Happy 2013!!! It's about time you arrived.

  Hello Everyone.  This week's blog comes to you a little late because of the crazy schedule we had this week.  As I sit here this morning on the eve of 2013. I am greeted with a clear lan se sky this morning that is the color of a robin's egg.  To top it off the smell of coffee blended with the sweet smell of incense burning in the neighborhood is intoxicating.  To state it simply, it is just very peaceful.  So with that said it is time to describe our crazy week in China.

SCHOOL:  This week we had the first two days off for Christmas Eve and Christmas.  The interesting thing about this is that the rest of the school was in session while we were off.  Since they don't celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday they don't take the time off, but they do respect the foriegn teachers' beliefs and give them the day off.  On Christmas Eve we went to Guangzhou and had dinner with our friends, John, Katie, Erin and Nate.  They took us to a restaurant that they really enjoy called Element Fresh.  You can probably deduce from the name that we didn't have Chinese food.  The food was very good and very western.  Steaks and pasta were the main dish for us.  We then made our way back to Katy and John's apartment to do a White Elephant gift exchange.  We had a great time and made out like bandits.  Especially Taylor who ended up with a very annoying AK55 toy machine gun that makes all kinds of racket.  Paul and I keep trying to figure out how take the batteries out it, but Taylor keeps hiding the thing.
 .  Obviously it wasn't the typical Christmas that we are accustomed to having, but Santa did make his way to our home and did appreciate the plastic and LED lit Christmas tree.  He also enjoyed the mint tea and the cookies.  The girls both ended up with  remote controlled toys that either fly or climb on the wall.  It was very nice and small.  We all exchanged some small gifts, but overall it was a very pleasant morning.  Cecelia, the Girls and I then went to the bicycle park that I mentioned in an earlier blog and rode bikes.  Paul spent much of the day using Skype to talk with his family.  After bike riding we had a nice meal that we cooked at home.  This Christmas was very low key,  I can honestly say that I really enjoyed it.
  After we returned from the short holiday, we jumped right back into the craziness that comes with working over here.  The day we returned, Cecelia's department had planned a party at a place called KTV.  Cecelia was a little hesitant to go because it was our Monday, but I encouraged her to go and I even sacrificed myself to go with her.
  One of the things.that I need to mention at this point is that we feel that it is important to participate whenever we are invited.  Many of the foreign teachers don't do anything except look for western food and live in their own little western world.  Obviously from this blog, you can tell that we have decided to embrace China as much as possible.
  So what is KTV? Well it is a huge building dedicated to doing Karaoke in private party rooms.  The room that we were in had an upstairs and downstairs room.  Each room had strobe lights, a revolving ball with multi-colored lights and lounging couches for you to sit on while you waited for your turn to be embarrassed.  Oh, I meant while you were waiting to perform.  The KTV system is really cool.  There is a computer console where you pick the song and then it projects the music video and song onto a 60 inch television.  Even amateurs like Cecelia and I didn't find the place intimidating.  You also get dinner along with the Karaoke.  So you get to fill up your body with Chinese food and then drink beer before you give your big performance.  One thing that I have to mention is that even though I consider myself a renaissance man, singing is not one of the talents I possess.  With that being said, Cecelia and I jumped off the Karaoke cliff together with a rounding rendition of "I Want to Hold your Hand" by the Beatles.  We didn't do too bad, so we each tried solo songs.   Let's just say that they didn't go as well.  Just like our marriage we are just better together.
  After our attempts at music stardom, we joined together with the rest of the staff and watched the professionals.  Cecelia's colleagues put on a performance that included skits, music solos and duets.  Some of the staff could easily be professional singers.  They also gave away fabulous prizes like toothpaste, clothes detergent and hair conditioner.  After the staff performances, they wanted Cecelia and I to sing again.  We were the only foreign teachers at the party so we tried to do our part.  We learned later that part of the interview process to become a kindergarten teacher at the school, is an audition where you must play the piano, sing, and dance.  All this plus teaching.  Hmmm!!!  I wonder what would happen to kindergarten in the U.S. if we had that interview process?
  As the week went along it was pretty typical until we got to Sunday.  Oh by the way did I mention that despite having Monday and Tuesday off that we worked five days straight and ended our week on Sunday.  Can't say that I recall ever teaching on a Sunday.  Anyway, Taylor's grade decided that it wanted to do something special to start off the New Year Holiday.  Did I mention that we have a week off this week.  It seems that I forget to mention a lot of things.  I must really be turning Chinese.  Isn't there a song by Wang Chung called "I'm Turning Chinese, I'm Turning Chinese, I Really Think So!!!"?  Or maybe it is I'm Turn Japanese, oh I don't remember it was so long ago.  Remember, I did turn 50 recently.  Anyway, I digress.  Back to the story of Taylor's fun activity story.  This next section is being told by Cecelia.
  Claire, Taylor, and I kicked off our holiday by going on the strangest field trip/class party excursion I could every imagine.  It was Taylor's 5th grade trip but Claire was allowed to go too.  Let me describe it to you.  First, we all gathered at the front gate to pile into cars.  Yes, it was an old fashioned, parent driven field trip.  But wait, was it?  Seven of us piled into a car designed for 5 people.  None of us had seat belts on in the back seat (there were four of us).  A young boy, about 4 years old sat in his dad's lap in the front seat with his chest just about plastered to the dash board.  I asked if it was okay to have him up there and was told it was okay because we were going to be driving slow.  We drove within the gated community, only about 10-15 minutes and arrived at the little amusement park that our family had visited before.  The whole group was going to play laser tag.  We suited up.  The strange feeling was that it was very military feeling. We were instructed by the school guard(dressed in camo) and loaded up with our gear. I had a gun that shot 18 rounds and then you had to pull a lever to reload.  It was not a futuristic looking gun, but more real.  This wasn't like laser tag at home.  We were literally running around an amusement park, hiding in bushes, and climbing over things.  It ended up being the boys against the girls, the parents, and the teachers (we won all 3 times by the way).  At the end, we were told there was a bar-b-que.  In the park, there are fire pits that look like tree stumps.  Some of the parents had spent 2 days getting food ready.  There was every kind of meat and fish that you could imagine, marinated and set up on skewers. I was informed that the chickens weren even raised by one of the parents in their backyard. There was fruit, noodles, bread, soup, crackers, chips, jello cups, drinks, and to the girls delight, marshmallows.    There is nothing like having a school field trip where you give 10 year olds sharp objects and turn them loose to play with fire.  Yes, everyone sits around a number of fire pits and roasts their own meat.  It gets better.  The parents are smoking and drinking 24 ounce beers.  I know, many of you are wishing that our class parties could be like this at home.  But wait, there's more.  Towards the end, some of the kids were drinking beer too (mostly the boys).  A group of them gathered around and were dancing Gangnam style (they love that here).  Paul didn't believe me.  One of the fathers came up and offered Claire a cup of beer too.  She couldn't believe it.  I had to tell her that unlike at home, there is no legal drinking age here.  It isn't against the law.  During all of this, children were chasing each other around, many times with sharp skewers and jumping over rocks.  It was quite crazy, but a lot of fun too.
  Now that sounds like the kind of field trips that we need in the states.  
  Enough about school.

ADVENTURES:  This week we didn't really have any adventures like seeing ancient ruins or learning more history, but I did get to experience a business celebration.  My friend from the golf course David invited me on Friday to go to a golf event put on by the company of his classmate from college.  It was the 15th anniversary of a company called WXD.  WXD is a company that most of you know, but probably not by that name.  Their most famous product that they make are those snazzy plastic covers for the iPhone.  What is the newest iPhone, the iPhone 25?  Anyway, not only do they make those, but they make luggage, bags and other plastic products.  They are also real estate developers here in Guangzhou.  David was telling me that this company is the only company in Guangzhou that has continued to keep its profit margin during the world recession.  So, needless to say they make a ton of money.  
 To begin the celebration they started the day with a golf outing.  I was disappointed that I was not asked to be involved, but ......  Hey wait a minute, I was just kidding. Of course I was involved.  David asked me to be his playing partner at Foison golf club in Guangzhou.  This golf course was designed by the Dye brothers from America.  To this date, I will say that it was one of the most beautiful and most difficult golf courses I have ever played.  The clubhouse is by far the most beautiful that I have ever seen. 

Entrance to Clubhouse

  Before play we had a very nice Chinese buffet.  Trust me the Chinese all you can eat buffets in America are nothing like what we experience here.  There are many exotic dishes that we will rarely if ever see in the States.  For example, roast chicken with the heads still on.  Ain't happening at home, too many people would freak out with that one.
  We then went down to the first tee for an honorary drive by the owners of the company.  The four of them hit balls.  When they hit the balls blue and red smoke came out of them.  It was really cool.  I had never seen that before.  This activity was then followed by a group picture.  There were 150 participants at the tournament.  I was then introduced to the president of the company.  He was a very gracious and generous man.  He was originally going to be playing with us, but unfortunately could not play, because he had to get ready for the party later on in the evening.

View from Clubhouse

  I asked David before we started if this was a tournament and he said no.  He told me that it was just a fun golf outing.  So with that being said, I just relaxed and had fun.  I pulled driver out on holes that I shouldn't have and tried to hit cuts and hooks instead of playing safe.  Overall it was fun and I didn't really score all that well.  After golf, David informed me that we needed to go up to dinner.  I arrived at dinner just in time to hear my name called among some other Chinese names.  Come to find out, I was second place in the "Golf Outing" and won the longest drive prize.  Apparently when you play in a Chinese golf outing you are only allowed to win one prize.  So, I was presented with the second place trophy and a box of ProV1 golf balls.  The trophy is the nicest trophy I have ever won.  It is solid crystal mounted on a stone base.

Clubhouse from 6th Green through pear blossoms

  After dinner we were invited to the business party.  I thought we were going to an office or a convention center.  We ended up going to a stadium bigger than the basketball stadium at Fresno State.  We were seated on the ground floor, three rows back from the stage.  The stadium had about 5,000 people in it as well.  In the top rows were the factory workers.  They were all wearing matching tan jackets.  The management and board were all seated on the ground floor with us and were wearing red jackets.  Every participant was given a gift at their seats and a ticket with a number on it.  I was soon to find out how important that number was. 
  Rather than tell you all the details about the show, I have included a video that shows some of the acts that were there.  In between the acts the announcers would have a group of employees come up on stage to be recognized.  The first three groups of people recognized were long time employees and management.  There were about 30 in all.  Each of these people was given a 30,000 rmb bonus, that is roughly $5000 in US dollars.  The next group of people were 20 factory workers.  Each of them was given a 30,000 rmb bonus towards buying a home.  This was followed by a group of management workers.  There were about 20 of them as well.  Each of them was given, 10 kilos of silver in the shape of a minted Chinese coin.  Convert the kilos to ounces and find out what the going rate of silver is and you will have that dollar amount.  Finally, 50 factory workers were called on stage.  Each of these factory workers was given a little red box.  Inside the box was five ounces of gold.  As if this wasn't enough, between the employees getting awards and the stage performances the hosts would come out and tell us that there were random numbers being flashed on the big screen.  If your ticket matched one of these numbers at various times you would win a prize.  The first 120 prizes were brand new laptops.  The second group of prizes for 30 people was 20,000 rmb toward a new house and finally 500 people received free massages.  I didn't win anything, but I wasn't disappointed.  Watching how generous this man is was humbling.  Also, the fact that he is  community and environmentally minded, blew away the idea of sweatshops and bad working conditions.  This company definitely does not fit the stereotype from what we hear about in the U.S.  Now, I am not saying there are not places like that here.  All I am saying is that despite what we hear from a not trust worthy news source, there are some business men that are trying to make some changes for the better.  
  The owner of this company definitely did not forget where he came from.  He started this company when he was 22 years old.  They showed pictures of him standing in his little booth, just trying to make ends meet and then showed his progression to where he is today.  You do the math.  If he started when he was 22 and this is there 15th anniversary you know how young this guy is, and yet I would say that he has the mind of someone much older.  It was amazing to see this owner's generosity and also his appreciation of his heritage.  You could tell that his workers loved him.  This is the kind of guy that I would work for in a heartbeat. 

  Finally, I wanted to share with you a food adventure that I had this week.  The next day I went to watch my friend David play in a golf tournament at our local golf course.  He has been working hard to improve and I wanted to give him some positive feedback after his round.  Unfortunately the weather turned out to be horrible and I caught him on the last few holes.  He finished and invited me to the club dinner.  He wanted me to meet the club secretary and president.  They are considering me for membership at the golf club.  That is another story unto itself.  Anyway, we sat down to dinner and as usual they brought the dishes out to be shared.  There was the typical Chinese food, bok choy, chicken parts with the head still on, boiled fish and beef with peppers.  After that first round I was told the really good food was coming.  So the next course included crab, which isn't too bad except the crabs are really small.  The way you are supposed to eat it is to put the entire crab part in your mouth, shell and all.  Then you break the shell with your teeth and suck out the crab.  I cannot figure out how to do this.  The Chinese must know how to tie bow ties with Cherry stems.  The next dish was brown and had parts that looked like quail.  There were little thighs and breasts.  Turns out the dish was sea snake and pigeon.  I was going to pass on this delicacy until one of the guys said to me, "Come on James don't you like snake."  This was spoken as kind of a challenge, so I met it by trying a bit of both.  Thank God the Chinese eat small portions.  I did great with the pigeon, but when it came to the snake I had to do my best to suppress a gag reflex.  It wasn't that the food tasted bad.  I can honestly say that the pigeon was very good and the snake tasted like the dark meat of a chicken.  But just the thought that I was eating snake made me a little queasy.  
  Well Happy New Year and Welcome to 2013.  It is nice to be able to say that you really are out of the loop, you're still a day behind. 

We found Whoville in China!!!! Who would have known!!

  Merry Christmas to all of you!!!!!  I hope that you have a wonderful time with your family and friends while celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ!!!!
  This week's blog comes to you from a joyful heart and soul that is filled with the Christmas Spirit.  Last week I mentioned that it was a little difficult to get into the spirit of things, but that has totally changed and the Spirit moved in and made itself right at home with us.  So, put your feet up and get yourself a hot cup of something.  I know you will really enjoy this week's experiences.

TEACHING:  This week was rather uneventful in the classroom for all of us.  There were no performances or speeches being given.  Taylor was asked to be the host for the Christmas performances for the elementary school, but we had to say no, since the performances are on Christmas Eve.  But despite us not having much going on, the kindergarten was creating something that was going to astound us.
  Many of our friends from around the world work in the kindergarten.  A couple of them had mentioned this big surprise that they were putting together and invited us to come over if we had some free time.  One of the things that you need to understand about working and going to Kindergarten here is that it is like going to school at Disneyland.  My friend John describes it that way when he talks about it.  After what we experienced on Friday, we totally believe him.  I am going to do my best to describe it to you in words, but to get the full effect you just had to be here.  I have also attempted to give you some of the experience in video and pictures.  So here goes nothing!!!
  When you first walk into the courtyard you are flooded with the sights and sounds of a Christmas wonderland.  The courtyard is open in the middle of the two story kindergarten classrooms.  It is about 50 ft. wide and 100 ft. long.  In the middle the teachers had strung hundreds of green and gold garland, as well as strings of cutout green Christmas trees.  The Christmas music is playing loud and clear and there are bubbles floating down from the ceiling.  The teachers were all dressed in red and white matching outfits.  All of the kids were lined up around the lower edge of the courtyard dancing and jumping around in anticipation of something that was getting ready to happen.  You could feel the excitement and energy in the air.  It was Christmas Magical.
  The music paused for a moment and my friend John yelled out to everyone over the microphone, "Welcome and Merry Christmas!!!!".  He then asked the kids if they were ready for the party to begin, (Like, if it hadn't already) they shouted out  with a resounding "Yes".  John then shouted out, "Then let the Parade and Party begin!!!!!".  On queue from a side door a stream of elves, princesses and animal characters came streaming out.  Minnie was there, as well as Kung Fu Panda, Hello Kitty and Garfield.

Cecelia and I with Po at Kindergarten Festival.  

The Disney Princesses were there. Cinderella, Snow White, Belle made special appearances.  The Christmas parade wound its way around the two main courtyards.  The kids were jumping up and down the characters were high fiving and the music was blasting.  Taylor and I were standing together watching this extravaganza.  Taylor said she was ready to go back to kindergarten.  We were both giggling and laughing about what we were experiencing.  It was one of those moments in time that I had to take a moment to log in as unforgettable.  As if the parade wasn't enough the characters all split off and stood with the kids while the teachers dressed in matching outfits broke into a choreographed dance routine to a mix of Gangnam style music.  Burned into my mind forever will be the image of the courtyard surrounded by 3, 4 and 5 year olds standing side by side dancing Gangnam style.  If you couldn't catch a little bit of Christmas spirit at this party, you were definitely going to get a visit from Jacob Marley in the early evening.
  After the dancing and parade the entire kindergarten became Santa's workshop, with activities for the kids to make cards and crafts, as well as games for kids to play.  There were games like, Feed Santa Cookies, Fishing, Ring the Present, Deliver the Present and many others.  The parade characters were also available for photos.  Paul definitely took advantage of the photo opportunities.

   We couldn't end our Christmas Revelry without a visit to the Kindergarten performance.  The kids were amazing.  They wore matching outfits and sang about five songs live with a piano as background.  They also did choreography as well.  Of course they were extremely cute.  They were the perfect end to an outstanding experience.  Here is a little video for you to see what I described.  Kindergarten teachers everywhere.  Get ready to raise the bar.  Enjoy!!!!

ADVENTURES:  This week we didn't have any real adventures other than just getting ready for Christmas.  We had the weekend off and then Monday and Tuesday.  So four days off in a row was a real nice break.  The first day of vacation Cecelia and I decided to go on a date with our bikes.  We rode to a nearby mall and shopped for some last minute gifts.  We had a very nice lunch and then shopped for dinner and a white elephant party we were attending the next evening.  The mistake we made was realizing that having bikes was going to make it difficult to get back with all the items we purchased.  So we sat down and had a cup of coffee to think it over.  We decided that we were going to do what the Chinese do.  We tied on and packed as much stuff as we could on our backpacks and bikes.  We looked like a couple of nationals on bicycles going to work.  

We are definitely turning Chinese everyday.  Christmas Shopping China Style!!!!!!

We had to travel about 7 kilometers to get back to our house and were doing great until Cecelia had a blowout.  Luckily we found a small bike shop in the village we were passing through and the guy who owned it fixed the flat for us.  The ironic thing is that I had patches and a pump in my backpack, but could't get to them because of all the bags that were tied on from shopping.

The Chapel Altar

On Sunday we found our church home.  When I say we found our home, I am not meaning that we found a place to go and worship just because it is a building and there are other Christians in it.  I really mean we found a home, in that it was comfortable, small and had some great music.  The priest is a very joyful man and exudes his joy through his message.  Both Cecelia and I got a bit choked up, because we found a place in which we could really enjoy going to church.  I really enjoyed the choir too.



They even had a person playing the mandolin.  How can you beat a mandolin while playing worship tunes.  It was funny, because even though we are in a country in which only 2% of the population is Christian I really got the feeling that we were where God had led us.  I also had a strong feeling that whereever I go God is there with me.  I really felt his presence, not so much in the church, but in my heart.  I know I have studied his word and spent many days praying and meditating on him, but the feeling I got was a little overwhelming.  Although I must say it was a great feeling to have, being so far from home.  Anyway, this little church is a great find and we are sure to have many great Sunday's worshiping there the rest of the year.

  

  This last week I had a request to share more about Paul and how he is doing.  Well, other than being our local historian and Chinese language specialist,(Notice I didn't say expert.  I don't think any of us is going to be an expert any time soon.) he is an awesome scooter rider and uncle.  It is great having him here with us and the girls love him.  I know he misses his family, but I believe the girls fill a little of the hole that is there from his wife being home.  He is also a great teacher.  Even though he will exclude himself from that category sometimes, he is still great at taking care of his students.  He also has a heart for doing what is right by them. Those two things alone make him stand out in my book.  It isn't just brotherly pride talking, but someone that has taught for 25 years.  His work ethic is awesome and I would take him over some of the credentialed teachers I know.  He needs to be paid more, but it will work out for him in the end.  There, that last paragraph should take care of some of my critics and you know who you are.

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE:  I wanted to close with a bit of a Christmas message for all of you.  Despite being here in China, Christmas has not lost its meaning.  As a matter of fact, now that I have had time to really think about it, this is one of the best Christmas seasons we have had.  The focus isn't on what we can get, but on what we can do.  We decided not to buy gifts for each other as a family and make our trip to Thailand our gift to each other.  As well as that we have grown closer as a family and have spent time during the holiday doing things together.  On Christmas, we are having breakfast together, going bike riding as a family and then probably watching Christmas movies with cocoa and coffee.  The point is that it is more important to do than to get.  After this season I could see us falling into a new tradition of not giving gifts, but just doing for each other and others.  We really haven't missed the hype of the season and have enjoyed spending time together as a family.  The reason for the season is Jesus.  Nothing else, plain and simple.  I think if nothing else, being far away has made us realize the importance of this more than ever.  So I hope for you that when all of the gifts are done, you can take a walk, bike ride or something that is important that you can do as a family.  Because even if the stuff is gone, the best present is time spent together.  Love to all and have a wonderful Christmas with your family!!!!!  

Sheng Dan Kaui Le and Happy New Year Too!!!!

  I hope this week's blog can give you a little respite from some of the tragic and bad news at home this week.  You are all in our prayers.  As I have said before, we are insulated from the news so we hear about or read things, have a discussion or prayer about them and let it go.  At home it isn't necessarily the case.  You will be bombarded by news stories and talk about it with colleagues or friends until the pain goes away.  So give yourself a break.

Merry Christmas from The O's in China

  Ni Hao!!!  That means hello in Chinese.  This week was your typical week in China.  Teaching class, our first Christmas Party of the season and visiting Martyr's Park.  I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas Season and the weather and atmosphere that goes along with it.  My goal this week is to give you the first week of what the Christmas Season is like in China.  So, I guess you could consider this a two part series on Christmas in China.
  One thing I did want to share with you about China, is that not everything is rosy and bright.  I have shared many things that are great about China, but the one thing that is a recurring problem to me is the trash.  It is amazing to see all of the great things that China does with buildings and local improvements, like river trails and bike paths but yet they don't put any energy into trying to get their population to change when it comes to throwing trash on the ground.  I know that I am only a visitor for a few months, but I have begun to feel like this is our home away from home.  So, I have learned enough Chinese to be able to discuss with a Chinese National how important it is for them not to litter.  The conversation goes something like this when they through the trash on the ground in front of me.  Mei you!!!  Mei you!!!! Mei you!!!!, which means No!!!No!!!!No!!!! in Chinese.  They are so blatant about it, that it is ridiculous, but I seem to be getting the point across because more than one person has picked their trash up after I said it.  Like they say, it only takes a raindrop to make a splash then the rings go on and on.  I know in a country of 1.8 billion people, I probably can't make a difference, but at least maybe they will quit throwing trash in my neighborhood.

TEACHING:  Well this week was a rather uneventful week.  After the poetry reading and Language Festival it was nice to just get back to the normal.  We didn't have any special activities and it was very nice.  Cecelia did have to teach in front of parents with unruly children and Chinese teachers that keep telling her that things are too hard for them.  She was a trooper and made it through.  The Chinese teachers are supposed to be there to help, but she says that sometimes it is just better if they go away.  She also had a good week in her new classroom.  She is excited because she actually has a touch screen television and an Elmo projector to use.  Hey Wasuma, she actually has technology that works for teaching.  Oh by the way, she also just got 10 brand new computers in her classroom as well.  That is pretty much it for this week at school.

Crazy Bike Rider in China

ADVENTURES:  This week the weather was awesome.  It is a little difficult to get in the Christmas Spirit when it is 78 degrees and we are scooter and bicycle riding in shorts and short sleeved shirts.  After last week's ride in the Dafushan Forest Park with the girls, Cecelia and I were motivated to buy good bicycles for riding to and from school.  Dafushan also has some really great Mountain Bike trails for us to ride.  We will also ride them out and around on adventures near our home.  The scooters are great, but they are limited by battery life.  Currently we have about a 10 mile radius, but on the bikes we go out to about 25 miles.

Not so Crazy bike Rider

  With that being said, we hope to share some cool bike riding stories with you soon.  The bikes were an early Christmas present to each of us.  Santa will come and see the girls on Christmas morning.  So far they have been good, and we got a video from him saying that they had made the cut this year.  Other than the bikes, we decided as a family that going to Thailand was our Christmas present to each other, so we are not going to be buying gifts this year.  Unfortunately Cecelia and I will have to sell our bikes before we come back home.  The cost of shipping and the tax was three times as much as us buying both bike together.  The cost of sending something home is a topic for another time as well as how hard it is to send money home.

Our living room full of Holiday Revelers!!

  Anyway, I digress.  I was telling you that it is difficult to get in the Christmas Spirit because of the weather, but it is also because of the atmosphere.  Certainly there are Christmas decorations and Christmas Music, but it is more a commercial aspect of the season than anything else that makes it difficult.  Christmas is celebrated here, not because it is the birth of Christ, but because it is the next retail season for the rest of the world.  Practically every Christmas decoration or light that is made nowadays is from China.  So, for China it is a season for celebration because the rest of the world is ordering product to send home.  Now please don't get the impression that I am blaming China.  On the contrary, I love that in Guangzhou they make an attempt to celebrate the season, despite it being a Christian Holiday.  I truly believe that they respect this particular holiday because it is important to a large group of people throughout the world.  I am also appreciative of the fact that they allow some religious freedom here.  There are Christian pockets of people all around Guangdong Province, as well as the numerous Buddhist, Tao and Hindu temples.

Our friends David and Michael.

  So, by telling you how difficult it is to get into the Christmas Holiday, we decided to give it a jump start by helping to host a progressive Christmas Party with two other friends.

Where's my Harley?

  We started by buying and decorating our Christmas tree.  It isn't fake by any means, but for some reason it doesn't have that same pine tree smell that we are used to experiencing each year.  Paul and I are hoping to bring home the technology to make pine needles light up like this tree does.  We are working on trying to figure out how to make them grow the glowing needles.  We will contact some of you shortly to see if you want to invest.  We then decorated our scooters with lights that are battery powered and some awesome red and greed garland.  Finally we topped it off with lights and a wreath on our entry gate.

Canadian Santa and Gangsta Santa with elf and Reindeer!!

  After decorating the house, we were ready for the party revelers to arrive.  The progressive party started at our house with drinks and appetizers.  The party lasted about an hour and a half at our place, then progressed down the street to the house of our friends Jenny and Luke.  It was really cool to see about 35 or 40 people walking down the street dressed in Christmas hats and Santa outfits.  We sang Jingle Bells as we meandered to the next stop.
  Jenny and Luke are from Wisconsin and have three children here with them.  Their children are about the same age as Claire and Taylor.  As you can imagine they have become fast friends.
  At their home we had soup, chili and salad.  The merriment continued for about an hour there and then finally moved to Marileze and Adam's house.  Marileze is from South Africa and Adam is from Canada.
  From Luke and Jenny's home the large group had to travel about two miles through our neighborhood.  Some of the guests took the bus, others drove in cars but the rest of us had an awesome squadron of scooters traveling in formation.  Of course the formation was headed up by Paul, Cecelia and I with our lighted and decorated scooters.
 I can't forget to mention that we also had a couple of glasses of wine with us.  Paul had the wine bottle for refills when necessary.  The night was beautiful for riding and we made quite an impression on our Chinese neighbors as we rode by wishing them Sheng Dan Kaui Le!!!!  Sheng Dan Kau Le means Merry Christmas in Chinese.
  Marileze and Adam finished the party off with a main course of stuffing, mashed potatoes and roasted duck.  All in all it was a great way to jump start the Christmas Spirit in all of us and kick start a great weekend.

Duninggang Cemetary

  This weekend Cecelia wanted to go shopping in Guangzhou, so Paul and I took the girls on a scooter adventure.  Near our home we had seen what we thought were some amazing temples, but come to find out they were cemeteries.  Cemeteries in China are not like ours in the United States.  All citizens that are Chinese are cremated when they die.  The remains are then placed in the most amazing cemeteries that Paul and I have ever seen.  Not only are the buildings and grounds impressive, but they are well taken care of and music is playing constantly.  They are extremely peaceful places.  Paul and I could have sat at the first cemetery for at least an hour meditating and listening to the music that was being played, but we had the girls with us.

Lezhugang Cemetary

  We ended the day by going on a bike ride along the river near our home.  It was amazing to see the golden sunset as we rode home from our excursion.  The temperature was balmy and warm.  It caressed us with a peaceful warmth that added to the serenity of the pink and purple sky along with the soft sound of the river flowing by.  It was a perfect end to a day in which we spent time thinking about our loved ones past and present.
  Sunday presented us with an excursion to Guangzhou to find a chapel that we were told about.  The directions were a little sketchy but as you know by now we are always up for a bit of adventure.  We found the small chapel of St. Francis of Assisi in a very European part of Guangzhou.  We are looking forward to spending Christmas service with them.

Martyrs Park Main Walkway

  Apparently this part of town was owned and run by some European business men before the Communist Revolution.  After the Revolution the Chinese took over.  The ironic thing about the chapel is that it is just down the street from the museum that housed the 3rd Congress of the Communist Party just before the Revolution.  We stopped by the museum on our way back from finding the chapel.  It was very interesting and gave us some information for our next stop.
  Finally, we stopped by a park called Martyr's Park.  We try to go to at least one interesting landmark while we are in Guangzhou and this was it for this week.  Martyr's Park is a huge park that is dedicated to the people that died and sacrificed for the Communist Revolution in 1927.  The park is amazing.  It has a couple of tombs in which the people that died are buried, the largest being the Martyr's Tomb.  It is a huge mound, surrounded by a low wall with lion statues guarding it.  It also has a pair of iron doors that can be opened to take care of the grounds.  It also has a massive statue at the main walkway symbolizing the movement.  The park has many peaceful places to sit.  They have even made a kids area and lakes in which you can rent paddle boats.  We rented a boat for a little while and floated around one of the lakes.  It was very nice, and it gave the girls an opportunity to burn off some energy.

The Martyrs Tomb

  I have never been a big fan of Communism, but the idea of a Utopian society has been pursued by many different groups of people.  You have to remember this was an uprising by a group of people that felt like they were being oppressed, but rather than becoming Democratic, they became Communist through a big influence from Russia.  Remember, Russia had their revolution because they felt like they were being oppressed by royalty as well.  Isn't this why are country was started as well?  We just didn't have someone nearby to influence our founding fathers.

A few of the local beauties!!!

  Anyway, enough of the history lesson for this week.  I would like to end this week's blog with a poem that I didn't get to do last week.  It is a well known Robert Frost poem that many of you will recognize.  I kind of think of it as the theme of my life.

The Road Not Taken,
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Poetoake to the Nanyue King

  Well this weeks blog should be back to the normal rambling format that encompasses a normal week of teaching and an adventure or two.  It will be refreshing for you to know that I am not going to rant or get contemplative.  So here we go for this week in China!!!!

TEACHING:  This week was the Language Festival at our school.  It is very much like the sports festival, but instead of it being a physical competition it is a mental competition.  Those of you jock heads out there won't be able to wrap your head around this one and contrary to what some of you may believe I got it the first time around.  I even got involved, but this week was Claire's time to shine.
  Claire was asked to be the host of the student performances.  She rehearsed a few times during the week and wrote her note cards.  So on Friday she stood in front of the middle and high school students and staff.  She was gracious, poised and beautiful.  Cecelia and I were extremely proud of her.  It is both frightening and amazing to watch your kids grow up in front of your eyes.  You can be in contact with them each day teaching them how to be people, but when they stand up in front of you in a way that is out of the ordinary and look the way Claire did, you get smacked up side the head how mature and grown up they have become.  She was wearing a dress and heals borrowed from her mom. (Yes, Sara she even wore heals and heaven forbid make up.  She practiced more on learning how to walk in heals than she did on her note cards.)  I came to the realization that I don't need a bigger shotgun when I get home, I need something that is more like the automatic weapon variety.  Any of you know a guy???  The great thing about Claire is that one minute she can look like a game show host, but then turn around and tell her mom that she forgot something important at home.  Her new nickname here in China is AirBear.  That should give you some idea about how the adolescent years have kicked in for her.  We love her dearly and I try to make it a point to see her at school each day.  If I haven't mentioned it before, I love being at school with my kids.
  I just explained to you how gracious and awesome my kid was, so I have to temper that with my part in the Language festival.  I mentioned to one of the directors that they should do a poetry slam, or do karaoke with poetry.  The one thing about this school is that if give an idea, they expect you to be the leader of that idea.  I reminded them that I was a math teacher and that I didn't know much about poetry.  The only thing I know is a couple of my favorites by Robert Frost, Keats and Mike Myers.  So, with that in mind I decided that I would go with the Mike Myers approach from I Married An Axe Murderer.  I rewrote his poem with Cecelia as the focus.  I can promise you that my performance wasn't nearly as gracious and poised as Claires.  As a matter of fact if it wasn't for the musical talents of my friend Neal it would have been a flop.
  Neal is the music teacher at our school and an amazing saxophone player.  His name is Neal Postma and if you have not heard about him, you will in the near future.  He is awesome and can do things with a saxophone that I have never seen before.  He will be doing some concerts in the United States during our break in January.  He has also recently been signed to a contract with sax company over here to tour in China playing for them.  Anyway, I did my little gig at the Native teachers speech contest.  Neal, myself and our other friend Jason were the entertainment between contestants.  You can see a sample of my work at the end of this paragraph during the movie.  Pay close attention to the crowd reactions and the pictures of Cecelia in the background.  By the way, Cecelia was one of the judges for the speech contest and had no idea that I was doing this poem for her.

ADVENTURES:  This week we went on a couple of scooter adventures.  The weather cleared up and was beautiful toward the end of the week.  After 15 days of rain we were antsy to get out and do some adventuring.  Paul and I took the girls on a trail I found that wound it's way along a river to a town that we wanted to visit.  We both were ecstatic to be out on the open trail with warm weather and the wind in our hair.  I think after this adventure in China, we may have to buy Harley's when we get home.
  Not only did we discover this awesome trail, but also discovered an amazing park for riding bikes.  The park is so large and has so many trails that Cecelia, the girls and I got lost.  We finally made it out, but I bet we covered around ten miles before we figured how to get back and meet Paul.

Museum of The Nanyue King

The Prince and a Princess

  One of the other cool things that we have been trying to do is to learn some of the local history.  When you live in a place that has had a civilization 100 times as long as ours it is a good idea to learn from them.  So with that being said we visited the tomb of the Nanyue King recently.  Paul is our local historian and researcher so he is going to fill you in about the King.

The actual Tomb of The Nanyue King from the top

Tay in the Tomb

  As Rusty stated it is with great pleasure and privilege that we are getting to experience a country with over 5,000 years of history.  The site we actually went to is the Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King.  It was opened in 1988 after the tomb of the Nanyue King was discovered by accident in 1983.  The Nanyue is in reference to the rulers of the Han Dynasty which ruled China from 206 B.C. - 220 A.D.
  What made this find so important was that the tomb of the 2nd Nanyue King (Emperor Wudi) was intact.  The tomb had not been raided and therefore over 10,000 artifacts were found.  Along with the King were 4 concubines and 11 other sacrificial victims buried in the tomb. As the custom of the times, the King's staff was sacrificed to serve him in the afterlife. Good time for an Obama joke but I will refrain.

The Museum Grounds

    The King was buried in a manner in which he wore a burial suit made from jade. The burial rituals of the time included many pieces of metallic disk and coins along with bags of pearls.  One bag of pearls was placed inside the deceased Kings mouth. Along with precious metals there were spices and incense.  All these materials and objects were to ensure that the King would be provided for in his 2nd life.
     One reason I love to learn about the history is because the names of the people or events are fresh out of a movie.  Researching the Nanyue King led me to find out about The 5 pecks of Rice Rebellion.  This rebellion started out as a peaceful Toa movement that derived its name from the amount of rice one would need to donate before joining.  Of course I had no idea of the mass or volume of a "Peck".  Peck should be small but come to find out a peck is about 4 bushels. Who cares how much Peter could pick if he picked a peck of pickles.  It means a peck is a lot of weight for a standard of grain measurements since a bushel is approximately 52 lbs.
     After learning about the Peck my research then lead me to the Yellow Turban Revolt.  At first I had pictures of Bruce Lee, Jet Li and David Carradine all fighting with Yellow hats on their heads.  But come to find out the name of the Rebellion was derived from the color of the scarfs worn on the peasants heads.  This was another Tao rebellion in which wealthy land owners were taking advantage of the peasant workers.  From some insurgency from the north the rebellion was effective in obtaining some self-governing rites for the peasants as well as removal of much of the corruption for officials in the Capital.  Hmmm....."No Paul, NO!  This is not the same as our elected officials, congress or Obama".

Entrance to the Museum of The Nanyue King

     I must say I am humbled to be here and China is not what I expected nor what I was told it would be.  It is far from being the scary-communist country with 1.4 billion people.  It is a country in my opinion trapped between its rich heritage, culture, value and the global economy we all share.  Wo xi huan Zhong Gou he Zhongouren xi huan Meigourens!!!  (I like China and Chinese people like Americans).

 

Who Needs a Ferrari, I took my Family to China!!!!

  This week's blog is dedicated to those of you that read my blog last week and put up with my rant.  The best response of the week was, "Who would dare criticize your writing? Certainly not me. Your writing just flows, sometimes like a geyser, but it flows."  The person who wrote that quote will recognize it.

  

Taking the Bull by The Horns

  This week was a special one because, as most of you know I finished my 50th year.  So I will tell you more about what happened later in the Adventure section of the blog, but first this week at school.

SCHOOL:  Well after last week's rant, this week was pretty mild.  Last week was more about letting you know that teaching here is not perfect by any means.  I know I have written many weeks about how great it is here.  We all still really enjoy it, but our school has the same problems as any other school.  So, with that said I can tell you that as I walked around school visiting Cecelia in class or going to the canteen for lunch, there is one thing that you cannot beat.  The one thing that we love the most is having the first and second graders walking as a class to the canteen, shouting out as a class "Good Morning Teacher or Hello Ms. Celia".  They are so stinking cute.  Also, as you walk down the hall students do a slight bow and say, "Hello Teacher".  The respect you are given as a teacher makes you feel like it is all worthwhile.  It has really been nice not having any kids telling me to F&%# Off this year.  

  So, this next week is the Language Festival at school.  Somehow I have been roped into doing a poetry reading on stage.  I am also hosting a program that I am calling Poetoake.  I have a few poems that I have collected and I am making slideshows with music for participants to read their poems too.  I will let you know how it goes next week.  (Actually-  he volunteered, go figure from Cecelia)

ADVENTURES:  This week's adventure has been the completion of my 50th year.  I say the completion of my 50th year because it is actually the end of my 50th year.  I never understand why people say you are turning 50 when you actually start turning 50 the first day after the end of your 49th year.  So anyway this is the way I have approached this last year.  I told Cecelia that I was going to try to do something meaningful everyday of my 50th year.  I can proudly say that I have done something meaningful almost everyday of the year.  It began in the winter when I started taking quiet time to sit and listen to God.  I then continued to work and volunteer for The First Tee.  To follow up with that it actually got easier, because on top of doing those things the adventure of coming to China began.  Spring and summer were seasons of coaching and spending meaningful time with my father and brothers.  Finally it was time to head to China.  Everyday is meaningful here.  The friends I make and the experiences that we have will make a lasting impression on all of us for the rest of our lives.  Finally this week, I was wished Happy Birthday when it was Thursday here and then the next day when it was Thursday in the States.  I played golf on Thursday here for my birthday and the Lord blessed me with about four hours without rain in which to play.  If I haven't mentioned it yet, our weather has changed from being in Houston during the summer to a strange mix of Seattle in the winter and San Diego in the spring.  I will give you an example of what I mean.  While playing golf on another day it started to rain, which isn't so strange except for the fact that I was sweating as I walked down the fairway under my umbrella.  It just seems that sweating and rain should not be in the same sentence.  What comes to mind is the scene in Forrest Gump when he is walking through the rice paddies and he said, "One day it just started to rain and it just kept on raining'.  Then later on in the movie he is still walking in the rice paddies and he says, "Then it just stopped raining."  It has been raining for almost two weeks straight now.  Anyway, after golf my friend David then took my entire family out to dinner for my birthday.  It was an outstanding dinner and we had a great time.  
 On Saturday we had my birthday party.  The party began on a dinner boat that cruised down the Pearl River and then ended at a bar near the river.  A group of us ended up smoking cigars (Cubans by the way, thanks to my brother Paul's gift to me.  Paul I really loved that smooth Cohiba!!!)  and having a few drinks in a private room.  The party ended at around 11:30 where Paul, Cecelia and I headed to our hotel that overlooked the river. 
 All and all it has been one amazingly and unbelievable year.

Having a couple of drinks with our Friends Luke and Jenny from Wisconson

  This last part is a thank you to all of my friends and family as well as some things I have been thinking about regarding the first half century of my life.  

  To my friends and family.  My life is rich and blessed because of the valued friendships and relationships that have developed over the years.  I can truly say that I live a charmed life.  On top of the many friendships that I share with you, I have a Gorgeous and loving wife, two beautiful children and a relationship with brothers that I cherish.  On top of that I am living in China.  In my wildest dreams I never saw myself living in this amazing country.

  A small few of you have known me my entire life, but a large majority have known me for quite a few years.  I really appreciated all of the emails and notes on Facebook.  There are so many of you that sent me notes, that I hope that you will accept this as my thank you.  Currently I have over 230 of you following my blog and nearly everyone sent me a message.  Just know that you all hold a special place in my heart and are a part of who I am.  Also, I want to thank every single one of you for the great messages.  I believe it is a testament to all of you really knowing me that I didn't get a single reference to ExLax or Viagra.  Nothing about being over the hill either.  I surely don't feel like I am over the hill and definitely don't need any of the aforementioned items.

  As I sat this week contemplating what life has been like for me over this first 50 years, the one thing that kept coming to mind is can I say that I am proud of what I am as a person and would my parents be proud of me.  I can say that as I look back on my life that there are some things that I would like to do differently, as I am sure everyone does, but they are still a part of who I am.  The other side of the coin is that I can say that I am proud of myself for the things that I have accomplished.  I remember learning a long time ago the difference between being prideful and being proud of what you have done.  The difference is in how you say things.  So indulge me for a moment.

  The following is a list of the things in which I feel proud:

• I am proud of being a Christian and continuing to work on my walk with the Lord
• I am proud of my attempt at being a good husband (Cecelia will have to be the final judge of this one.  Remember this is a list of the things that I feel proud of in my own mind!)
• I am proud of being a good father so far (I don't think I have scarred my children that much yet)
• I am proud of being a good older brother (I don't think I scarred any of them, well maybe Mike when I put the pillow on his face when he was little.  Those of you that know Mike will understand why I did it.)
• I am proud of being a teacher (I am not just a teacher at school but my wife says in everything I do.  I am proud that I have recognized the gift that God has given me.)
• I am proud that I accomplished graduating from college and the many degrees and certificates that I have
• I am proud that I am a professional golf instructor and am part of The First Tee
• I am proud that I am willing to take risks in life (This obviously comes from my parents and scares the heck out of Cecelia sometimes!  Does coming to China come to mind)
• I am proud that I have written a book and actually gotten paid for it.
• I am proud that I have had a few articles published on the internet
• I am proud that my wife and I redesigned and remodeled our home
• I am proud that I have a Caboose on our property
• I am proud that I have been published in a magazine
• I am proud of being a good friend ( I think most of my friends would agree with this one, well except maybe for Mark Nesti and Michael Jilke.  They are like brothers so they fall into the brother category.  Sometimes they get the brother treatment.)
• I am proud of still having goals in my life (I still have the Champions Tour at the top of the list)
• I am proud that I don't look or act like a typical 50 year old (Age is all relative.  I learned this from my father in law)
• Finally, I am proud of being a Renaissance Man.  Someone described me as this the other day and I have to admit that it fits who I am.

  There are still other things that I am proud of, but to wrap it up I wanted to challenge all of you to live a rich and fulfilling life.  Mine has been very rich and fulfilling and it is going to continue to still get better.  You have all been a part of it and I hope that I can continue to reciprocate the love and caring that you have shown me.

  Here are some pictures I wanted to share with you, from the evening.  The only way it could have been better is if all of you would have been able to make it.