG. The Lao border... was a cement shack where people were jostling to get through the fastest. It was quite a disorderly process but, of course, we made it through.

The Laos countryside is gorgeous but impoverished. North of the border a giant highway cuts straight through the hills, cutting tunnels and hillsides away. In Laos the highway tries to meld with the hills. Instead of dominating the landscape, the highway makes you feel to be a part of it.

At the border some Laos people got on the bus, and one sat next to me. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that he pooped his pants right before he got on the bus. An hour after that we reached Luang Namtha. This tiny border town is full of foreigners in transit to or from China. We will spend the day today renting motorbikes and hopefully penetrating the countryside a bit. Tomorrow we will go farther south.
C. Johnson

Sick Day, Not!

2011-01-28T09:29:00.000-08:00

Well, Lijiang has been a bit of a whirlwind. For the first few days all I could manage was a bit of souvenir shopping and lots of rest (much too sick for anything else).

Vinny and I took a risk last night and booked tickets to visit Tiger Leaping Gorge today. It is about a three hour bus ride so if our stomach problems persisted we would be in for a rough day. Fortunately, we managed to kick our sicknesses and ended up having a great time.

Last time I went to the gorge (three years ago) our group travelled on the well groomed, and completely flat, south side of the river. Today our cheaper tickets meant we were off to the north side. About three kms downstream, and devoid of any high priced tourist centers, the second rapid of the gorge is accessible only by a series of shoddily maintained switchbacks. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise though. Sun and a bit of strenuous activity were just what we needed.

Most of the Chinese were awfully slow moving. At the river bank you can climb onto a large boulder in the center of the river. I think I got some good shots with my camera. Tomorrow we will head off to Jinhong in Southern Yunnan.

Then we're going into Laos.
C. Johnson

Merrily We Roll-A-Sewer

2011-01-28T09:11:00.000-08:00

Great Day, Man!

"Yesterday was a great day, man." We've all been repeating this today. Like a mantra.

Yesterday we woke up and grabbed some bikes with Sebastian and Chelsea, the latter being a 'World Teacher' who Frank is familiar with, the former her boyfriend. As a group we are far from expert planners (and proud of it), and so we decided to just head east, sure that we would reach ErHai lake.

Crossing the highway that connects Dali's old and new cities we rode along a cobblestone road that cut through countless plots of leafy green vegetables. The farther we went the worse the road's condition, but we continued on until we reached a construction site where workers were extending the road into a small village.

After conversing, and then trading cigarettes with the workers, our little band started off into the village. Tight alleys with oddly angled walls and hidden intersections created a maze for us to explore. We kept heading east and eventually we spilled out onto a small rock 'pier' that extended some twenty feet into ErHai lake's flooded banks.

We were greeted by a few old ladies washing vegetables and clothes in the dirty water. Was it a marvelous temple? A popular tourist destination? A well maintained vista viewpoint? NO! But there is no way that I would have preferred any of those locales over the simple stone pier that we stumbled upon.

We lingered for a bit and then we reentered the maze with the goal of heading south. After a few wrong turns we found ourselves on another elevated road bouncing through the countryside. Eventually we came upon a group of villagers who were also trying to further extend the pavement into their town. The current task was to move a massive cement pipe (you know, the ones that they build sewers with).

I was the first in our group to reach them and I jokingly asked if we could help. A tired looking woman stopped struggling with the pipe and nodded that any help would be appreciated. The man who seemed to be in charge laughed "dui, bang bang mang wo men", surely thinking that I would just ride past. The four guys in our group hopped of their bikes (I didn't even put the kickstand down) and we replaced the women on the pipe. Chelsea whipped out her camera.

There were several obstacles and a very bumpy stretch of rode between us and our goal some 15 meters away. We were aided only by two long 2 x 4's that kept leapfrogging the pipe. The next bit was a blur of Chinese instructions, English instructions, and laughter... lots of laughter. I was giggling like a four-year-old for ten minutes straight. With one final cheer we rolled the pipe into the ditch that would soon be a road, and not long after that we were back on our bikes and back in a maze of village side streets.

I think everyone involved will have a hard time forgetting the day the crazy foreign people helped roll a sewage pipe into a ditch on the outskirts of a tiny village on the banks of ErHai lake.
C. Johnson

(sent via email on Monday, January 24, posted Friday, January 28)

Small World!

2011-01-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

Only in China.

Some of you may think us egotistical jerks after this post. But we are awesome....

Our first night in Dali, Frank and Vinny met a laoban (boss) in his bar. Then on our first full day we grabbed lunch at a restaurant that he happened to own. After calling us over and offering some tea, he asked us to help him write an English happy hour menu.

In China guanxi is very important. Guanxi is like a game where one can gain or lose face. The three of us have honed our guanxi to a science in China's biggest party town, Changsha. By helping this laoban we gained major guanxi.

Some time and several pots of tea later two beautiful American girls sat down at a table at the restaurant we previously ate at. Time for more guanxi. We sent Frank over to make the introductions and before long the girls had joined us at the table. Foreign girls=major guanxi.

They (our new Chinese friends) offered to take us to dinner and we obliged them... although the girls were a bit nervous about hopping into a Mercedes with a bunch of guys they just met. Having foreigners pile out of his car was major guanxi for laoban and we played our part well, drinking homemade baijiu and trying even the most adventurous dishes placed in front of us. A spread of peanuts, fruit and beer (a lot of beer) greeted us upon our return to laoban's bar. We had played our part and now it was time for our reward.

At breakfast this morning we met a girl who lives in Xiangtan (45 minutes from Changsha). One of the workers at our hostel lives in Changsha. A foreigner we met in Kunming also lived in Changsha!!!!

Small world.
C. Johnson

Blue Skies

2011-01-23T18:50:00.000-08:00

Sent via email on Friday, January 21

We spent the first full day of vacation walking the streets of Kunming, visiting parks and a few local restaurants and cafes. In our ramblings we came across a street of shops that sold only trophies, plaques, and other awards. We bought a trophy and declared ourselves 2011 "Hide and Seek" champions. Our trophy also makes a great cup.... and we have taken to drinking from it to celebrate our 'victory'.

Kunming is a gorgeous city and seeing a blue sky is unbelievably refreshing. The first park we went to was centered around a pond with thousands of white birds that resembled sea gulls. Pond gulls maybe? There were families all around and I got to watch some old people dancing, which is one of my favorite activities. After another night out in Kunming we were all ready to leave the city behind us.

After a mildly stressful 4 hour bus ride we found ourselves in Dali. It is a beautiful small town famous for three pagodas overlooking the city from a great mountain vista. It was late though, so we went to find something to eat. Yak steak is the best food ever. After filling our stomachs we went back to the hostel and fell asleep. This morning we were greeted with the bluest sky I have seen in 6 months and a massive snow capped mountain in the near horizon.

Time to go climb it...
C. Johnson

CHANGSHAREN in Kunming

2011-01-19T19:10:00.000-08:00

Craig has taken off on a trip with two friends during Spring Festival. He promised to start his blog again. Here is his first entry:

After a terribly bumpy flight we arrived in Kunming in the early afternoon. Paranoid that we would be mistaken as Laowai or tourists we blew past all the people offering us rides to the city center. We also accidentally blew past the bus station we were supposed to use. After walking for about twenty minutes we reached the next stop on the line and hopped on bus 67.

The congestion of human traffic on this line is mind blowing. At each stop no more than 5 disembarked while no less than 20 got on the bus. A gentleman was trying to help us find the stop we wanted but after he told us that he was actually from Beijing I had an ominous feeling. His advice wasn't completely accurate and we needed to walk another 20 minutes before we found our dormitory.

THE HUMP is one of those Lonely Planet endorsed megahostels where the number of foreigners is just creepy for someone who left Changsha just once in the last 4 months. Everyone from professor types, with grey hair and pipes to smoke, to hippies on the run, with wild shocks of hair and scummy clothes, share a gigantic common room. After eating BBQ at a place with meal worms, pig feet, and whole intestinal tracts on display we started interspersing shots of tequila and mixed tonic drinks with over-competitive games of ping pong.

At the hostel a group of Chinese drivers were playing pool and after buying them a shot of tequila GANGZI (a person) bought us two bottles of watered down gin. While we drank we met a foreigner who lived in Kunming and told us horror stories of Laowai beatings occurring within Kunming's KUNDU bar district. With these thoughts in mind we set off to find said district and offer the Chinese a different point of view on the foreign devils.

Everyone we talked to howled with laughter when we told them we were CHANGSHAREN (people who lived in Changsha [this terminology is reserved for those who are native to a given region]) We finished the night with more BBQ and philosophical conversations. All in all it was a great night.

C. Johnson

Hey, I can speak Chinese

2010-03-27T23:34:00.000-07:00

I was recently talking with my parents via skype and I gave them a quick Chinese lesson. That was when I first realized that my Chinese is getting pretty darn good. I am far from fluent but I can get around by myslef now. Not that it helps much. The thing is that in China they speak many dialects while outside of China they generally speak what is known as Putong Hua, proper Mandarin that I am learning. That means that when I was in Malaysia I could understand and speak much more than I can in Liuyang. Here are two of my favorate stories concerning language and China:

I went to the bank in Changsha because I had to exchange my remaining Thai money to Chinese RMB. I walked up to a counter with a bunch of blank forms on it and said, "I have Thai money and I want Chinese money. What paper do I need?" The girl did not understand me so I pulled out my Thai money and repeated myself, and I am certain I was saying it correctly. She said she couldn't speak to me. It had been a long day so I asked her, "Ni hui shuo zhung wen ma? Ni hui ma?" This means "Can you speak Chinese? Can you?" Her response was "Bu hui." I incrediously said, "You can't speak Chinese?" and she affirmed that I had heard her correctly. The problem is that in China the assumption is that if you are foreign you are stupid and unable to say anything other than Ni hao in Chinese. I was furious, although I was ultimately able to change my money.

The other funny story occured when I was on my way home from Changsha. We have found a car company that drives regularly from Liuyang to Changsha. It is a bit more expensive but I would guess that I use it every other time I make the trip. I was sitting in the front seat and three young girls were int he back seat. The aforementioned assumption was about to come into play. I knew that they were talking about me, although this is nothing new and I didn't say anything. The conversation took a different turn when two of the girls agreed that I was very handsome. One even went as far to say that it was a shame I couldn't speak Chinese... again noone had asked me whether I was able to or not. The third girl was shocked that they thought I was attractive. She said, "No, no. He has a gigantic nose, and his ears are so big. Also he is too tall." I couldn't resist anymore. I turned around and said simply, "Wo ting dong ni men" meaning, I understand you. None spoke in Chinese or English for the rest of the ride. You could feel the akwardness in the air.

Kanchanaburi

2010-02-23T19:50:00.000-08:00

OK! So the plan for yesterday was to lounge around and do nothing. Epically failing that, I decided to go out to the Tiger Temple which is about 45 minutes from Kanchanaburi. The thing isn't so much a temple as it is a place for doped up tigers to hang out. The idea is that the tourists get to have their picture taken with 500 lbs tigers without getting there head ripped off. Now while one cannot be certain, it does seem like they have given the tigers some downers before letting the tourists play with them. The most I got by way of a reaction from one of these beast was a bemused nod, "ya okay, you're touching me, get it over with." I do not want to sound wholly negative towards the place though. It doubles as an animal rescue and reserve housing everything from one goat and two peacocks to several large herds of cattle. Also wild tigers are something of a rarity so even if they are doping them, the money they are raising is keeping the species alive.

Last night some friends from Holland and Germany and I went out of 10 Baht drinks. Think nickel shot night. It was a glorious conclusion of the trip.

Today I will catch a bus back to Bangkok where I'll shack up for just one more night. Tomorrow I'm gonna do some final preparations for my trip home: buy a shirt or two, repack my bag, and confirm my flight. I'll also need to find Aimee and the airport, in no particular order, and then it is back to China for me. The plan as it stands now will be to spend a day in Guangzhou with Binka then get back to Liuyang on Friday... giving myself a whole two days before classes start to rest up, lesson plan, and contemplate life!

Kanchanaburi (or some such place)

2010-02-22T01:52:00.000-08:00

So I've come to the last stop on my trip and man is it a doosy. During the Japanese occupation of Se Asia they found it very inconvenient to have to ship things by sea all the way around the tip of Singapore. They also had a surplus of captured Allied soldiers. What to do, what to do??? 'Oooh' they thought to themselves, 'We could violate the Geneva Convention (as well as many moral barriers) and put these guys to work!' The decision was made that a railway should be built connecting the rail systems of Thailand to those in Myanmar (Burma). The British had decided such a feat was impossible a decade earlier, but it is important to remember that they did not have a war time steel economy or population of indispensable workers to rely on. So at the cost of nearly 100,000 lives the Japanese managed to build their railway to Rangoon. IT SHOULD BE NOTED: While I am not trying to undervalue the sacrifices of the Western Allied soldiers who died here it should be noted that of the 100,000 lives lost almost 60,000 were Malay, Chinese, and Thai workers. That's a good bit more than half and there are shockingly few (as in none that I have seen) monuments to these people here in Kanchanaburi.

There are however a series of fabulous museums covering Japanese aggression in the region as well as life in the POW camps. My walking also included a somber visit to a POW cemetery (about the only quiet place I've been in Thailand since leaving the beaches). Of course, I also visited the famous bridge over river kwai. In reality it is just a bridge but even the most cynical would have to admit to being moved by the terrible costs it took to construct this bridge. I walked past a group of very old Brits (and am currently reading a book about a group of RAF comrades having a reunion) and I couldn't help but wonder how deeply and personally those men knew the cost of what it took to build the bridge.

My history lesson complete, tomorrow will probably just be about chillaxing all cool. We''ll see when it happens.
C. Johnson

Ayutthaya

2010-02-21T05:12:00.000-08:00

Man, I am beat! Today was a good, if not very long, day. I rented a bike first thing this morning and headed out. Ayutthaya is actually an island surrounded by several rivers. The morning and noon time were spent rolling up to random ruins on the main island and taking copious amounts of photos (I now have over a thousand for the trip). I had planned to keep track of all the places I stopped (so I could accurately recount them here) but I soon realized that this would be far too difficult as many of the ruins were unmarked and the map my hostel gave me was pretty unreliable. I also went to several intact, and active new monasteries and temples. It definitely added to the experience of seeing the ruined temples to walk across the street and see fully built, albeit far smaller, versions.

The most impressive structure I saw was actually a few miles north of the island on Thai Highway 301. The bike ride here was smoother but far more death defying than in the city. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the ruins with my shoddy map but trust me it wasn't hard to find over the flat farmland. I eventually ended up at gigantic the gigantic (and almost fully intact) Khmer (Cambodian) Pagoda Phrai Khoa. It was simply huge. I climbed the horrifying narrow steps to the tops just to climb back down even narrower steps to reach a crypt deep within the structure. There was a very neat series of Buddha images including one made entirely from some sort of red gem (rubies). Very cool.

This afternoon I took a boat trip around the island to see some of the harder to reach items. All in all, today I saw two sitting Buddhas over 12 meters tall, one of Thailand's oldest reclining Buddhas, and miles and miles of stupas and rundown walls made of brick. Also, very cool.

Tomorrow it is on to Kanchanaburi, or some such place. Here I will see the bridge which crossing the River Kwai which was made famous in the film The Bridge Over River Kwai, which I have never seen. Appartently this area was a huge POW camp during the Japanese occupation in WWII. The trip is winding down, part of me is excited to get back and another part is dreading it.
C. Johnson

Bangkok 4 and half a day in Ayutthaya

2010-02-20T01:33:00.000-08:00

So my last day in Bangkok was spent walking around a bunch. I walked from the touristy Khoa San area all the way to the skyscrapers and megamalls downtown. Individually each area is beautiful but the stuff in between can be pretty gritty. I did get some nice photos of graffiti though. My walk culminated in a visit to the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was an American entrepreneur in the Thai silk trade. Interestingly enough, he disappeared fifty years ago in the jungles of the Cameron Highlands (where I just traveled) and no one has seen him since. His home is now a somewhat high brow museum that requires a guided tour, and a steep entrance fee. However I'm glad I payed it because his personal collection of Thai artifacts, including a few very rare Buddhist pieces was quite impressive.

Today I got to the ancient Siamese capital of Ayutthaya. This place was once a bustling metropolis, but is now mostly home to large parks, decayed and decaying temples, and stray dogs. After the Burmese sacked Ayutthaya for the second time, the Siamese capital was moved to a village near modern day Bangkok. The museum I visited this afternoon had an amazing collection of 14th to 16th Century Buddhist and Siamese artifacts. The flat landscape is constantly being disrupted by crumbling facades of ancient temples and tomorrow I will have quite a bit of temple diving to do. I can't wait!
C. Johnson

Bangkok 3

2010-02-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

Today is rainy so I am posting early. The plan was to take a boat trip down the main river here in Bangkok and get some more photos of temples and such. However it would appear that the weather is nixing that plan. Instead I think that I am going to head to the massive modern shopping district and walk around in sweet, sweet air conditioning for a bit. I am also thinking Thai massage today, for some reason I woke up with a crick in my neck.

Yesterday was really fun. The grand palace complex, which is surrounded by high white walls, was the first place I hit. Very cool, although also very touristy. The temple section of the complex has low walls with intricate paintings adorned with gold. I have never seen anything like it and will definitely post some pictures when I get back. The main attraction of this section is the emerald Buddha temple, which houses a simply massive Buddhist shrine upon which a medium sized Buddha sits. Then there is the palace itself, which you can't actually enter but which is a very interesting blend of thai and western architecture. Around here there are several museums chronically thai religious and political life.

Wat Pho was the second place I went. Far less densely populated, Wat Pho has tons of little stupas that seem to sprout out everywhere. The main attraction here is the world's largest relaxing Buddha. The thing is absolutely massive. His feet, the bottoms of which are adorned with thousands of precious stones, are taller than I am. Crazy. As I said yesterday, it is crazy to believe that these temples survived the hundreds of tumultuous years of SE Asian history that gobbled up so many other temples. Very Cool.
C. Johnson

Bangkok 2

2010-02-18T06:39:00.000-08:00

Okay let me be a dork for just a minute. The temples here in Bangkok are absolutely incredible. INCREDIBLE. I have never seen anything like them. In India? NO! In China? NO! Constantly when studying the Asian religions you are reminded by native tour guides of how beautiful a temple USED to be. How there USED to be gold plated paintings on this wall or that wall. How there USED to be a gorgeous wat in a given place. The temples here in Bangkok have been maintaned immaculately and i have never seen anything like them. GREAT, GREAT, GREAT. The temples here have inspired me to head up north where the temples are even more impressive. When I get back to China I will be posting pictures again. It is just too hard to do it at a new computer each time. No worries tho, I will include plenty from Bangkok. In a few days I'll be heading north again to a pair of towns that I cant yet pronounce and certainly can't spell. Seven more days on this trip for those of you who are counting.
Craig

Bangkok

2010-02-17T19:44:00.000-08:00

Where to begin. I spent four incredible days on Koh Tao. The island is a smaller less commerciallized version of nearby Koh Samui (which is home to several hundred megaresorts). What did I do on Koh Tao. Nothing, absolutely nothing. And it was the best nothing a human could find. During the days I would meander along the beaches or take hikes up and down the few small mountain roads that slithered from one end of the island to the next. I ate all sorts of different food, from Thai curry to pizza, and still found time to read another book (Freakonomics).

The hostel that I stayed at Mr. J's was owned by a guy named, oddly enough, Mr. J! Mr. J is a charactor to be sure. He has written his own vegetarian Bible and has pages from it posted around the shop. A sample from one page: Romantic sex gets baby girl. Happy sex gets baby boy. Sexy sex gets lady boy. And: If you are a bad rat you will come back as a cockroach or a tiger. As a student of religion I found his theology facsinating. Not all of it made sense but of course I had to buy a couple of the smaller lamenated versions for myself.

Steph, John, Tom, (The British currently living in Vietnam) and I decided to travel to Bangkok together. Them to travel back to Saigon, me to take stock on what the last week of my trip will look like. I also ran into some of my friends from China yesterday. They are on the way to the group of islands where I just was, and it is probable, though not certain that I will head back south in a few days to join them down there (on an island about an hour from Koh Tao). Today and tomorrow tho I will be experiencing all that Bangkok has to offer me.

Rough plan for the rest of the trip: Be in Bangkok till the 20th. Head back down the coast from the 21st to the 24th. Fly home late on the 25th. Money is a bit tight and I have had to change my flight plans on a couple of occasions but hopefully this will all work out. Love you all and thanks for reading.
C. Johnson

One Post for Ko Tao

2010-02-13T21:57:00.000-08:00

The internet here is crazy expensive so this will be the only time that I will be posting on the island. It is crazy beautiful here. The best part though, is that you don't have thousands of tourists lining the beaches here. It is comparitively quiet (when comparede to Bangli Road on Phuket) but still there are modern enough facilities. Ko Tao is a huge diving destination and while I will not be diving I have still had fun in the water. My hotel has three teachers working in Vietnam and one in Korea. We went out last night for the dark moon party/Chinese New Year and had a killer time. Thanks to all for reading I'll be back in full force in two days once I'm back on the mainland in Chumphon.
C. Johnson

Surat Thani

2010-02-12T02:24:00.000-08:00

Well, today was an eventfull one! I woke up at 4 AM to dogs barking and howling. I don't just mean Albertane in her crate. This was insane. There must have been at least twenty dogs within a small radius screaming at the top of there lungs. I don't remember it stopping, just puttng the spare pillow over my head.

Then I went to the bus station. I got my ticket for the 11:30 bus to Surat Thani. Of course the bus didn't show up untill 12:10. The lady at the bus terminal decided it wouldn't be important for her to tell me that the bus which had just arrived was the one I should board. It sat in the parking lot for a few minutes when I started to get suspiscious. The conductor was impatiently searching for someone. I asked him if his bus stopped in Surat Thani and with a frustrated tone he told me that they had been waiting for me forever and, in Thai, something that I took to mean 'get your ass on the bus!'

About halfway through the trip the bus brokedown and all the passengers were herded off into a dusty area with some rundown restaurants, who did not seem to actually be serving food, and a Kwik Mart.

After finally arriving here I wandered around for a bit trying to find a hotel listed in the guide. No luck. I resigned myself to checking in to a place called the Rajthan Hotel. The room is certainly not the worst place I have stayed on this trip but it isn't great. Phang Nga is a small town without much to do. Surat Thani is a big town without much to do. No worries though, tomorrow at 7:00 I am catching a bus to the pier and then a boat to Koh Tao.

Tonight I will probably wander the night market next to my hotel bed and then get to bed early since I have to wake up so early.
C. Johnson

P.S. Quite Comical: The TV in my hotel was playing a Thai dubbed version of Pulp Fiction. It was the scene where 'Big Man Brad' gets it from Sammy J. Some parts of the scene had the guns and cigarettes blurred out while others don't. I dunno, just thought it was wierd.

Phang Nga

2010-02-11T02:48:00.001-08:00

So my first day of Phuket has been a good one. I'll be spending the night in a small little town that is surrounded by karst topography, just like in Guilin. for those of you who don't remember, karst topography is a series of mountains made of hard rock that have withstood the harsh effects of weathering better than the soft rock which once surrounded them. The mountains here are far larger than they are in Guilin, although the peaks are much fewer in number, which leads me to believe that these mountains are younger than their Chinese counterparts. There is not much to do here, other than looking at the peaks of course, to be honest my trip here primarily serves as a way to shorten my travelling tomorrow.

However I did find two very interesting sights here. Both are temples of the Theravada persuasion. Theravada Buddhism shares a different hereditary line than the Chinese and Japanese Mahayana schools. As such the two forms of Buddhism have distinct differences with only a few shared charactoristics. When Buddhism came to Thailand it incorporated much of the native religion into its practices, much the same way Christianity did as it reached into the pagan north. Abstract visions of heaven and hell, demons and angels, good and evil, as well as Hindu Vedic symbology are present in the Thai Buddhist architecture.

These symbols were not subtle in the first temple I visited. Attacted to a monastary, most of the shrines and whatnot were outside at the Tham Tapan temple. I ewnt to enter what I took to be the center of the monastary but a monk insisted that I instead walk down a forest path to the right. Here there were ghastly and graphic images of hell. Here, and throughout this monastary, there were life sized, plaster manicans (sp?) depicting the specific scenes. In 'Hell' there were demons torturing humans in the most fiendish manners, bodies being stuck to a thorny tree, and a demon king sentencing some new arrivals who were begging forgiveness. I was directed by another monk into a frightingly deep cave where there were several small dieties. after leaving the cave I walked through the belly of a menacing looking dragon whose mouth emptied out into a pleasent clearing adorned with Hindu gods. This realm was 'Earth'. Here I recognized Shiva, Lakshmi, Ganesha, and Hanuman, among others. To the right was a rickety staircase that led up to a stupa on the cliffside. Within the stupa there was nothing. This was 'Heaven'. No donation box here. In Buddhism you can almsgive your way out of hell but not into heaven.

I went to a local store to get a soda after that where a local man insisted on buying me a beer. I said no, but he bought it anyways. With my mind full of the visions of hell I drank it down heartily while the man, who was clearly drunk, complaned to me about the policies of J. F. Kennedy. Don't know why, but ya, this guy hated Kennedy.

The next temple I visited was significantly less frightening but still marvelous to behold. It featured more classical Theravada architecture as well as a thai graveyard. Small stupas rose silently from a grassy field. The temple also sat at the base of a large karst which was shaped like an elephant lying down. Of course there was a legend for why this was.

Unfortunately I will only spend one night here. Tomorrow it is on to Krabi or Surat Thani... I have not actually decided yet. I'm having a good time in Thailand although today the travel weariness did start to set in. My plan is to move my flight a few days foreward in order to give me some time to reacclimate to home before classes start again. However there is still quite a bit of time between now and then and I'll try to keep updating you as I go along.
C. Johnson

Oh, what a day!

2010-02-09T19:59:00.000-08:00

So phuket is all about the beach of course but it is also all about the night life. Seeing as I have mostly been in the jungle alone for the last few weeks I figured I would partake in the festivities a bit as long as I am here. Yesterday after lunch (at around 1PM) I stopped in at a bar alongside the beach for a single beer. About half way through it however I was bear hugged from behind by an incredibly intimidating Finnish (from Finland) man. At first I thought he was going to hit me, so i braced for impact. Instead a dopey grin came across his face and he screamed "TNT" at the top of his lungs while pumping his fists. ACDC was on the stereo system. He said to me in bearly comprehensable English, "You are very tall. You need more Tequila. Kobb! Kobb bring us five Tequilas, he will have two." That is how I met Marco, Juhan, and Janny. Several hours later, at the bequest of just about everyone else at the bar, I dragged Juhan and Marco to a tuktuk and (quite literally) tossed them inside of it. None of us were too sure where those guys were staying but Janny (also a Fin but not 'with' Juhan and Marco) could have sworn they said something about the paradise hotel... which is also where one would go should he want to find a gay prostitute. "God speed Marco," I screamed after them as they were driven off into the sunset. I returned to the bar to a round of applause and a cheers from Janny.
C. Johnson

Phuket

2010-02-08T04:44:00.000-08:00

I'll be spending some time here! It is great... a huge beach with tons of peeps, watersports, sunning, relaxing... oh ya! Short post tonight but... oh ya, I missed my flight. I accidentally went to the wrong airport at 6:00 AM this morning and by the time I got to the correct one the check in was closed. It's cool though, I hung out with a Scottish 40 year old who was on his way to visit his kid in Namibia. Wierd. Anyways I will be able to drink tonight... finally although the finances will be a bit tight. Love all you guys,
C. Johnson

Malaysia Wrap-up

2010-02-07T03:54:00.000-08:00

Some Pics to leave Malaysia With:

Melaka

Charles Cham, Melaka

Pangkor

Singapore

KL

KL

KL

C. Highlands

C. Highlands

Woof... I am exhausted! The last couple of weeks (and I still can't believe it has only been such a short amount of time) have been incredible. Malaysia was far more than I ever could have hoped for. If my time in Thailand is anything like what I have experienced here I will be super happy! So I figured for a wrap-up to Malaysia I would give my impression of each city I have visited. This is ecspecially important because when I post everyday I am really just giving snap judgements of what I am feeling.

KL- Like any good capital in SE Asia, Kuala Lumpur is gritty and rough and wonderful. The sights and sounds and smells fill your body to the maximum the second you step off whatever transport you took to get there. The PETRONAS towers are incredible. Even upon my return to KL today I was amazed at how prominantly they survey the world below them. What sets KL apart? Diversity. Each time you change neighborhoods it feels like you are in a different world, or at least a different country. From scatterbrained Chinatown, to dirty and sketchy Little India, to the sleek Golden Triangle District, KL has something for everyone to enjoy.

C. Highlands- Picture a little town high in the Appalachian Mountains. All the natives know eachother, there is no McDonalds or Burger King (just local establishments), and the indiginous handicrafts really are one of a kind. Now take that town, stick it in the jungle, and call it Tanah Rata. Oh, and don't forget the incredibly lovely calls to prayer five times daily. Treking through the jungle, strolling through a plantation, sitting by the only stoplight in town eating Indian samosas.... If you ever, EVER, go to Malaysia do not forget to make this a part of your itinerary.

Pulau Pangkor- Go native. Why not? Skip the touristy beaches of Lankawi and Panang. In my time on Pangkor I slept, read, ate, and lounged. Of course I could do this at any island destination. What set Pangkor apart though was its remoteness. Indstead of spending my hard earned dollar on drinks and wildnes with westerners, I sat and drank beers with the local bookie at my hostel while we watched soccer. Sure the time to party will come (in like 24 hours),but for the three days I was on Pangkor I just revelled in relaxation. The beaches are beautiful, as they all are in this part of the world, but what I will remember most is the town of Teluk Nippa. With just a handfull of places to stay and even fewer restaraunts... ah, I can't say enough.

Singapore- Out of order, but I want to end on a high note. Singapore is lovely, there is no denying that. For the right consumer it is definately the place to be. This is definately the place I would want to go if my parents were footing the bill. The ACM museum was fantastic, as was the Bunker Box historical site. This place is Asia's version of Disney Land (although there is actually a Universal Studies theme park on an outlying island) for those who can afford it. Not for the backpacker crowd, but hey, not every where is that accepting of foreign homeless people.

Melaka- My favorate city thus far? MELAKA! This artsy little town on the SW coast is deprived of a beautiful beach or crazy nightlife but it more than makes up for what it lacks with a laid back, easy going atmosphere. What did I do there? Visit top rate museums, buy a handprinted t-shirt from famous local artist Charles Cham, went swimming in a Speedo, ate boba nonya food while listening to some of the best live acoustic my ears have ever had the pleasure of hearing, and of course I talked. Melaka is a backpackers haven and the people I met there were awesome (including a former Lonely Planet writer... ya I was geeked out).

AHEAD- I envision myself being in Asia for long enough that I will not have to squeeze every it of SE Asia into this one trip. Thusly I plan to focus my time in Thailand around the famed Andaman Coast. Namely, Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani, Chomphon, and Hua Hin (the last few not technically being on the Andaman Coast) as well as inland locations such as Phang Nga. There will also hopefully be a short trip up the coast towards Burma to visit some friends that I made in KL. After that I will head North towards Bangkok. An addition note is that I will intermitantly be meeting up with people I know from China while I travel through this region. My flight is at 7 AM, meaning I have to get up at 5 at the latest, so this will (knock on wood that nothing bad happens) be my last post from Malaysia. For the most part the internet has been great here. I dunno what the situation will be in Thailand but I will do my best to keep you updated!

C. Johnson

Melaka Again

2010-02-06T02:07:00.000-08:00

The decision to return to Malaysia seems to have been a good one. This morning I walked out to the striaghts of Melaka to get a glimpse at what all the fuss was about. The coast was pretty but unbearably polluted and so I opeted not to go into the water. There is an amusement park right by the shoreline with a large ferris wheel that is meant to imitate the London Eye (the park is called 'Eye on Malaysia'). However the park is closed for repairs today and thus completely desolate. I took a stroll around and felt like this was the perfect place for a Scooby Doo mystery to occur.

My next stop was a small but interesting museum that was situated in a reconstruction of a wooden Portuguese war vessel. The most interesting thing was in the museum was a series of diaramas that essentially documents the true story of the first man to circumnavigate the world. He was a Malay slave by the name of Enrique the Black (his Christian name) and, long story short, he made it around the world through a series of adventures; including being a slave on the failed Magellan voyage. While the museum nevers comes out and says it, the gist of the story is that this guy was the first human to sail around the world. Give the Malays credit here for being understated, the Chinese would have called it the 'Actually we did it first because the rest of you are simple barbarians museum' or the 'AWDIFBTROYASB Museum' for short.

I then went to a local swimming pool with a Argentinian man and a Chilean girl (no relation) I met at the hostel. Upon arrival we, being the two men, were told that we would have to rent speedos because we were not allowed to wear our 'dirty' board shorts in the water. In fact they even asked the girl to remove her board shorts and wear the bikini bottoms instead (Muslim Country????) . Being that it was vactaion I found the longest pair of sliders I could and suited up.

Chinese New Year is fast approaching. If you are single don't worry, on February 14th you can go to dinner alone and simply explain that you are celebrating the coming of the Year of the Tiger. Every Chinese holiday has its own specific snacks and today I gorged myself on lemon cakes and spring rolls. The relaxation will continue into the night.
C. Johnson

$ingapore, Day 2

2010-02-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

Cheng Hoon Temple, Melaka

The Dutch village center, Melaka

The Ruins of St. Paul's Church high above the Straights of Melaka, Melaka

Somewhere deep in that urban jungle I've got a bunk bed with my name on it, Singapore

The best sign I have ever seen, Singapore

So I am in the internet cafe with my pack, getting ready to head back to Melaka, and I figured I would write about my wonderful (though still expensive) morning in Singapore as well as update you with some pictures. The first thing I did this morning was to make my way to the wonderful Asian Civilizations Museum (ACM). The ACM holds one of the most thorough collections of SE Asian antiquities. Very interesting stuff. I really enjoyed it there, even if it was plagued with school children.

I figured I would head to the park district today since I mostly wandered around the financial district last night. It is gorgeous. The good news about a shortened trip to Singapore is that my itinerary did not actually include that much stuff to go see. The ACM and the Battle Box were the two highlights and I did manage to experience both to the fullest. The Battle Box is the bunker where British officials ultimately decided to surrender Singapore to the Japanese, just a week after December 7th 1942 (Pearl Harbor). There are varying views as to why the British did not stand and fight; the two most prominent being that the officials simply realized they were over matched or that Churchill wanted to draw the U.S. into the war and figured a big defeat would do the trick. The museum highlights the former of the two theories with a series of, somewhat hokey, animatronic recreations of key elements of bunker life within the actual bunker itself.

I ate lunch at Hooters today. In fact the Hooters in Singapore was the first, but no longer the only, Hooters in Asia. They should really think of renaming the place 'Nice Butts and Agreeable Faces' for their branches on this side of the planet. Don't get me wrong the girls were gorgeous but lacking in the chain's infamous trademark. I'll be heading back to Melaka now to relax for a few days before I go camping (and relax) in Thailand.
C. Johnson

$ingapore

2010-02-04T01:52:00.000-08:00

(Note the dollar sign)
It is expensive here... really expensive. To give you a hint, when I first got here I took SD$200 out of the ATM to get myself started. I got some Burger King for the first time in 7 months then I was off to find my 'hostel'. For my cramped little dorm bed it is SD$40 for the night, a bit steep. I was fine to pay the price though since the place is right downtown and in very nice shape. I must admit that I felt a bit like a homeless person in my sleeveless tank and big travellers pack but I swallowed the embarrassment then paid up. Just out of curiosity I checked the exchange rate on SD to RMB (Chinese yaun). It is five to one. FIVE TO ONE. That means that the S$200 I took out was RMB$1000. Now I have accepted that I probably won't be drinking a sip of alcohol here but even with that it is feesible that I will spend all S$200 in a 36 hour period. Let me explain to you what I would have to do to spend this much money in the same amount of time in China. First I would start by taking my closest friends and I to the nicest Western restaurant in Changsha. Next we would go to SOHO and order a bottle of Jack Daniels, and then we would drink it. After that I could buy a bottle of Grey Goose vodka, and we would drink that too. As a nightcap I would take myself to the nicest hotel in the city and sleep in the deluxe sweet there (not a crappy little dorm bed). That's why I'm calling it $ingapore.

[Craig takes a deep breath] OK, maybe this is not a fair first assesment. A fair assesment would have to note that the 'homeless backpaper' is not exactly Singapore's target demographic. More like the Real Housewives of Orange County. Singapore is, frankly, a destination for those who can't handle 'Asia'. (I swear this is my positive piece). I'm really not exagerating though, there are Mercedes meter taxis here. The city is drop dead gorgeous, just like every other woman that I walk past, and is immaculately clean. I've never been anywhere so clean. I tried to go 'slumming' in Chinatown but was instead confronted with the most organized Chinese community I have ever seen. The streets are broad, the restaraunts clean, the people quiet and polite... it is all thoroughly disapointing. I accidentally bumped into a Chinese man (OK, it was on purpose but I had to test it) and he apologized to me... so frustrating. Then I saw a group of old Chinese men. Naturally they were all smoking (a good sign), but they were doing so huddled around an ashtray and they were even dutifully ashing their cancer sticks into the receptical. Worse, not a single one of them was spitting. I actually shed a tear when I relized that. I accidentally walked in front of a car and not only did he not hit me, but he also waved me along in front of him. That was the last straw, I thought I had had enough at that point.

My sanity was saved, however, when I noticed a night market down a narrow side street. Here we go. While it wasn't nearly as crowded, or as hot, or as smelly as I would have liked it was a legitimate attempt at Chinese culture. hehehe. The housewives were pale with fear. I'd love to see them on BuShing Jia in Changsha. So yes, I am happy to be here. It is beautiful, it will be a great way to spend a day and a half. Most importantly, Singapore is reputed to have some of the best museums in all of Asia. Who cares if it costs the same as it will for my campground for the entirety of next week, I'm gonna go grab a beer.
C. Johnson

P.S. Clerical notice: CAMBODIA IS OUT. I am sad to admit it but my mind may have been to big for my legs on this trip. After spending two weeks in Malaysia I am desperately yearning for more time here. Considering that I only scheduled one week in Cambodia later this month, I have to believe this feeling will only be compounded. In liou of Cambodia I will do some camping on Phuket and then will make my way slowly up to Bangkok. I'm sorry to any of you who were excited to hear about Angkor Wat (here I am primarily addressing my professors at Elon). It will make much more sense to limit my trip this year to Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, and to schedule an over land from Siem Reap to Hanoi for next year's spring fest... but I regress.

P.P.S. Clerical notice: Several of you have been emailing me comments for my blog to my gmail account. Being that I am not in China, I now have full access to blogger so please feel free to post your comments here so that everyone can enjoy them! Thanks for reading!

Melaka

2010-02-03T03:12:00.000-08:00

So today was great... as usual. Melaka is a really cool city because it has blended so many different societies together. I am staying in Chinatown and it reminds me a ton of home. Crowded tight alleys, steep tiled roofs, and Chinese food. I didn't realize how much I missed it. The hostel itself is just a gigantic dormitory with 20 or so beds, not the most private locale, but it is comfortable. Today I woke up super early (8a.m.) and started my day of sightseeing. First up was the old Dutch center of town. The different architectural styles made me feel like I had walked to the other side of the earth when all I had done was walk across a bridge. I visited the ruins of a centuries old Portuguese Church and took a few pictures of the famous Straights of Melaka. The area immediately to the north is the museum district and I spent the better part of my day shifting from the A/C to the heat. The museums cover everything from ancient Javanese and Siamese traders and Malaysian Sultans to the creation of the modern Islamic state. There was even a special exhibit on the history of torture... very, very scary. Then I headed back into Chinatown for some food and some temples. The most impressive temple in Melaka is the Cheng Hoon Chinese Buddhist temple, just down the street from my hostel. It was absolutely gorgeous and I was lucky enough to be there for the start of the afternoon offering service. All of this is set in the backdrop of the five times daily call to prayer from the mosques. Absolutely the most wonderful sound I have ever heard. Hopefully I'll be able to have some fun tonight as I need to budget myself in expensive Singapore.
C. Johnson

P.S. I'm having trouble uploading photos from today but hopefully they will come soon!

Travel Day

2010-02-02T00:03:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,
Today I'm on my way down the coast to Melaka. I'm a little bit further than halfway now, currently at a short layover in Kuala Lumpur, and I figured I write to you now seeing as it'l be pretty late when I get to my destination. Melaka is worth visiting because it has been used as a shipping port for foreign powers all the way back to this Sumatran prince in who knows when. (I'm sure I'll know by the end of tomorrow). It has been controlled by the Indians, Indonesians, Dutch, and Portuguese and I am super excited to get a look at all the fusion architecture and a taste of all the fusion foods. I'll only be spending one full day there (my excursion down to Pulau Pangkor was fun but did cost me some time) and then it will be on to Singapore. Hope to update you all about Melaka tomorrow,
C. Johnson

Paradise Day 2

2010-02-01T04:19:00.000-08:00

Joke of the day:
An old lady calls her husband while he is driving home from a round of golf....

Old Lady: Earl, please be careful driving home. There is some lunatic driving the wrong way on the freeway right now! It's all over the news!

Earl (also old): One lunatic?! There's a million of them!

Activity of the day:
Cruising around Pangkor in a rented motorbike. (They drive on the left side of the road here).

I also sat on the beach for a long while today! As the tide came up the employees of the adventure watersports companies kept having to reposition their boats, jet skis, etc. They would wade out to the craft, take it out to the middle of the bay, and then shoot as fast and straight as they could back towards shore, lifting their outboard at the last possible moment. Each time they did this they gained a few precious feet in their never ending battle against the ocean.

There is not much else that I can say about this place... it is gorgeous, enjoy the photos!

1) Corporate retreat playing tug of war... note the head scarves!
2) The watersports companies also had larger boats that they anchored in deeper water.

3) An old dutch fort on the south end of the island.

4) My hog for the day.

5) Low tide on the north end of the island.

Paradise

2010-01-31T03:38:00.000-08:00

Just friggin' paradise. Today I arrived at Pangkor Island and I am in love. My hostel room is half of a A-frame bungalow and while it is basic it does have its own bathroom which was pretty much my only requirement (since i haven't had a private shower in some time). I quickly set out to the beach and caught some rays hoping to undo the months of winter that China has done to my skin. As I laid there the waves lapped up against my feet and brought with them, on one occasion, a little crab who scurried across my toes back to the water. The sun started hanging low in the sky so i set out to find a suitable place for some dinner. As i walked down the main drag I passed several curious sites. First was a group of Muslims, apparently on a corporate retreat, who were playing those akward get to know you games everyone does on the first night. The second was a camp of maybe fifty boys floundering in the water. They were all wearing life vest and it was clear that many of them were struggling against the bulk of their orange prisons. The third group I came across was a group of twenty or so young men trying to move a small hut down the beach to a more proper location. The everpresent 'supervisor' was rubbing his beer belly and shouting orders at the others. Dinner was fantastic and as the sun set the thought popped into my head to ask if Pangkor needed English teachers..........

The beach outside my hostel is home to several companies offering boat rides, jet skis (or skys), tubing, snorkeling, diving, the list goes on forever. As the sun set behind the tiny offshore islands the guides of these companies decided to go out for at little fun of their own. They seemed to be mimmicing a demolition derby out on the water and on more than one occasion two boats passed within inches of eachother. I have only budgeted for one full day here, though we will have to see if the colonial history of Melaka still beckons me after beachin' it up here for a bit.
C. Johnson

C.H. part 2

2010-01-30T02:47:00.000-08:00

Today was thoroughly relaxing... I woke up late and had some breakfast before booking my bus ticket for the next leg of the trip. After that I walked a few kilometers down the main highway, which was both treacherous and beautiful, and checked out the Cameron Bharat Tea farm in the Cameron Valley. The valley is one of the most beautiful things places I have ever seen. I took a ton of pictures but unfortunately I am having trouble finding them on this comp so I included the one that I did find! Below the elevation of the valley walls there were at least twenty distinct rolling summits or soft ridges. It is undoubtedly the most unique and interesting topography I have ever seen. Unlike in the Rockies where the mighty Colorado River has carved out massive defined valleys, here in the Highlands, millions of years of monsoon rains have worn the land into a never ending horizon of undulating hills. The tea plantation created an additional effect of strangeness to the environment. The hills look as if someone punched a quilt several times from beneath it and the fabric just stayed in its disturbed state. Very beautiful. I will try to get some of the better pictures up.
C. Johnson

Cameron Highlands

2010-01-29T05:21:00.000-08:00

Today was great. I cannot believe that I have only been on vacation for a week... so much has happened. The Highlands is a mostly ethnically Malay area that has a strong British colonial presence. Tanah Rata is an extremely small town mildly famous for its tea farms and jungle walking trails. It is actually a bit chilly up here, surprising considering the staggering heat of KL.

This morning I went for a hike on Jungle Walk #8 and Jungle Walk #2. The going was strenuous and to be honest the trails were pretty poorly maintained. At times I found myself climbing on all fours to get up steep and root infested inclines. Coming down the hills was even more exciting and I am almost surprised that I didn't roll an ankle. Twice while descending I slipped and ended up sliding several feet on my but. Nothing could have wiped the smile from my face. The jungle was absolutely gorgeous and now I can finally say that I have visited a rain forest! Along my way I saw a couple of really neat water falls as well.

I ate at a Malaysian fast food chain for lunch and it was pretty good. This afternoon I walked to the neighboring town of Brinchang and visited four religious structures of four different religions. Malaysia is great. At the Hindu temple I was transported right back to my time in India. I then visited a traditional Chinese Buddhist and Sikh temples followed by a Islamic Mosque. I did all this with a Chilean guy I met on the trails named Cris.

Now I'm sitting in a internet cafe playing American music and thinking of home... home in China. It is kind of intimidating to think about continuing to live out of a bag for another four weeks but at the same time I am super excited to have the time off work. As expected their have been some more itinerary changes. Tomorrow I will stay here in Tarah Rata. The next day I will be going to a beach near Lumut, on the west coast, for two days. Then Melaka for a day and a half, then Singapore for two days, then Thailand and Cambodia. Talk to ya when I get there,
C. Johnson

The Business End

2010-01-28T05:51:00.000-08:00

So today was stressful.... I have been having trouble getting money out of my Bank of China (BOC) account and so today I figured that I would pay them a visit at their Kuala Lumpur branch. I got to the BOC at about 11:30 and waited patiently in line that the Malaysian BOC was not at all associated with the Chinese BOC and there was no way that I could make a withdrawal from my account at the largest Chinese Bank in Malaysia's largest city. Stressful....... Making me more angry was the fact that noone there seemed to want to help me whatsoever. I finally resolved the issue by explaining to them, in Chinese, that I was not going away untill they helped me. Desperate to find a resolution she invited me to call the BOC in Hunan to see if they could help. By the time this brilliant plan was hatched it was 12:00. The receptionist regretfulluy informed me that noone would answer the phone because they were on break. How did I resolve this issue? I went to an entirely different bank, where my card had previously failed, and asked them the name of their largest national bank. Sure enough I can pull money out of any Public Bank ATM.

After that i caught my bus to the Cameron Highlands. I have been spending too much money in KL and I'm looking foreward to actually sticking with the budget I set for myself when my trip started. My first impression of Tarah Ratah (sp?) is that I will love it. The basic idea here seems to be to relax or to hike and I've brought a couple of books and a pair of shoes that should satisfy those expectations. I think it is normal to get stressed when your travelling and sometimes it might even help you to return to calm and remember, "Hey I'm on vaca!" The main thing I hate about being stressed is that it makes it hard for me to eat. I always think, "OMG this food is gonna kill me."

When I first got to China I had trouble coping with the idea that I would be in a foreign country for so long. I became comfortable there and now have that same feeling about traveling in SE Asia. I don't want to complain too much though, I have been granted a crazy oppurtunity to see some amazing parts of the world and I'll be damned if Im gonna let a little stress get in the way of my enjoying the time I have here!
C. Johnson

KL Photos

2010-01-27T22:56:00.000-08:00

1) The south city skyline, including the KL TV tower which is in the top ten highest towers, from Merdeka Sq
2) PETRONAS basking in the glow of the sun!
3) Park with the north city skyline.
4) Reflection.
5) Oli had to roll around on the ground to get this one of me.

Night Fight

2010-01-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

For being such a large city Kuala Lumpur has a surprisingly limited number of options when it comes to nightlife. In fact, in the entirety of the backpacker's district there is really only one proper bar called reggae bar. A fun joint with the theme of Marley but the music of Akon, Reggae Bar throws together a huge diversity of folks. White and African travelers mingle with Malaysian beauties, while the Indian Malay staff watches closely. A regular sight at the bar is the gaggle of ten or so ladyboy prostitutes who are constantly trolling for tourists who are not vigilant enough (or too drunk) to notice their Adam's apple.

While most bars in the US with such a laid back name would have an attitude to match you must constantly be on your toes at Reggae KL. In the last two nights there have been no less than three fights. They have not been the most violent beatings I have ever seen but they have been rather one sided. Generally one Malaysian hotshot will have a problem with a foreigner (and generally that foreigner is an African) and, just like in China, once the native-foreigner demarcation has been set it is hard to erase. I have never felt unsafe there... you just have to be sure to give respect where it is perceived to be due. Interesting traveling through Asia.

A Leisurely Pace

2010-01-27T04:38:00.000-08:00

Today I tried to see as much of KL as I could. I started by walking out of Chinatown, where my hostel is located, towards an area of the city that has large and reputably beautiful gardens. Unfortunately the gardens eluded me but I was able to enjoy my walk just the same. The first major landmark I encountered was the commuter train station which is built in the old British Raj style of architecture I became familiar with in India several years age. Unlike the ones in India, this station was tranquil, quiet, and clean. I snapped a few pictures and took a stroll through the small museum attached to the station. After that I was once again pushing through the tremendous Malay heat and humidity.

Before I knew it I found myself in the ultra modern KL Sentral Stesen (spelling correct). The differences between the old and new stations could not be overstated. KL Sentral was positively bustling. In its only terminal Sentral offers long and short distance buses, monorail, airport transit, commuter trains, and long range train services. I will pass through it no fewer than six times during my stay in Malaysia.

I next walked through a neighborhood called Chow Kit, the real Chinatown. In the past few days I have noticed that the neighborhood Malaysians call Chinatown has very few Chinese people in it and I decided to investigate by traveling to the location that many Chinese Malays consider to be the real Chinatown. Except for being devoid of trash, the presence of enforced traffic laws and the overall polite nature of its inhabitants Chow Kit could have been in China. I got my favorite Chinese breakfast, although it was my second meal of the day, and walked on.

My next destination was the Muslim hub of KL, centered around the grand Masjid (Mosque) Jamek. Surprisingly the namesake of this neighborhood actually proved difficult to find, but I did investigate the smaller Masjid India. I also went to Merdaka Square, the colonial hub of KL.

This city is remarkably clean and well managed. It is abundant with green spaces and they never seem to be forced as opiates for a downtrodden and over polluted public. Within the ultramodern interiors of KL I have found the most diverse culture that could exist in our modern world. In the food court at the PETRONAS mall you will find Muslim girls and Hindu boys with Thai men and women all eating shopping and socializing within the confines of the same society. With any luck I'll be heading to the Cameron Highlands tomorrow....
Talk to you when I get there,
C. Johnson

Day 1 in KL

2010-01-25T23:58:00.000-08:00

Hungover. The plan for today was originally to head down to Singapore... not a short trip! However seeing as I have made plenty of cool friends here in KL I figured I would switch things up a bit and do my Kuala Lumpur stuff first. Then I will head up to the Cameron Highlands for at least two days. Next it will be on to Singapore where I may even make a day trip to Indo! Lastly I will go to Melaka, Malaysia for one full day of relaxed small town life.

Today I visited the incredible PETRONAS Towers of Kuala Lumpur. The third largest buildings on planet earth, the towers were designed to resemble a Muslim eight pointed star. I have had a secret fascination with the towers for years and going to see them today was a blast. The thing that really surprised me about the towers is how bulky they were. Nothing like the thin little Puzz 3D I made of them several summers ago. They shoot prominently up into the sky above KL's Golden Triangle district, and there are no other buildings, save the KL TV tower on the other side of town, that come within thirty stories of the PETRONAS CEO's office. PETRONAS is Malaysia's leading, and only visible, provider of fuel and natural gas and the video introduction we were shown before going to the observation deck almost made me sensitive to the interests of Big Oil... Almost. A mega mall is situated at the base of the towers and walking around it was just what I needed to soothe my anxiety over six long months in China.

Tomorrow will find me at the National Museum and hopefully a couple of mosques as well. The diversity here is incredible and it is definitely something that I will post on when I have a less exciting day.

Talk to ya when I get there,
C. Johnson

It has Begun

2010-01-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

It is the first full day here in Kuala Lumpur so I figured it was time to update everybody on how I'm doing!

Thursday I finished up teaching and went to Changsha for the night. My students were as restless as I was to get out of there and the pace of the classes was slow and painful. That night I went to see Avatar. If any of you have not seen the movie I would recommend it as a must see. I know all of you stateside are familiar with the mythical beast known as the Chinese consumer market... let me explain to you why this market is so valuable. The IMAX version of Avatar runs24 hours a day, 7 days a week. On the day we went to see the film we had to settle for the 3D version because, and I'm not exaggerating, the only time that we could have gotten tickets for the IMAX was at 4 AM. 4 AM!!!! and in that showing Binka and I would not have even been able to sit together (they have assigned seating here and the show was nearly sold out). If you own a business... corner this market!

Friday I began the real meaty travel of my trip,but not before playing some FIFA 10 on an xbox 360 near the train station... only the bare essentials here in China. Taking trains in China is fantastic (that statement is said both genuinely and with a mouthful of sarcasm). The train system itself is wonderful. The routes are convenient and logical with multiple carriages per day travelling in any direction you want. The stations are spotless compared to the hellholes in India. The staff are generally helpful. The trains themselves are clean in the cabin and clean enough in the bathroom areas. The people are terrible. The second your train arrives you find yourself in a mob of people rushing to be the first one onto a train that isn't going to leave any of them behind. After being shoved through a single turnstile all hundred or so passengers are forced to descend a set of stairs to reach the underground tunnel that will take them to the proper platform. All those people who had just rudely bumped in front of you now come to an abrupt stop and are struggling with the handles on their rolling luggage to get down the stairs. Slow and steady, and extremely tall seems to win the race. While in the underground tunnel an odd partnership seems to be made. Little old ladies and young business men seem to be on the page here in the crowded concrete tube. They push and shove their way back to the front... Just the little old ladies and business men, an odd friendship to be sure. Of course when they get to the staircase up to the platform they must all stop abruptly and fix their luggage handles again.

I was hopping to find the paradise that first greeted me in China during my time here in Yangshuo. Unfortunately winter has brought with it some bitter cold rain that shows no sign of stopping. While that was a serious drawback the trip to Yangshuo was not a complete failure. There was a great bunch of folks at the hostel with me. Most notably were Eliza from Germany, Andrew from Ireland, Charlie from Colorado and Old Man Charlie, Jimmy, Danny and Tom from England. The latter four were hilarious and we spent all night drinking up on the rooftop bar at our hostel... Our greatest accomplishment was playing a traditional Chinese dice game that Andrew thoughtfully updated with Tequila. After the seven of us killed the bottle British Charlie asked me to sign his English flag. In my dilapidated state I thought it was a Swizz flag and proceeded to sign it, "Dudes, stay neutral". They absolutely loved it and Tom later asked me to sign his guitar with the same encouraging message. The four of them were Milwall supporters and promised to fly me to London the next time that their club faced off against West Ham so that I could have my very own Green Street Hooligans moment. Also, I got an advance on my salary for the month of January which means I'm rolling fly in Malaysia.

Last night was a blast as well. On the bus into town from the airport I met a couple of Americans who are currently trying for their dive masters in Thailand. We went out for a night of drinking that featured lady boys galore... is it bad that they were the most beautiful 'girls' in the bar??? To be honest it is quite strange seeing all these westerners, everyone has a story, everyone is on an adventure.

Talk to you when I get there,
C. Johnson

Time to Go!!!

2010-01-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

OK people,
I've got two more classes then my break begins. I'll be rushing out the door after class because I am gonna try to catch Avatar in IMAX tonight at the Wanda Cinema in Changsha. Tomorrow I have a midday train to catch which will take me to Guilin! Since I won't be on my personal computer I may have a bit of trouble blogging for the first three days of my trip. I will try to get something up concerning my return to the location of my orientation. Everybody seemed to enjoy my post on the Yulong River this summer so hopefully I'll have another great Yangshuo adventure. Mark your calenders.... On January 25th I'll be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! See ya then,
C. Johnson

Getting Ready for an Adventure

2010-01-17T18:36:00.001-08:00

First off I would like to thank everyone who followed my blog this fall. The last few months have been sparse with exciting details but I will try to recap a bit. Teaching, teaching, teaching... Teaching here is both a burden and a blessing. Obviously there are good days and bad days but the good days seem to outweigh the bad up to this point. I am planning on staying another year here in China although it is quite possible that I will fall in love with one the places I visit in Southeast Asia.

In just four short days I will begin my trip from Singapore to Angkor Wat Thailand and as such I thought that I would spend my first post back previewing the trip. I will spend the first few days in the same place I had my orientation, Guilin/Yangshuo, China. I am excited to meet up with a few folks from my company but mainly I am looking forward to a few days of R and R! On the 25th I will be flying from Guilin to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. From the 25th to the 8th of February I will be bumming around Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. I am secretly obsessed with the Petronas Towers in Malaysia (best Puzz 3D I have ever done) and this is what I am looking forward to the most for this portion of the trip.

On February 8th I have a $37 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket Thailand... should be fun! The next two weeks will be spent in Thailand doing the Thai thing. Actually I do have a few things on the docket for this period. The beach is priority number one. Second will be temple hopping in Bangkok. I am also planning on renting a motorcycle while in Phuket and scooting around the countryside for a few days. There is also a chance I will get scuba certified although that will be dependent upon when my buddies from China are going to be in the same place I am.

Finally comes the crown jewel of my trip, a seven day excursion into Cambodia. I will be visiting the unbelievable site of the ancient city of Angkor Wat... religious studies nuts pay attention to those posts. After that I will have just 48 short hours to get back to Xin Wen Xue Xiao to start teaching again. I am super excited for my trip to begin and hope that you will all join me on this adventure by following me on this blog!

Thanks,
C. Johnson

Basketball, veggies, and Nickelodeon

2009-11-19T05:29:00.000-08:00

So, this is a rare blog post.

The school is currently having a basketball tourney pitting classes in the same grade against one another. Here in China the kids stay in the same classroom all day and the teachers move around... they eat sleep and play as a class, so they see quite a bit of each other. Thus, the rivalries have been building for weeks.

The jocks take the court in matching NBA or Chinese national team jerseys, the teachers scream for them to take their warm up drills seriously, and the nonathletic kids and girls sit in the stands with anticipation. This is not fun, it is war. Very awkward and poorly coordinated war... remember these kids are 12. The amazing part is that a few of the guys are actually pretty good. The super jocks, as I call them, spend all the time they are not in class working out or playing basketball. Of course, they are the ones that all the girls have crushes on, behind me, mind you. Surprisingly though, there does not seem to be the same animosity amongst the non-jocks as there is in the states. They cheer right along with the girls and after the game they rush the court to congratulate their heroes.

This is further evidence to support an observation that I have been thinking about for a while. Simply put, NICKELODEON makes kids hate vegetables. When I was young I hated vegetables, now I love them. It wasn't about the taste, or the way they looked. No, I had a phobia of greens because Doug Funnie told me I should. I didn't like to clean my room because Kel from ALL THAT didn't. I hated doing my homework because all the characters I watched on a daily basis also complained about it. Nerds expect to be punched by jocks because that's what happened on the TGIF programming, and even worse, jocks felt pressured into that role by the same television. Now, I'm not trying to shirk any responsibility here, I'm just saying that the television I watched as a youth greatly affected the way that I approached specific situations.

I have further evidence... In class, I recently showed a RUGRATS cartoon in which Angelica refused to eat her vegetables. My students were confused as to why someone would chose not to eat their vegetables. Yes, sometimes they preferred one food over another but their mouths were agape at the possibility that someone might complain about an entire food group. Of course there are variables to consider. Poorer Chinese parents would not tolerate a wasteful child, vegetables are sweeter here in China, and they are also a staple of the Chinese diet (meaning they could potentially be a main course, not just a side dish).

But I'm gonna blame it on Nickelodeon.

Anyway... I'm off to referee another skirmish!
C. Johnson

Cool, huh?

2009-10-31T06:52:00.000-07:00

Comment from mom: Our boy loves his toys. This is a picture of his latest! Oh, dear!!

Corrections: Halloween and Testing

2009-10-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

So I was wrong and it turned out we had a full week of school this week. Bummer, I know. Well it is not that I was wrong actually, the exam schedule is simply on China time. That's right... the state education board has no trouble changing the date of an exam 3 days before the kids are supposed to take it. Can you even imagine the crisis that would occur in the United States if the SATs just decided on Thursday that you would take the test a week later than planned. I can see some incensed parents suing somebody for sure.

This is more of an addition than a correction... As I mentioned before, I am doing Halloween lessons this week in class. The Chinese have their own version of this holiday though I am somewhat unsure of how it is celebrated. Among people my age it seems to be celebrated in much the same way it is in the States. By getting really drunk and wearing very revealing costumes. I make this assumption for two reasons. 1) The local club "PARTY BAR" is having a party and it was explained to me that the dancing girls (who are not exactly shy in their dress on a normal Saturday night) will be wearing very sexy costumes. I asked if everyone else would dress up... he looked at me like I was crazy. 2) I asked my oldest students (about 14-15 years old) if they knew what Halloween is. Leo, one of my favorite students, stood up and said "Hot girl in sexy things she wear do like this" he then proceeded to make imaginary breasts out of his hands and dance around. If I had been able to stop laughing I would have told him he was right.

Happy Halloween
C. Johnson

Midterm Exams

2009-10-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

Being that it is the end of October the time has come for the dreaded MIDTERM exams. I say dreaded from the students' point of view because from where I stand the timing couldn't be better. I will have no classes on Thursday and Friday because my students will be taking tests. That's cool. Maybe this time I'll actually be able to make it to Shaoshan.

In addition to a short week the fact that Halloween is coming makes me very happy. First of all, it means that I can do essentially the same lesson for all of my students. I am showing a couple of internet clips and doing a PowerPoint about Halloween to explain to the kids what the holiday really means (my lesson leaves out any mention of All Saints Day). This means that the classes I do have are going to be relatively easy.

On Saturday I will be going to the apartment of one of my friends for a Halloween party in Changsha, which will undoubtedly be a blast. I am actually writing this blog in class... My students are currently participating in another midterm tradition, report cards! The kids with bad grades, or what I am assuming would be the kids with bad grades are being taken out of class in groups. The other kids are ranting over their grades. One kid is crying. It seems to just be assumed that class is over so I turned off the projector and told them to talk in English about their report cards. Of course none of them are, but do you want an update on my life or not?! That's all; for now, if i do make it to Shaoshan I'll let you guys know.
C. Johnson

Liuyang from Shi Fu Shan

2009-10-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

You can actually see Xin Wen in this pic. Look for the most distant white tower left of center. Just to the left of that there is a beige streak. That is where I live.

The Pleasantries of Living Here

2009-10-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been fantastic and I thought that I would share them with you all. This week I had my students write pen pal letters. This was obviously an activity they had done before because they were all pretty lethargic about it at first. However, when I went on to explain that my friend in America was a teacher and that her kids would write us back they were really amped up. I figure that the previous teachers they had did not offer any responses to the letters they wrote. This is actually turning into a really cool project, especially if Jen would get on skype! I am also sending some of the letters to Maine. I figure this could be a good once a month activity along with my once monthly games day. At first I complained about having to see the kids more than once a week because it meant that I had to make many more lesson plans than my coworkers at Buckland. Now I love the fact that I actually get to connect with my kids. One of the little kids I have, who I was convinced was a mute, finally spoke in class this week. He said, "Today is Friday." If I only saw this kid once a week he never would have said that to me. Never mind that it was Thursday... He spoke!

Thursday night was fantastic. I played some basketball with my teammates which is always fun. The talent level is varied on the team but we have a great starting line. A couple of weeks ago we had our first actual game against another school. It was about an hour into the countryside from Liuyang, so it was pretty far out there. I would guess that I was the first white guy to ever play basketball there. It was an incredibly close game. Unfortunately, because of the language barrier, I know none of the plays. Towards the end of the game I was subbed out so that one of the Chinese teachers could help run the plays. At first I was very disappointed, but as I began to look around that feeling faded quickly. It seemed that the entire town had come out to watch the 'lao wei' play. Even though I was on the other team they cheered for me when I left the court. It was also a beautiful setting. Rows of steep tile roofs created the horizon, the blond setting sun gave an odd sense of eeriness to the thankfully fresh air, and old Maoist slogans were plastered all over the school's walls. I was suddenly hit with a serving of humble pie at my situation here in China. I am really lucky to be here.

It is finally fall here and it reminds me so much of winter in Florida. The air is fresh-ish but certainly crisp and just a little bit chilly. After bball practice I did some cardio on the school's track. Dinner had just finished and all of the students were out playing on the soccer field. After soccer practice the soccer coach busted out this awesome R/C airplane. He would swoop the plane down on groups of students and then have the plane climb back into the sky. I suppose that would be considered abuse in the US. After my workout I just sat there for about an hour. It was fantastic. As the sun set the students headed back to class and I headed home.

Fridays are half days here at Xin Wen (which means the students get out at 2:30) and many of the kids go home. Some live too far and so they stay at school, while the parents of others pay teachers to take care of their kids on the weekends. On any given weekend my friend Salina (who often invites us to weekend dinners) is sure to have a student at her home. I was playing a particularly dangerous game my last period on Friday when the parents showed up. I wanted to stop but the score was 10-10 so we had to finish. When team 1 won they went insane and I was worried that the parents, who were very interested in what the foreigner (who they pay a lot of money to teach their children), would disapprove. Instead they were all very impressed by their children's English ability.

After classes Aimee and I went to Shi Fu mountain. You can see all of Liuyang from up there. I will send my mom a picture to post. This is getting lengthy so lemme just say that it was great. The trail down the mountain leads into a little neighborhood that I had never seen before. It was great to explore our town during the day since normally we work or at least have stuff to do until dark. This weekend I am going to work on getting a motorcycle license. Don't worry mom, I'll be safe.
C. Johnson

Rainy Day at Xin Wen

2009-10-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

Picture of the school.

Sent on Monday, October 19.

Cattle call

2009-10-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

On my way to the famous Changsha nightlife I was held up by these cattle being sheparded down a five lane 'ring road' of the city. Who says a city the size of London can't have that 'small town charm'?

C. Johnson

A note about coming home

2009-10-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

When I returned to the real China from my whirlwind adventure in HK and Macau I felt a sense of comfort returning to me. Here I knew which direction the insane drivers were coming from. Here I could not understand what someone was saying in a language I was familiar with. But most importantly here is where my home is.

I had pondered how I would feel to go on vacation and RETURN to China. I am relieved to say that my comfort with my new home has given me a sense of ownership over it. It was weird being in a place where foreigners sit in a cafe around every corner. I spent the morning after my exhausting train trip from Shenzhen walking the just-waking streets of Changsha. I smiled dumbly and repeated my arsenal of Mandarin phrases to each person I met.

I was home, and I was loving it. I just needed to get to the east bus station and then it was only a short hop to Liuyang. Unfortunately the city bus I boarded was travelling the wrong direction and I didn't realize it until I arrived at the west bus station. 113 stops and 1 hour and 10 minutes later I was on my way to Liuyang. Maybe this place isn't completely comfortable but it is home... for now.
C. Johnson

My favorite kind of cake

2009-10-18T07:00:00.001-07:00

For as long as I can remember, I only liked the frosting on cake. This cake is perfect for me, and common in China.

On the Ferry to Macau

2009-10-06T16:29:00.000-07:00

More about Hong Kong

2009-10-06T16:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 4

After settling into my hostel I realized that I was hungry, really hungry. I checked my map and decided to head into Central station to an area known as Lan Kwai Fong. This section of HK sits on a steep hill and is overcrowded with inexpensive restaurants and expensive restaurants and bars. As usual, this is China after all, I was mauled by touts telling me that their restaurant was the best. These places seem to be the most expensive so I decided to continue walking.

In a quieter corner of things I met two Indian touts who were only a bit enthusiastic at getting me to eat at their restaurant. This was the place for me. The Chuck Masala was delicious and it was honestly one of the most filling meals I had eaten in a while.

Now it was time to hit the bars. Drinking alone is one of the few drawbacks to traveling alone. Usually I am a chameleon who fits in just about anywhere but I quickly realized something strange about Lan Kwai Fong, everyone was beautiful. I inquired the profession of the man with the striking jaw who had taken the seat next to me. He said, "I am a model," in a tone that begged me, "Can't you tell how beautiful I am?". I finished that drink and headed up the hill looking for a place where I would feel less out of place in a twenty dollar polo.

Down a small side street came my salvation. Just up the hill from the Lan Kwai Fan area is a small street with several Irish Pubs. I chose one, Bulldogs, and sat down at the bar. The array of draft beers offered was mind numbing. Yes to all, please! All of a sudden the music stopped and I could here massive amounts of screaming through the speakers. What was this? I turned around to find the second half of the Arsenal Bolton game underway. Ahh, this was heaven.

More to come including lambos and porches, why hiking is fun, and the HK playground. Today I am off to Macau... Who's feeling lucky?

Hong Kong (aka) HK

2009-10-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 3

Hey things are going pretty well here in HK. The train ride was just fine and not too long... still no luck on getting an upgrade for the way back into China. The metro system here in HK is massive but quite convenient and after a day of trial and error I am starting to figure it out pretty well.

I started the morning at the 10,000 Buddhas Temple in the North. In fact, there are several 10s of thousands of Buddhas from the entrance to the temple proper but the main attraction is the main temple that has 12,000 some odd individual Buddhas. Next up was HK Heritage Museum, a fantastic collection of art and history from HK and a great way to spend the hottest hours of the day indoors. My third destination was a small recreation Hakka village in the far North West of the new territories. This region is actually rural, like Burlington (NC) rural, and even though I failed to find the town, it was a blast to just walk up and down main street for a bit. Then it was a long ride onto the HK island.

I walked around the city for a bit and feeling overwhelmed decided to find my hostel. The hostel is situated within the crowded streets of Causeway Bay. I have a line behind me here in the hostel, so I will update more later.

The Taxi Post

2009-09-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

Any good account of Asia will include a piece on the horrors of the continent's traffic. I am sure you have all heard of the congestion, the busyness, the downright lunacy of Chinese drivers. Well allow me to tell you that it is true... really, really, really true. The first thing that you have to understand about traffic here is that it is opposite from traffic in the US. This is what I mean: in the US small traffic, such as motorcycles, drives recklessly and fast while big traffic, such as semis, drive slow not wanting to hurt anyone. In China the opposite is true. Here the trucks drive fast, because no one would be stupid enough to get in their way, and the motoches drive carefully, because they are the most likely to die in the event of an accident. It creates a very weird dynamic when you are riding a motorcycle taxi but being passed on both sides by gigantic trucks, scary stuff indeed. Motorcycle taxis are cheaper, presumably because of the risk of dying and the cost of gas, and so that is our preferred method of travel into town. However, the normal car taxis are not a bad option either.

There are four kinds of drivers in China. The first is the safe driver. He understands that the foreigners in his car are of great value. That it would be terrible if we died and that we are really willing to pay a bit extra for a safe ride. The second is that fast driver. This man is a daredevil and expects others to be as well. The road is his oyster and he uses every part of it to get you to your destination. He understands that foreigners have a lot of money and that they are willing to pay a bit extra to be entertained. It must be noted that the driver is often the only one being entertained. He smiles with each screech of the tire and laughs each time I tighten my grip on the door handle.

The third driver is the incomprehensible driver. Like the previous driver they are willing to use any part of the road to their advantage, but this brand tends to be confused as to which side of the road he is supposed to be driving on. Often this driver will hug the left hand curb even though it would appear to be faster if he just stayed in the correct lane. They will often turn the car on and off at inappropriate times and will often be on their cell phone. The worst of all the drivers is the new driver. I was recently invited to dinner at a Chinese friend's house but before we ate we had to make a quick run to the grocery store. As I settled into the backseat my driver's husband turned to me and said, "She just got her license," with a large grin. This was the first time that I had put on a seat belt since moving to China. It was horrifying, I can not even explain it to you. I would have killed for any other sort of driver, even a most incomprehensible one. I survived but just barely.

The scary news is this... 3000 new drivers hit the road each week in this country. That's over 150,000 new drivers each year. Things are only going to get worse.
C. Johnson

Xin Wen XiuaXao

2009-09-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

I want to first apologize for how long it has been since I last posted. This can be attributed to two things. First, I am incredibly busy. Second, life here lacks a bit of the excitement that one would often associate with living in a foreign country. OK that second part is not true. At least once day I see something that is so Chinese, so unbelievably foreign that it makes me laugh, makes me think that I should post it, but unfortunately as I said I am busy.

Teaching is no longer as terrible as it was for the first few days. I am getting the hang of dealing with trouble makers and I am also learning how to streamline my lesson planning. I teach grades 2 and 3 (all of which are little monsters) and grades 6-9 which are quite an improvement. As today is Teacher's Day I want to discuss the school where I now work and reside.

My apartment is huge but quite dirty. It is on the ground floor of a 5 story dormitory for teachers. The kids also live on campus which means that the only time that I ever get any quiet time during the week is when I go to my apartment, close all my windows, and turn on some music. Literally everytime I leave my door a chorus of poorly pronounced "Hellos" greats me from the middle school dormitory. However, everyone else goes home on the weekends so it is not hard to get some peace and quiet after a long work week. I eat in the cafeteria, which will save me a ton of money in the long run, but may end up costing me my stomach. My favorite meal is breakfast but, as it is served at 6:15, it is also the meal I miss the most. The best time here at Xin Wen is on the weekends when Aimee and I eat with the maintnence staff, who live in hovel apartments just off campus. It is quiet and the food is delicious. Also, the maintnence staff has gotten used to our being there and so it is one of the few places where I don't feel like a foreigner.

The classrooms themselves are remarkably high tech, some with really nice projectors and some with 1980s big screen TVs that have extremely low resolution, and I do most of my lessons via powerpoint. I even got to show my older students my house on google earth. In between classes I feel like the Pied Piper leading a mass of children outside of their own classroom up to the door of my next class. Oh ya. The kids stay put... in theory. Each class has its own room where it stays all day. Each period the teachers have to move from class to class. Here I thought that after graduating college I would be able to stop living by the bell.

I have a shared office space with other 7-9 grade teachers on the 4th floor of the classroom building for those grades. Everyone is really nice in the office and a lot of the teachers sing while they do their work. This usually is very annoying for me. However here in China I really like it. The women to whom my back faces actually has quite a lovely voice. My desk backs up against my Chinese friend Monica's desk. It is a nice place to sit and talk with other teachers and some of the older students. It is also my refuge from the mass of bodies that tends to follow me from place to place.

I mentioned earlier that today is Teacher's Day. There is a gift of a red envelope waiting for me back at my apartment. The red envelope is the traditional way to gift money here in China, although I have no idea how much is in mine. As with almost everything in China, you also celebrate by drinking alcohol. The owner of the school was here with her family for lunch and, being that Aimee and I have "3D" faces, we were invited to join them. I was offered baijo (remeber white liquor) and beer, it would have been rude to have refused. Tonight we are going to KTV. yippee!

I have also joined the teacher's basketball team here. We are actually pretty good. The first game was against the Liuyang Hospital Staff. I scored 12 points and had 5 rebounds and 6 blocks. Oh ya and I hit the game winner. The funny part is that I didn't even know how much time was left. We had just taken a time out and I am sure there was a discussion about how the game was almost over and whatnot but of course it was in Chinese so.... So I took the shot and it went in. All of a sudden the students rushed the court and were jumping on me with my teammates... finally the respect I never got at Cardinal Newman. Even though there is a language barrier the team seems very excited to have me and I think that it will be a good diversion from classes and planning. Thanks to all for reading,
C. Johnson

P.S. Next post will feature taxis, and motorcycles, and a bar named PARTY. Talk to you soon.

China Dreams

2009-09-02T21:33:00.000-07:00

Classes have started and for the last few nights a strange thing has happened. I have had a series of very vivid dreams with reoccuring characters and an episodic plot. This is the first time in my life that I have had such dreams. The odd thing is that I am not dreaming that I am at home, like one would think. Instead I dream that I am in China... kind of. The China my brain creates is full of people speaking perfect English, kids who behave, clean living spaces, clean eating spaces, and of course plenty of free time to travel. The China that greets me every morning is very different. Few speak English (although that is good for my Mandarin), the kids are crazy (as kids tend to be), the living and eating standards or below what I would require in the U.S. (and yet I am now completely OK with that), and the reality is that I may have a hard time fitting in all the travel I want to do (haven't found the benefit of this yet).

The odd thing is that I prefer the real China. I wake every morning as if I had just had a nightmare. I am glad that China is hard, that it is challenging. If it was easy then everyone would do it and it wouldn't matter that I was. Of course I still get jealous when I hear Allison's stories of a relatively easy transition to Korea. I just know that this experience is forming me, just like every other one I have had.

I teach 8 sections of elementary school. These kids are hard. They really just want to play... which is the point of my class except they speak no English and so explaining things like the rules for a game is difficult. My other 12 sections are a blast. They vary from 6-9 grade and the class size varies from 20-40 students... many of my coworkers at Buckland teach classes of more than 120.

A terrible thing happened today. I began to care about my students. This is terrible because now nothing but the best will do for them. Which means that I have to provide it to them. No slapping together lesson plans for me. Wow I wish I hated these kids!

Below is a picture of my school from the office they have given me. I share a large office space with 12 other teachers from 6-9 grade.The circular building is the Xin Wen meeting hall. The building on the left is the first of three classroom buildings, which are five stories apiece... no stairs. Across the valley you can see some mountains, haven't climbed those yet. If the photo was a panoramic you would be able to see Liuyang City to the right, although it is a sprawling city and the downtown area has few buildings over 20 stories. More photos to come!

Office View

2009-09-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

View from my office, September 3

Beerconomics

2009-08-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

One very easy and fun way to gauge the cost of living in a given place is to look at the cost of a bottle of beer. My roommate of four years Paul agrees with me, and he's an accountant so I must be right. I considered this as I took a quick cab ride back to my apartment from downtown Liuyang. Aimee and I were finished writing our first day's lesson plans and we went into town for some supplies and some beer to take the edge off the nervousness we were feeling.

As we drove past the Ming Tian Inn, complete with 'Western' style restaurant, we both seemed to come to the same realization. In Aimee's bag were four beers... 18 yuan total. Two days earlier we had circumambulated the city on foot and, being that the Inn is the last place before you reach the country roads of Xin Wen school, we stopped in at the Ming Tian Inn for some food and two beers... costing 20 yuan apiece.

It should be no surprise to anyone who has even remotely heard of China in the last 10 years that this is a land of paradox. However to see the gap between rich and poor so blatantly explained by the 'cost of beer' economic system was shocking. What is more shocking is how two, supposedly well travelled, individuals could be so stupidly ripped off. Right then and there in our taxi Aimee and I agreed that we were done buying 20 yuan beers. The atmosphere of the Ming Tian Inn just isn't worth it... trust me.
C. Johnson

First Trip to Changsha (also the hospital)

2009-08-28T01:52:00.000-07:00

So there were several reasons that my FAO Monica, and her two friends brought Aimee and I to Changsha two days ago. First of all, Aimee needed to exchange her travellers checks and apparently the head branch of the Bank of China in the Provincial Capital was the only place that could handle such a serious task. Second, there is fantastic shopping, which we'll get to soon enough. But must importantly to me, there was the Changsha Hospital where I would be getting my health check, pushing me one step closer to being a legal resident of China.

Changsha is a city the size of London... shocking because you have probably never heard of it have you? I figured that such a large city would certainly have top of the line modern health facilities. I figured wrong. Cramped in the back of the same small Chevrolet that had taken me around Liuyang I did not have any good views of the city and so I dozed off. I awoke to hear Aimee asking incredulously "Is this the hospital?" Not what I wanted to hear. The clinic was in a 'not so nice' part of town but that was not what worried me. It was the open air meat market next door that made me think "Well if the worst that happens to me is Swine Flu I'll be just fine."

Monica led me up a flight of stairs and into the office of the hospital. Here I had to fill out my information in triplicate, which I supposed was just in case they lost one copy. Such a thing would not have been rare judging by the office's 'filing' system, which was basically just a pile of papers. Actually it was just a pile of papers. After smiling for a picture I was given a small plastic cup and told to pee. "I'm sorry but I don't have to pee." As far as I could tell this was not an acceptable excuse. I drank three bottles of water and found my way to the bathroom. They were feral at best. It took a while, perhaps I was worried about the man next to me getting frisky, but the deed was eventually done.

Next up was getting my blood drawn. When I was a child I had to be held down for the doctors to stick a needle into me. I don't know why but my entire body would just fill with fear and I couldn't hold still. That same feeling of dread filled me again. I begged Monica to ensure that the needles were clean. She assured me that this clinic was modern and everything was sterilized. It took everything inside of me not to ask her why the entire place smelled like shit if it was so clean. But then again, would YOU want to be the one to clean up a Chinese Hospital? I then endured another hour or so of tests, oddly including an ultrasound (It's a boy by the way) and an extremely rude ECG nurse. The entire proceedings cost a total of 364 Yuan, remember this.

Aimee had trouble exchanging her checks at the bank and so I took this opportunity to get some lunch (I was forced to skip breakfast... I assume for the ultrasound). I found a noodle place with a couple of pictures at the register. I pointed at something that looked like it wasn't dog and took a seat. All of the Chinese seemed flabbergasted that a Westerner would walk into such a small shop and order something without asking any questions. I considered this and realized that even though I have spent almost two months (in total) in China this was the first meal that I had ever eaten alone. I felt proud of myself as I walked back to the bank. The owner had only charged me 3 Yuan, perhaps he was so shocked he forgot to charge me the foreigner price.

We had a couple of hours to kill before my medical results would be available so to the girls' (the Chinese girls, not necessarily Aimee's) delight we went to the mall. I would assume that the feeling I had as I went from the squalor of the hospital into the shine of the modern mall is analogous to the way that Angelina Jolie's kids felt after being airlifted out of Africa. Could this be the same planet? It was. The mall was clean and efficient and filled with workers. Each store had tons of them (workers)... too many, you would think, but really they were all very busy. This was the Chinese market that American producers so desperately wanted to tap. I sat in the M*A*C makeup store and listened to 36 mafia and Eminem. How could this be? Remembering that I needed some basketball shoes I went to the 7Th, THE 7Th, floor of the mall and found the NIKE store. They didn't have my size but I checked out a few models anyway. The price of the cheapest shoes in the store was 680 Yuan, almost double what I paid for my health check...

This is the paradox of today's China and I must say that it is quite wonderful to experience. Earlier that day I was (justifiably) worried that a qualified medical professional might infect me with hepatitis and now I was standing in a NIKE store with 100 Dollar shoes, and people were buying them. I think that this is really the best time to be in China... well OK the best time will be when the mall style of life hits the hospitals, but still... this country is incredible!

I do not mean to be demeaning at all in my account of the hospital visit. It was difficult, it was scary. But poverty is no longer endemic to the Chinese people. Sure there was a man lying on the pavement naked just outside the mall, but the point is that there is a mall. Progress is being made. Many westerners would want to ask what the cost of this progress is, but before you do ask what the cost of our own affluence is. In the US there are no naked men laying outside of our malls, our naked men are in Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia. There is no doubt in my mind that the Chinese have room to improve, and a lot of room to improve, but perhaps we do as well.
C. Johnson

On to Liuyang

2009-08-24T22:54:00.000-07:00

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST HAS A BIT OF 'COLOR'. SOME MAY WISH TO PROCEED TO THE NEXT BIT OF BOLD FACED WORDS

The man who drove Aimee and I to the train station in Guilin told us to wait for about an hour near the outdoor public restrooms for a travel company to come and give us our tickets for the overnight to Changsha. As I waited I thought about what an adventure I was on, about how funny life could be, how amazing it could be... OK I am bullshitting here but please, let me. I need some way to label what was about to happen as adventurous or exciting; even calling it oddly foreign would do. During our wait I decided to quickly visit the little boys room where there was a single trough up against a wall. I have peed in plenty of bar bathrooms and the trough style of things does not really bother me much. Now it is true that after I had finished relieving myself I stood for a few, but just a few, seconds more taking deep breaths and preparing myself for the train ride ahead before I put it all back inside my shorts. However I would not ever classify this short amount of time as the amount of time a man would have to wait before he would think that the man with his bits out (me) was inviting him to have a go. Apparently in China I had waited precisely that amount of time. It turns out that public restrooms outside of train and bus stations are happening spots for young Chinese homosexuals to meet. Oh how obvious these things become to a person after his penis has been touched by a stranger. And in reality it was quite obvious... the restroom was full of men just kind of hanging out. The odd thing was that the man didn't even say anything to me, not that my reaction would have been much better had he, but really, to just reach over like that... the barbarian. My reaction was also nonverbal. I didn't want to chastise him in English, lest he mistake my anger for role play; and remarkably the Rosetta Stone never covered the Mandarin words I was searching for. I quickly zipped up and dashed out of the restroom. I was lucky to have Aimee there making light of the situation otherwise I would have fumed over it all night.

Next up was an enterprising young boy who wanted to wash my sandals... my sandals. I was having none of this. Now you must remember that I have travelled through India, where you see some truly depressing shit in the train stations. I mention this only because I don't want my readers to think that I am callous when I say that my heart was not even hiccuping for this fat and fully clothed 12 year old in front of me. I must admit however that these Chinese kids were far more persistent than their Indian counterparts. He simply would not take no for an answer. What a pain in the ass. In half an hour's time we would literally watch our 'travel guide' walk up to the ticket depot we were sitting right next to, which had English signage by the way, and buy our tickets. He was half an hour late and we had to pay him 70 Yuan apiece for his 'services'. Chinese capitalism at its finest I suppose. You would think that I couldn't stand this country, that I would be constantly questioning why I came here and that I would hate living here... and sometimes I do have all of these emotions. However China often offers its own salvation when you need it the most. Today it came in the form of two men from Xian, who I assume were not gay, who rescued us from the touts and the little kid. They made fast friends with us and tried to speak to us in broken English. Aimee filled in the gaps for me with her Mandarin. When they saw that we were not a couple of bleeding heart tourists they explained to the kid that his time was probably more effectively spent elsewhere. They offered me a cigarette and, feeling obliged but also feeling like I really needed one, I accepted it and then another. We left them in a flurry of thank yous in many languages and rushed onto our train... which is a fifteen minute story in itself.

OK GRANDMA, YOU CAN START READING AGAIN

I started this post with some sarcastic existentialism, but I must admit that there is something really fun and adventurous about taking a train in China when there is only one other English speaker aboard the transport. We were in hard sleeper, which meant that privacy would be non existent on the trip. The family who shared our little cubby was polite and quiet. The two teenage children seemed thrilled that they were sharing their berth with some westerners though I got the feeling that the boy tried hard not to show it. Aimee was not feeling well so I stayed up with her as long as I could. All around us the Chinese were making themselves at home, setting up snacks or brushing their teeth. One boy, maybe eight years old, ran up and down the aisle wearing only a long orange T-shirt. Without getting too sappy I would really like to say what a wondrous occasion this train ride really was. It was fun. It was new. It was adventurous. We awoke the next morning to be dumped quickly onto the platform of the Changsha train station. The sky was grey and polluted and I thought back to my decision to smoke those cigarettes the night before. We easily found our Foreign Affairs Officer (FAO) in the crowd outside the station and from that moment on the day was a flurry of action. We had three meals, were shown our new apartments (quite nice I must say), taken to the supermarket, shown around the school, and given a quick and uncomfortable tour of Liuyang in a small Chevrolet. That evening fireworks went off late into the night. Liuyang is the world's largest producer of the explosives and it appears that this will be a nightly occurrence. Today Aimee and I went for a walk around the school, but even given the grey skys it is deadly hot. There is a small shop that doubles as a pool hall and bar about a mile from the school's entrance. Other than that, there is not much between us and downtown Liuyang, which is not by any means a small village. Don't let the Chinese fool you... Liuyang is a city, a city with hundreds of thousands of people.

Right now the newness of everything is hard. However I realize that in one SHORT year I will undoubtedly be sad when I leave this place. The teaching staff seem nice, though many of them do not speak English. We are planning to make a trip to Changsha in a few days so that Amy can change her money there. I will update on that as well as the beginning of the school year as it happens. Thank you for reading. I am trying to report my life here in China as honestly as I can bear it. Often what you read may make you think I hate this place... I do not. It is new, it is foreign, but for at least one year it is also my home.

C. Johnson

Lasagna?

2009-08-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Lasagna? Sometimes the Chinese versions of our foods are kind of just approximations rather than replications.

This is my teaching partner Aimee eating some yummy 'lasagna'. Wonton wrappers as a substitute for pasta? Only in China

2009-08-23T05:59:00.001-07:00

Owen's son, Jerry

Orientation

2009-08-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

So it has been a while since my last blogpost because I have been so busy with orientation. I am now packing to get ready to move to the city where I will be teaching which is called Liuyang. I have been trying to provide you with pictures so you can see some of what I have seen.

I guess I will start at the beginning of Yangshuo. Eun (see photo below) was the first person that I met here. I was soooo scared when I first got here that I couldn't even eat. Eun is the driver here at Buckland. It's also his job to make sure all the new recruits are comfortable and settled here. Without him and others on the Buckland staff I probably would have left China because of homesickness.

The actual orientation has been packed full of TESOL classes. Everyone here is awesome and my fellow new teachers and I are having a blast. The only bad part is that we are now going to be shipped off to other parts of China but hopefully we will keep in touch. At the end of orientation we each have to teach one lesson plan to a group of local students. I did my lesson on hobbies and had a great time.

Tomorrow I take a train to Changsha and then a car to Liuyang. My teaching partner's name is Aimee and I think that we will get along pretty well. My city is 45 minutes from Changsha (which means it is about 1 mile because of Chinese traffic) which is the provincial capital. Changsha = McDonalds! I will be teaching at a primary and middle school which is a bit younger than I had hoped but the McDonalds will no doubt help that.

Last night we had a huge party with Owen, the owner of my company. I got wasted off of baijo (see dopey smile in the photo below) but Owen did too so it was all right. Then it was time for some KTV (karaoke).

Today I went to the river one last time. It was incredible. The water is so warm and the Chinese tourists so excited to see some Lao Wei jumping off the bridge. This little girl was shooting us with water so when her bamboo raft came up to the bridge we all cannonballed into the water near her. She was soaked and started screaming, "you are evil". We may have started another world war.

I am sad to say goodbye to Yanshuo but I am ready to start the next chapter of this adventure.

Oh ya, I bargained with a lady at the market but did so entirely in Mandarin. Schwing!

2009-08-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

The guys, 8/21/09

(Mom has asked for the story that goes with this photo.)

2009-08-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

My first friend in China, Eun, 8/21/09

2009-08-19T05:23:00.001-07:00

Hidden Valley, 8/19/09

Along the Yulong River

2009-08-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

About 5 miles outside of Yangshou the slow moving Yulong River meanders its way through the massive karst topography of southern China. The trail from Yangshou to the river is paved, and it is often clogged with tourists, but it is beautiful, serene and lonely all the same. Trekking away from my low budget hostel the road climbs its only significant rise between the town and the river. As the buildings of Yangshou disappear behind the peaks, I am quickly deposited in a narrow valley.

In the early morning the road was a flutter with local activity. Loud tractors full of farm supplies rumble by. The morning's harvest makes its way in the other direction. The bamboo raft drivers fly down the road on their motorcycles each one blaring their horn as they pass to my very near left. Although the valley is narrow the locals have managed to carve small rice farms out of the land. In the fields the women pick and tie bunches of the plants while the men load their tractors near the road. Somewhere after the first bend the valley begins to open up. To the right farming persists for 200, 300, 400 meters as the massive mountains veer away from the road. To my left, peak after peak rise thousands of feet into the air. Sheer cliffs with plant life seeming to be clinging desperately to the face with their roots. Nature has weathered out small niches in the base of many of the peaks.

Here old ladies sit, selling hats and tiaras made of flowers. Another hundred metres and the trail seems to give birth to what is, I promise you, the most beautiful scene anyone has ever seen. Within the tall confines of the valley walls a massive and proud peak stands solitary, and at its base is a village. The mud road to the left bumps through a small village with no storefronts, just homes. To the right the paved trail cuts quickly through town and on to the Yulong river. Touts scream at me, "Bamboo... Bamboo." I respond with a stern "Bo yo shia shia."

I decided to see where the path to the left led... it led to nowhere but that was the point. The locals on this side of the village were not used to seeing westerners stray from the manicured trail and were eager to have me notice them. "You walk from Yangshuo?" a man asked in surprisingly good English with a look of awe on his face. I simply nod. After exploring the small paths of the town and giving the children a few enthusiastic "Ni haos" I found myself back on the paved trail again heading towards the Yulong. As the road leaves the more modernized part of the village the valley opens up on both sides of the road. It seems that here the entire world is open to me. It is nothing but blue and white sky and peak after cloudy peak.

This is the China we have seen painted a million times and probably written on just as much. I can imagine the ancient Chinese here thinking of the dragon and the phoenix wrapping their way between the massive peaks. The fertile valley floor is flat and ensures that my view of the topography is unencumbered. Something as simple as a stone bridge leading into the soggy fields becomes magical in a setting such as this. When you walk this trail you feel full, entire. Now the trail is beginning to get crowded though, and I must constantly look over my shoulder to ensure that I am not tagged by a motorcycle or tractor, or even worse one of the gigantic buses that are now shipping thousands of tourists to the berth of the bamboo floats. I am soon near the river where more raft drivers offer me their service. In order to escape their requests I find a small dirt path that leads down to the river. And there it was, silent but mighty, slowly weathering this land even further. Upstream there is a flotilla of umbrella clad bamboo rafts. Down stream local children are gathering water guns to sell to the tourists. The colors of these man made items create a paradox that is garish but unmistakeably beautiful. What was once only green and blue is now a flurry of red and orange and green and purple and blue and blue and blue.

I find myself on a map within my travel guide and as some children shyly approach me I show them where we are. The bravest of these quickly grabs the book from my hands and begins searching the map. I am not sure how much of it she comprehended and she quickly handed it back to me closed. I did not spend long at the river, it was hot and I was getting hungry. The walk back home was full of the same scenery and wonder. I have walked or ridden a bike down this trail many times now, sat completely alone and homesick at the edge of a small farm; played and swam in the river with the tourists; jumped off the famous Yulong Bridge into the river and then rode the current back to my clothes; and even climbed the mountains walling the valley until they simply dumped me into another scar in the Earth. The thing that is shocking about all my trips is how it never gets old, never gets ugly, never gets boring. This is why I came to China, for this.

Getting around Yangshou

2009-08-15T05:46:00.001-07:00

August 15. I'll write later.

Adapting

2009-08-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody this is the second post that I am making through my parents. If you do have any comments please send them to cjohnson627@gmail.com Also identify yourself in the email so that I can respond. I am now in my second city in China (Yangshuo) and I am beginning to really get into the frame of mind that I will be living here for a whole year. While that is a scary prospect I think that everyday I am getting more and more excited to start my life here. One of the strangest things is that I will not be returning to Elon this fall. I miss every aspect of my life there at Elon and I have to say that I feel a bit like I am jumping into the unknown. However my orientation starts Monday and I am thinking that as I learn more about what it will be like to actually teach I will become exponentially more comfortable in this country. I am slow to set up skype and whatnot but hopefully I will be able to manage that pretty soon after I reach the city I will be working in. One plus of being here early is that I am able to meet all sorts of interesting people who have already lived in China for months and years. It is comforting that they tell me I will undoubtedly feel better soon. I miss all of you but I think that to truly adapt in China I will have to manage to spread my roots here just as I had to at Elon four years ago.
C. Johnson

Guilin

2009-08-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

Well my first few days in China have been exciting. As far as I can tell the blogspot website is unavailable here so my parents will be posting via email. The karst topography here in Guilin is incredible. For those who don't know, karst topography is mountains of very hard rock with sheer faces. As the soft rock around weathered away the karsts remained standing tall. These geological formations surround Guilin. It is very hot here and I have had to make sure that I do not overexert myself during my hiking. My hotel sits on the main promenade along the Li River. Here people do tai chi all day and they also swim in the river. I have been Google Mapping this region for weeks and I must say that the satellite photographs do not do it justice. I really do think that this is one of the prettiest places that I have ever visited. The first site I visited was Elephant Hill . This formation sits right on the river and the way that it has weathered makes it look like an elephant drinking from the river. I woke up early and had the place mostly to myself, although I did do some obligatory posing for the Chinese tourists. I then started a 2 km walk north to the next site. This walk ended up being over 8 km as I got myself lost. So much for not overexerting myself. I did finally make it to Solitary Beauty Peak, which was at this time of day crawling with tourists. It is a steep climb to the top but once up there the cooling breeze and the view of Guilin is splendid. The afternoon was spent worrying and being homesick. That night I did force myself to go to the Ronghu Lake and Zhongshan market. It would not be worth it to sit in my room pouting. The next morning was another early one full of walking. I crossed the Li River on the Liberation Bridge and got some more great shots of the city. Then I went to one of the world's first tourist destinations... ever. 7 stars park was founded during the Sui Dynasty and it is simply gorgeous. It is essentially a area of karst topography inside of the city that has been partitioned off and for 35 RMB one can have full access to the peaks there. I climbed many more mountains and walked and walked and walked. Eventually the midday heat and throngs of tourists forced me to retreat to the hotel where I took a quick nap. For dinner I went to a place called the Little Italian which was near my hotel for some pizza... it was delicious. The second I walked in the manager changed the music from something from China to Bloodhound Gang's "Do it like they do on the Discovery Channel". It was followed by Michael Jackson. I wondered whether or not these men knew he had died. I didn't have the heart to tell them. I ended that day by climbing the world's tallest copper pagoda. The building is in the center of Ronghu Lake and offers great view on downtown Guilin. A full night's sleep is still hard to come by because of my jetlag but I am hoping that this will get better soon. I will soon be on my way to the next city where I will meet my employers and coworkers. I think hat meeting these people will help me to not feel so lonely here in China.
C. Johnson

T-6 Days For the Rest of My Life

2009-07-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hey yall this will probably be my last post until I reach China. I'm six days away and still have no visa but that should be on its way. The closer that I get to my flight out of the U.S. the farther away I feel my connection to this place slipping. I have decided that this trip will almost certainly last more than 11 short months. That is because I do not think that I could possibly quench my thirst for Asia in under a year. I don't know whether it is Asia's magnetic pull or the sourness of American politics and lifestyles that urges me on, probably a balance of both, but something deep inside of me wants to just 'GO'. I love all of my friends from Elon and Wellington and I really do hope that we can keep in touch. I think it is odd that someone who just graduated from college has cabin fever like I do but it is true. I find myself more akin to Alexander Supertramp than Chris McCandless every day I spend here in Wellington. I will be updating this blog with maps and the like so you can check out where I've been. Thanks for being my friends and thanks for following my blog... See you at the five year reunion.
C. Johnson

The Final Countdown

2009-07-28T10:38:00.000-07:00

A little over a week until I head off to China. I have packed all of my work close in my suitcase/trekking pack. I also have one hiking pack that I still need to pack. And that's it, two bags... Whatever doesn't fit in those bags will be left behind. On a funny note Ping, my contact at Buckland, assured me I would be able to buy clothing while in China. I had to tell her that I can't find clothes that fit me in the U.S. so there is no way that I can get them in China. I don't think she understands how tall I am yet.

I'm done with Brookstone and it seems like this may be the last time that I ever work for them, although I have said that before. I have been reading a lot of 'hippie' travel literature: Dharma Bums, Into the Wild, Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven, etc. It has made me both excited and apprehensive to travel since some pretty crazy things happen to the characters in those novels. I will be setting up a skype account before I go so I can stay in touch with you all.

Summer Coming to an End

2009-07-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

So the summer has progressed pretty boringly for me thus far. I'm back working at Brookstone about 16-20 hours a week and I am also removing the wallpaper in my old bedroom for my parents. The rest of my time is spent watching old episodes of the West Wing and Law and Order. My old high school friend Aaron is around and every once in a while we will head out to one of his little brother's 'first year back from college parties'. They are fun enough but they make me feel so old. I've seen Allison a few times this summer and that relationship has been getting progressively better. It is nice to know that I will not be all alone in Asia. I have also been hitting the Rosetta Stone hard... and thus far I think it is working pretty well. I don't have a total grasp of the language but hopefully I will be at a level where I can infer things I hear from the Chinese. The trip to NC has been cancelled because I am running out of time to get things done before I move.

I CAN'T WAIT TO GO TO CHINA! I am so bored here at home and the area where I will be sending my time in China is supposed to be incredible. A little change to what I wrote in my last post: my ORIENTATION will be in the city pictured below. I will actually be teaching in the city of Yongzhou (pronounced Yongsjoe). Buckland has been great in getting me prepared for my move and I really just want to get over there now. I miss everybody from Elon, and I still kinda feel like I'll be seeing you in September, but I know China will be great too. Once I am over there I will probably post more although the first two weeks I'm going to be kind of off the map. I will be backpacking around southern China for a bit before my orientation.

All I am taking with me for my year in China is two backpacks. As I start to separate the things I will and won't be bringing I am really starting to realize how crazy this whole idea is. I think it is a typical 'Craig' thing to do to 1)Meet a couple in China who teaches English 2)Move to China. For any of the newcomers to this blog (or the old people who havent done this yet) feel free to set up a profile and become a follower of my blog. All you need is a gmail account and all you college grads need new email accounts anyways. One last thing: In exactly 3 weeks I will be in China. Let the countdown begin.

It's Real

2009-06-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

Today I finally bought the tickets for my flight to China... That makes it official, I will soon be flying to China to teach English. I am super excited but the closer I get to China the more bored I get here at home waiting to go. I have been hanging out with one of my old high school friends and that helps pass the time. Also every Tuesday I play basketball at the church with my dad's friends. It is fun but they foul me so much that my back is starting to hurt. After buying the tickets this morning I have spent the rest of the day reading blogs and looking at pictures of the area where I will hopefully be teaching. My first choice is to teach in Yangshou which is a city nestled in the karst topography of southern China. I included a few pictures I found on Google here. Hopefully I will soon have pictures of my own to put on here. I leave for China in early August which means I have got just about a month and a half to fully prepare myself. I've got a few more things to buy like a new camera and a new hiking backpack (this area of China is famous for hiking) as well as some professional teacher-type clothing.
Charge it up!
C. Johnson

It's Been Awhile

2009-06-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

So I have not posted in a while but that is partially because there is not all that much going on. I am now in the next step of the process towards moving to China, applying for my work visa. I had to fill out a special application and get a doctor to check me out and make sure that I am not bringing any diseases into China. He said that most of the diseases he was checking me for were unheard of in the modern US but that I might get them in China, fun. I also got my job back with Brookstone, although only part time. I am working only 3 days this week and loving it. Progress on my room is moving slow but steady. My mom and I just bought all the stuff that I need to take down the old wallpaper. It is weird living back at home after four years of relative freedom in NC. I am so amped to go to China although as it gets closer to the day when I will actually go that excitement mixes more and more with anxiety. I also bought a Rosetta Stone to help me learn Chinese and that is going pretty well. Whenever I feel stressed about going I just study a lesson to convince myself that I will be just fine.
C. Johnson

Looking Back/Looking Forward

2009-05-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

Today has been a very exciting day. I begun the day by cleaning out the closet of my old high school bedroom. I found old short stories that I had written and spent about an hour reading through a notebook of them. I am afraid to say that while my academic writing has undoubtedly gotten better my creative writing was probably better back then. I also uncovered my old drawing pad from art class. I have never been any good at painting but I would have to consider myself pretty good at doodling in black and white... this may have inspired my choice of gray scale tattoos over colored ones. In the pad there are about 50 drawings of surfboards. I got a bit nostalgic over how much I used to love designing surfboards. Many people don't know this but I actually designed and built my own surfboard in high school. After seeing these doodles I of course had to pull down the old long board from the attic and decided that I should take it for a spin later this week. After that I really didn't get much cleaning done. However my official contract from Buckland came today and that is also very exciting. This means that I am fully accepted to their teaching program and that I am officially on my way to China. CHEERS!!! I thought that this day would be met mostly with anxiety but I have got to say that I am really excited to begin my Adventure in Asia.
C. Johnson

First Post

2009-05-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

This first post is more of a test than anything else. My first week as a college graduate is coming to a close and the anticipation of what is to come has begun to meld with the sadness of what I am leaving behind. I will miss everyone who I became close to at Elon, though I hope that we will be able to remain close in spirit through this blog. I am now in the final stages of confirming my teaching position in China. I have yet to sign the contract or purchase the tickets for my flight and these two steps are probably the most nerve racking for me. In spite of my nervousness I know that I will soon be engaged in one of the most exciting adventures of my life. However, I have a boring summer to endure before I go. I am stuck here in sunny South Florida renovating my old bedroom and doing yard work for my parents. By the way, for those of you still in North Carolina, I plan to make a trip up there sometime in July.
C. Johnson