Time Travel

After a sleepless night concerning the cancelled flight, finishing stuffing my bags, four hours on the phone (thanks, China for repeated dropped Skype calls due to blipping internet), and finally a newly-booked itinerary, the ordeal was pretty much completely remedied. Even improved, in fact! Five hours and a few hundred extra dollars later, we were in a van driving up to Shanghai to catch a flight to Tokyo, for our new-and-improved itinerary on Nippon Airways. Best. International. Flight. Ever. Blessing in disguise. We miraculously didn’t have to pay for any additional or overweight baggage, and even my vegetarian meals were taken care of by the (overly) concerned flight attendants. It was nice to actually remember what customer service was!

We traveled forward in time, and then, crossing the International Date Line, time-traveled back to start July 2^nd over again. We basically only lost a few hours of our Tuesday, July 2. There is something about man’s conception of time that never ceases to boggle the brain.

 

Last time over the Hangzhou Bay Bridge; sunrise at 5am
heading to Shanghai to catch our plane. 

Flying into Tokyo, Japan.

Enjoying Asian snacks; last pocky sticks and milk tea for a while?

Stateside. Reunited.

The Dog Moms and Ayi Clara, all reunited Stateside!
First time all together since November.

Arriving back to the US, it was lovely to be reunited with my China family: Kari, Kate, and Jett, who all arrived at the airport to pick up me, Dad, and all of our (mostly my) free-checked baggage.

People often ask what it’s like to be back in the US after being abroad. Well, in the last five days, especially having spent a few of those days with Kari (and a couple with Kate as well), we’ve come up with a list, continually growing of course, of the strange feelings we’ve experienced (I’ll limit my somewhat snarky and possibly condescending stereotypical observations to keep the list under 10):

1. Putting toilet paper IN the toilet, not the wastebasket (this is #1 for a reason).
2. No need for VPN to surf the WWW. I can open Facebook and search YouTube and BBC/CNN news sources, all without having to open the IP address rerouting program?! 
3. Racial diversity and English EVERYWHERE!
4. Walking barefoot doesn’t run the risk of Hepatitis, Tetanus, or HIV.
5. Helpful strangers and customer service (what is this novelty?!).
6. Driving. So. Different. Every time I’m on the road here, I feel as if I’m going to get in a wreck, or tick someone off and have a gun pulled on me. Too many rules.
7. Less smoking
8. Less construction
9. I’d say less fireworks, but we came back just in time for the Fourth of July.

A respectful reflection of my growth and lessons learned during my time in China/Asian travels will be forthcoming. Being Stateside again does bring a flood of insecurities and often overwhelming amount of obvious observations and realizations. But I just wanted to post this update for now! I'm having fun seeing and catching up with familiar faces, spending time with dear friends and family, and just relaxing!

Last few days in China, with Dad

After returning from Shanghai late Tuesday night, we spent our time in the Ningbo-Beilun area. It rained almost constantly until Saturday, but we still got out and about. I introduced Dad to the Beilun area and the friends and “family” who were still in town.

Putting the bikes into the back of the taxi van.
Adolfo opted to bike all the way back!

On Thursday, we went for a bike ride out to the beach, a nice, long two-hour bike ride through the green countryside, in the rain. Backs splattered with mud, and faces wet with sweat and precipitation (it was still around 85ºF), about two miles away from the beach, the bike that Dad was riding came up with a flat. Nevertheless, he continued on the rim to arrive at the beach, just as the taxi I had called 

Dad walks in his froggy-Vibram shoes, in the rain,
back after dropping the other bike at the school

showed up. Perfect timing. That evening, Dad and I made burrito fixings with all the leftover supplies we had in our cupboards and fridge, and the guys (a couple of our friends, Adolfo and Ben) came over to eat and watch SYTYCD.

On Friday, my friend Fan took Dad, Adolfo, and I to the Ningbo Youngor Zoo. We saw pandas, touched rhino butts, fed lemurs pieces of a cherry Lara Bar that I had in my purse, and saw a bunch of other animals… like one of the 10-15 ligers that exist in the world (yes, a “liger” actually is a legit animal!). We went into Ningbo in the afternoon and showed Dad around the little Chinese city (of 11 million people, nbd). After spoiling our appetites with wasabi-flavored DQ Blizzards, we went to Laowaitan, the foreigner sector of town, and ate at an Irish pub.

Lions. Up close and personal. No zoom.
Just through the chain-link fence.

We watched some tigers fight for and eat a live chicken that some zoo-goers tossed into the river in front of us.
PETA would have had a field day.

Yup, we touched the rhino butt... 

...we ignored the Chinglish signs warning us not to.

Lazy pandas.

Feeding lemurs Lara Bar pieces.

Fan and the lemurs.

It started to drizzle again, so the lemurs took refuge in this shelter.

Convincing a zoo employee who was on break to ferry us over the moat to lemur island,
since the bridge operator was at lunch, and the drawbridge was therefore drawn.

This was the only photo I shot of the liger, apparently.
(He was rubbing up against the window pane as if he wanted to snuggle with me.)
Fuzzle boy. 

Swans and geese and ducks and flamingoes and other various birds were in this pond/lake.

Wasabi-flavored DQ blizzard! This is Asia.

Saturday, I spent the day starting to pack. Dad helped me take down all of my décor, and I started boxing up the kitchen and other items to give away.  Lots and lots to give away. Some friends came over to take their pick of the piles. Seriously. Piles and piles of stuff to give away.  Dad and I got Korean food for an early dinner!

This was only SOME of the stuff in the giveaway piles!

Korean Cafe

Shelley and Alice came over and I gave them going away presents,
not including all the extra stuff they took off my hands!

Sunday, I got to introduce Dad, as well as my friend Fan, to my international church. Though significantly less people in the congregation now that the universities are on summer break, the sermon was inspiring (“works and miracles”), and I got to introduce many of my church friends to Dad. That afternoon, I took Dad to get a traditional deep-tissue Chinese massage, and I got my last cupping. The sun finally broke through the clouds, after the morning thunder and lightening storm and downpour. Things dried out in the muggy heat, and Dad and I walked around the riverside parks of Beilun. Lovely. In the evening, we met up for one last family dinner with my Beilun family.

 

Massage time for Dad!

All day Monday was packing and check out day, tying up loose ends before leaving. After Dad and Adolfo headed out for a bike ride to the beach (via a different route, and with a rental bike this time), I went to the bank. True to the “TIC experience,” the bank couldn’t make the transfer of all my remaining funds in my account, so I had to call on the gracious help of one of my friends to help me out. That’s the short story.  

Whew! It all fits! Packed!
Thanks for all your help, Fan!

Back at the apartment, with all my piles of stuff, I conveniently patched/just covered up the damage that Jett puppy did in his boredom (the chewed upholstery on the backside of the couch and the spots on the wall that were gnawed into—as for how, I’m really not sure) and all the scuff marks from bike tires and whatnot. A full crew of no less than seven people came to inventory and check out the apartment. All's well that ends well. I assured them that the chewed-up aircon remote (ahem, Jett was still teething back then!), as well as any other damages, could be paid for with our remaining utilities stipend.

Checking out of the apartment; somebody from the School Board,
the landlords' apartment agent, a prospective client, our Ayi,
and there were more people behind me!

For the rest of the day, and well into the evening, Fan, Dad, and I loaded up Fan’s car with multiple loads of stuff that we ferried over to various friends’ places. Let’s just say that we redecorated Kate’s house with added stuff, and she’ll be delighted with the little scavenger hunt I set up for her return! Surprises in August! Woohoo! I continued to inventory all the clothes I didn’t need to bring back with me, and the donation bags grew. I even left a suitcase behind for a friend.

Last view of a sunset from our 28th-floor apartment in Shi Mao, overlooking Beilun.

At what was the end of the “day,” Fan took us to a Japanese restaurant, and I ran into one of my former colleagues, which was unexpected, even in our “small semi-rural village” of Beilun, population 3-4 million.

Good thing Dad was there; when Fan got a flat, Dad changed the tire!
(It must have been the weight of hauling around all of Kari's and my leftover stuff!)

Upon returning home to my nearly-empty apartment, where there was wifi (well, sorta), I read my email (because my phone was not working I did not receive the message an hour earlier when it came it; my phone conveniently ran out of money on the account the evening before I was to fly out). Air China cancelled one of our flights (the connecting one to Beijing that was to depart in 9 hours), and I needed to contact Expedia immediately to see to arranging a new itinerary…

(TBC)

Touring China

A lot has happened since the last blogpost! I don't want to spend too much time, and I haven't gone through all the thousands of photos taken, so this post will serve as only a surface-level synopsis (and possibly boring, without all the exciting details, jokes, and colorful events that have come to pass during the last 10 days).

Yao Mei berry pitting... for three hours!

The Saturday after school let out, we had a Mexican-food, Lu'au-themed pig-roast as a going away party (leave it to an international expat community to throw that sort of shindig together!). After at least two days of preparation (including a hour-hour yao mei ("wax berry") pitting party, large-scale guacamole-making, and making an economy-sized cobbler from the pitted berries), the socialization was great, even despite the scattered showers and humidity that had set in--characteristic mid-June weather. This was a time to celebrate the end of the school year, say "see you later" to departing friends and colleagues, and enjoy some good imported food! I loved helping with all the preparations... including making that massive cobbler!

Prepping guac is messy!

Yao Mei berry cobbler that I made

Lu'au with some of our closest Cup o' Joe community friends:
June, Scott, me and Dodo comparing muscles, Dana and Erich, Kari

All packed into Lee's car... we were a menagerie:
Kari, Jett, Alice, kitty Ashoka, me, Shelley, and Lee.

On Sunday, Kari and I took off with one of our dear friends, Shelley (a Chinese friend who works at AIAN as the Librarian Assistant), and headed to her hometown, PingHu (see map), which is about 2.5 hours away... when the driver doesn't get lost! A friend Shelley went to college with, Lee, drove us. In PingHu, we met up with another friend of Shelley's, Eric, and were guided around the rural area. Seeing rice being planted in the paddies, exploring little villages, and sharing meals with Shelley's family and friends, we experienced more and more of Chinese culture and daily life (outside of the context of our international community in Beilun). So many unforgettable images. Monday, we traveled to a quaint water village, Xi'Tang (pronounced "she-tong"). Tuesday, we visited Alice, another Chinese colleague from school, and met her family. It was so lovely to share a meal with them and joke around, learning more about where our friends come from!

Dinner with Shelley's family in PingHu

Out in rural PingHu, on a walk around the rice paddies

In Xi'Tang, on one of the many canal-crossing bridges:
Shelley, Lee, me, Kari, Eric

Lunch with Alice's family in Yuyao

Holding Jett on the vet exam table before
he got his microchip implanted

Wednesday, Kari, our Chinese friend Fan, and I took Jett pupperz up to Shanghai, endeavoring to get the necessary paperwork for his journey to the US. After a long and hot day in the city, in and out of the vet clinic (with a nice visit to a Mexican restaurant while we were passing the time), and much help from a friend in Beilun (who we refer to as "Jett's Uncle"... long story!), it was questionable if the paperwork would be ready in time for Kari to fly on Monday. SUCH A LONG BACK STORY HERE! I'll skim over those details for now. Long story short, a couple thousand dollars and a week later, Jett is now living the American Dream, Stateside with Kari in Bellingham, WA now. We'll be reunited next week upon my return to the US with Dad.

Fan, Jett, and Kari (paying) in the animal hospital

Speaking of which, after spending Thursday in attempts of "getting things done," on Friday I headed back up to Shanghai with a friend to spend a leisurely night in the city, before flying up to Beijing from there on Saturday. I met up with Dad without problems, and we checked into our hotel right next to the Forbidden City.

Daddy-Daughter reunited in Beijing
(happy belated Father's Day!)

Sunday and Monday, Dad and I spent long days hitting all the main sights--though by no means a comprehensive tour of the Capital City. We learned much from our private guide, Michael, referred to us by another guide who was referred to me by a family who attends our school... anyway, Michael had a wealth of experience and knowledge to effectively tour us around his hometown city: Tian'anmen Square (where Chairman Mao's Mausoleum is located), the Forbidden City and ancient palaces, the Temple of Heaven, the new modern museum of Beijing/Chinese history, art, and culture, the Great Wall of China (cable car and toboggan ride down included!), the Summer Palace, passing by the Olympic Center, and enjoying two entertaining cultural shows during our evenings--Kung Fu and Chinese Acrobatics. Whew!

In Tian'anmen Square, in front of Mao's Mausoleum,

In the Forbidden City; a view of Beijing

On the Great Wall of China

Climbing, climbing!

Very sore in the quads, hamstrings, calves, butt, and... well, basically our whole lower halves, a result of three hours of climbing up and down the wall, we boarded another plane on Tuesday morning, heading down to Shanghai. There, we scaled more staircases, up and down through subways, navigating our way across the city to see a few of the few touristic sites the city has to offer: the Oriental Pearl Communications Tower, the Bund, the Jade Buddha Temple, and some side streets and parks in between before heading to the bus station to take the 3.5 hour journey "home" to Beilun.

Beijing to Shanghai in one day:

panda sweet bun to start the morning, airport,

Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower, 5D-movie included, a view of Shanghai from the top,

lots of subway riding and metro tunneling, and the Jade Buddha Temple.

Today, Wednesday, we had a "down" day. We did laundry, housework, went grocery shopping, and did some basic biking around Beilun on a getting-to-know the ever-so-rainy-and-humid city. We went to see the new Superman movie in the cinema around the block, enjoyed some time at the fave Maibach Lounge, and then went on to enjoy a dinner at my favorite all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant, with some of my dear, dear friends who still remain in Beilun.

And that's the update for now. Five more complete days in China before Dad and I fly out of Ningbo and head to Vancouver, BC, Canada on an 18-hour itinerary (with a layover back in Beijing on the way out). Trying to cram as much into those days as is possible with all this rain! More updates to come! Stay tuned!

Last day of school

You'll never guess where I am spending 35 minutes of my morning today on this last day of school at AIAN... Hiding in a cabinet in a science classroom! I feel like Anne Frank!

(And yes, I am blogging from my mobile while inside the cupboard! What else am I supposed to do to fill my time in the semi-dark and humid breath-filled cabinet?)

It's a "Find-the teacher hide and seek all-school activity," to occupy our morning, since all grades had to be submitted last week, and projects were finished yesterday. 

So far only one of the 9 groups has found me. Students get points for each of the 7 teachers/our headmaster who they find during the 30-minute game. Soon it will be "ollyollyoxenfree," so if they don't find me, I come out anyway. The team with the most points in finding teachers/our Headmaster  wins bragging rights of being good seekers!

I've been reading the yearbook through the meager light coming in through the slats in the doors. And facebooking, of course!

The hiding place... crunched in with my yearbook, and taking "selfies"

School year coming to a close...

OK I know I said this post wouldn't be colorful, but I did
snap a few shots on my phone, so I'll include these images.
We toured the Hape Toy Factory, learning about how the
bamboo toys and inventions are created!

So it's 2:36am and I can't sleep. So. Much. Going. On.  (After a dinner and fun times with friends, gathering together for a good friend's birthday at Beilun's finest foreign hotel--the HoJo--I now just finished baking 4 dozen cookies, a loaf of banana bread, and a couple banana cakes, passing the baking time writing farewell notes!)

SUCH a happy camper, our Jetterz is!  :)

I have been meaning to blog little things here and there, but haven't had the time, because, as many of you know and understand well, you get caught up in the here-and-now and just want to enjoy every minute and every drop of joy found in the good company of those who surround you during these times of transition-- I mean, it's more important to do so than to sit at a computer blogging! Therefore, I have no less than 1,500 photos that I've been taking, as snapshots of these precious times. I will go through them when during the long travels in the air, or waiting in airports on layovers, perhaps. So this will be a somewhat dull and colorless blog without photos, for the sake of time. (I probably should force myself to sleep more than three hours tonight before the last day of school tomorrow!)

Bamboo-bench sitters, Kari and I are!

As a brief catch up, yesterday was observed as a National Holiday, the legal day that the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated (Wednesday, since I'm still considering this night "Thursday," even though I'm two and a half hours into Friday, China time). This holiday is traditionally celebrated by making sticky rice dumplings that are wrapped in bamboo leaves and steam-cooked (called zongzi). Some of our moms and kids made some at school last week in celebration. Anyway, we had to take Wednesday off in observance of the holiday (which seemed oh-so-silly to have off a day in the middle of the last week of school, but, alas, our school board didn't want to pay us triple for "overtime" salary, which Chinese government requires businesses to do for working on national holidays).

Hauling the decorated bamboo posts up to the forest area

So, on Wednesday, we went back out to the Bamboo Forest to have a day of rainy recreation. The purpose this time, as a family and kid-friendly day trip, was to place some paint-decorated bamboo posts, as guiding poles along the path through the forest, over the hill, and leading to the reservoir. Other members of the troupe made a bridge. Still others worked on fashioning a firepit, bamboo benches, and a makeshift "tables" out of bamboo, for a 'campsite' of sorts that can be utilized in the future by others as well! Though wet and colder (maybe the mid-to-low 70s?), a good time was had as we made Hobo Stews in tinfoil packets, and then enjoyed a muddy game of bocce ball out in the bumpy bamboo forest floor.

The bridge that was built

That afternoon/evening, I led the last ICFC youth group with a few of the students from AIAN, sharing a good time of reflection and music, as the rainy, foggy day drizzled to a close. I concluded my holiday by watching So You Think You Can Dance with my buddy Kate. (Which we will resume doing when we're reunited in the Evergreen State in just a few short weeks, after Dad comes to visit and tour with me here in China! June 22-July 2!)

Busy, busy, busy! End-of-the-school year festivities are dragging out (as is customary in international schools, I take it). More details to come on that later, with photos, of course!

Now to sleep!