"Culture Shock" and Relaxation

 

The way summer should begin

  This week we relaxed a bit and headed south.  Even though we traveled a bit to get home, we spent a bit more time traveling to San Diego.  It was a nice relief from the cleaning, painting and new carpet addition.  It gave us a chance to recharge and get over the jet lag, without feeling like we had to get everything done at once.  It also allowed me to contemplate the "Culture Shock" question.

ADVENTURES:  On Wednesday morning we awoke to a beautiful, but hot day at home.  We spent the morning casually getting ready for our road trip to San Diego. 

What I have always loved about Solana Beach!!

We were going to San Diego to see Cecelia's parents and visit with family and friends.  Our journey began at about 10:30 am.  It was a nice trip and the air was clearer than usual in the Central Valley for this time of year.  I have actually missed the drive on Hwy 99 South.  I always like to see what changes the little towns make along the way.  I also really enjoy driving through the farmland and seeing what is planted this time of year in the fields.  The part about the drive I don't enjoy is the traffic in LA. Once we got to San Diego, the rest of the week was spent visiting with friends and family   and making trips to the beach. Saturday, we had 20 people over to Cecelia's parents' home for dinner.  It was great to get a chance to share our experience with people that were genuinely interested in our adventures and that were glad to have us back.
      In answer to the many questions about culture shock that we have had, there were only a couple of things that come to mind.  But I am not sure by definition if they are culture shock or not.  Maybe they were more inconveniences and nuisances, rather than shocks.  The first is the aforementioned traffic.  It was one of the culture shocks of returning here and I could do without it. While in China I had not driven a car, which means I have not been behind the wheel of a car or truck for ten months.  Scooters don't count as cars.  It is a different kind of driving altogether.

Claire and Tay enjoying freezing water!!!

  The definition of culture shock is, the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.  I would say that going to China was obviously by definition, a culture shock.  Coming home to a house that needed to be tidied up was a little bit of a shock but, coming back to the United States isn't really a shock.  In the US, there is a consistency that is predictable and appreciated by us in many ways. When we arrived, we first enjoyed the organized way we were ushered through customs and immigration. We welcomed the return to the organized way that traffic behaved on the way home.   It felt so comfortable to run errands knowing that there are places that will have things that we need.  It was great to go to the familiar places to eat and get a good cup of coffee.  (Starbucks of course)  Finally, the way our friends greeted us and made us feel loved and appreciated was the most appreciated predictable thing.  So, true culture shock no, I wouldn't say we have experienced much.
  Until next week, have another great week of summer and we will connect with many of you soon.  When we get back to Oakhurst we are going to be  preparing for a party that will be open to all our friends and the community.  We look forward to the opportunity to share and greet those of you that we have not seen yet.

 

As Homer Returned From His Odyssey!!

 

The Battle Zone!!!

  This is my 52nd post.  I never imagined I would write this much, but I have really enjoyed the process and time spent doing this.  So, with that being said please allow just a little bit of poetic license.
  Just as Homer returned from his Odyssey to a home that needed to be put right, so have we.  This last week was all about getting our home put back the way that we like it.  It is also a week in which we struggled with jet lag and had to answer the question, "Are you experiencing culture shock?".

ADVENTURES:  It seems like everyday is an adventure lately, even putting our house back in order is one.  We returned to our home, to find it borderline inhabitable.  As many of you know, we had some people living in our home while we were away these past 10 months.  They were nice people and they did a great job taking care of our pets.  The dogs were happy to see us and were groomed nicely.  The cats were a little skiddish, but warmed up quickly.  The house on the other hand needed some work before it truly felt like home.  So, the next day while Paul and Shannon were with us we began the process of putting our lives back together here in Oakhurst.
  We began by battling the insect hoards that had decended on our home while we were away.  The ants, spiders and cockroaches have put up a strong fight and we had to resort to chemical warfare in order to conquer our foes.  While gassing the insects Paul and Shannon drove us around to pick up our cars and take care of some of the little things like picking up toiletries and such.  After a few hours we returned and began getting ready to have a cleaning crew come to the house, as well as getting new carpet installed.  Cecelia, the girls and I were very tired, but we pushed through because we were trying to get on a regular sleep pattern.  We all worked to get unpacked and begin putting some of the things we had in storage away.
  That evening we had a nice dinner with Paul and Shannon before they headed for home.  It was great seeing them again and we look forward to more time shared later in the summer.
  The next day we headed for Fresno and ran some errands, while the cleaners took care of the house.  We had lunch with our friend Mike Firpo and reconnected in regards to The First Tee.  I am going to become involved later in the year and the girls are going to begin classes again.  After going on a shopping spree at Home Depot to get some necessary items for the house, we headed back home.
  The following morning the carpet guys came and started taking the carpet out of the house.  As soon as they took the living room carpet away, there was a vast improvement in the air quality.  When you have two families living on old carpet, it is time to get rid of it.  By the end of the day we had new carpet, a freshly painted office and a relatively clean house.  It was beginning to feel like home.

Ah, fresh paint and no carpet.  Much better

  The next day was our anniversary and it started in the typical fashion for Cecelia and I.  At two a.m.  I woke up and could not get back to sleep.  I tossed and turned, trying to battle the jet lag but just couldn't do it.  On top of that I was dealing with a little bit of anxiety.  I don't get anxiety very often, but a feeling that I had not felt in over 10 months crept up on me.  The feeling was a combination of not being able to get everything done and an overwhelming stress regarding the things that needed to be fixed at the house.  So, I did what any sane man would do.  I got up, put on my work cloths and started to paint the living room.  It was just something that we needed to get done before the carpet in the living room was installed.  Unfortunately Cecelia wasn't sleeping either and wanted to know why I was having a hard time.  We had a small discussion and then started painting together.  I then wished her a happy anniversary and thrust a paintbrush into her hand.  We both painted from two am until 12 pm.  We finished the majority of the house and only had baseboards to finish, but decided to take a nap before we went out to celebrate our anniversary properly.

Almost there!!!

  After our nap, Cecelia made arrangements with our friends the Archers to take the girls to the lake.  We dropped them off and went to the golf course to play nine holes.  Despite what many of you might think, Cecelia and I have played many rounds together on our anniversary.  It isn't exactly a tradition, but we have a good time together.  If it wasn't golf, we would be playing tennis or something else.  We just like to play together, it is an important part of our relationship.  After playing golf, we had a very nice dinner at Woody's restaurant in town.  Even though we were tired, we were beginning to feel like we were beginning to adjust to home.
  We are still battling the critters in the house, but we believe we are winning the war.  So, just as Homer made things right when he returned home, we have done the same.
  Next week I will share with you our trip to see Cecelia's parents and address the question of culture shock.  I am still doing some research and thinking about the question, so I will discuss it when I am ready.

The Sweet and Sour of Coming Home!!

 

Tay enjoying her last inexpensive Mani/Pedi in China

This week was a week of crazy and surreal.  Some of the greatest adventures are just in the organizing and traveling in itself.  You just never know what is going to happen when you start on your way.  So, sit back and enjoy our crazy ride home.
  ADVENTURES:  The craziness started right away when I returned from Xi'an on Saturday morning.  I got on my plane and arrived in Guangzhou around 10:30 am.  I then hopped on the metro and rode to the south railway station.  My friend Sam picked me up and brought me home.  When I arrived I hardly had a moment to say hello to my wife, before I had to rush out to the bank.  I had to go to the bank so that I could get the rest of my money from my teaching account.  One of the craziest things about leaving China is that Cecelia and I had to leave with cash and then change it over when we got to Hong Kong.  It is really bothersome to carry that much when you are traveling.
  Cecelia and I then went out to dinner with our friends John and Katie.  There is a great Korean restaurant that we like to go to in Biejio so we went for our last visit with them.  We had a wonderful time and promised to meet up again in Auburn in August.
  The next day was a frantic day of packing and finishing up the last of the little details to take care of before leaving.  We did such a good job, that Cecelia and Taylor ended up going to get Manicures and Pedicures.  I on the other had got my last massage in preparation for the long trip home.  That evening the entire family was invited by my friend David to have one last dinner with his family.  We had Chinese food and spent the evening discussing when he and his family can come to visit in America.  I also talked with him about coming to visit if I return in September.  After saying goodbye we headed home for our last night of sleep on our hard Chinese bed.
 

Waiting at Ferry Pier in Zhuhai

  The next morning Cecelia and I awoke at 5 am and began organizing the luggage.  Our friend Sam had arranged for a driver to pick us up in his small truck at 7 am.  The reason he brought a small truck was because we each had two large bags, as well as carry ons.  That made the total luggage count about 12 bags.  That didn't include the two tea sets we were bringing home as well.  I do have to tell you that each of the large bags we were bringing back weighed about 50lbs. each.  That was roughly 400 pounds of luggage, not including carry ons.  My friend David was going to have a driver take us all the way to Shenzhen and drop us off at the ferry station, but when he saw the picture of our luggage he said they didn't have a big enough car to accommodate us.
  The driver picked us up promptly at 7 and we said one last goodbye to the fish in our pond and we headed out for the Guangzhou South Railway Station.
  It took us about 20 minutes to get to the station and we weren't in a real hurry to get there, because we were not able to board the ferry to Hong Kong until 12:45.  The train we were going to take was going to only take 40 minutes at the most, so we had some leisure time to kill.  When we arrived at the train station, the driver dropped us and our luggage off out front.  I told Cecelia to go inside and buy our tickets and in the meantime, Claire and I would begin hauling the luggage to the second floor station.  Here I am taking my time and not straining too much and actually enjoying the leisure pace of riding the escalator up to the second floor.  I had just gotten all of the bags to the top except for two and was on my way down the escalator one last time, when I saw Taylor come running across the first floor yelling, "We have got to get going real fast, Mom booked us on the 8 am train."  So, instead of having 45 minutes to get through security, we had 25 and a big line of people in front of us.  Fortunately the Chinese people in line took pity on us and let us go to the front of the line.  On top of that a couple of people helped us get our 400 lbs. of luggage to the farthest gate at the train station with about 4 minutes to spare.

400 lbs of luggage!!!

  As I flopped into my seat on the train, I came to the realization that I was sweating profusely.  So much for taking the nice shower in the morning to prepare for traveling.
  The only other relatively exciting thing that happened was the negotiation with the taxi driver after we got off at the train station in Zhuhai.  The guy initially wanted 500 rmb to take us to the ferry dock, but with the help of an interpreter and some shrewd negotiating by Cecelia, we got him down to half.
  The rest of the trip was very pleasant and uneventful, that is if you consider a 17 hour flight in coach pleasant.  At least we had movies to watch and the airplane food was decent.  It  is really a strange phenomenon  to start your flight at 6 pm on July 8th and end up in San Francisco at 8 pm of the same  day.
  At the airport we had a great welcoming committee consisting of my brother Paul, his wife Shannon as well as  Kim and Sarah Meeks.  It was a very tearful reunion for Claire and Sarah.  They have really missed each other this past year.

Waiting at Hong Kong airport

  All of us then jumped into two vehicles for the ride back home.  It was a enjoyable ride and we were happy to spend the evening catching up with what was going on here as well.
  As I said earlier it was sweet and sour coming home.  Sweet because we missed all of our friends and family.  We also missed some of the simple pleasures about being in our own home.  The sour part, was that we had made some great friends in China and now we will be missing them.  We will also be missing the simplistic way of living as well.  So, it was with a heavy heart that we left Hong Kong, but a joyous greeting when we arrived home.

Home Sweet Home!!!!

A Renaissance Man That Knows Chinese Opera!!!!!

Christmas in July!!

My blog reading friends, I apologize for being a little behind but my plan to write on the way home didn't turn out so well.  I couldn't find wifi and my Chinese computer battery only lasted about 30 minutes at a time (You really do get what you pay for, and since I only paid a couple hundred bucks it definitely isn't an Apple.)
  As I sit in the Starbucks in Oakhurst writing and recovering from jet lag, I am going to share with you the last episode of our Xi'an saga.  We are also done with school so that section will disappear for now.  I was going to end the blog after summer, but I had a couple of friends suggest I at least write through the first week of school.  I am also very close to 10,000 reads and am privately excited about reaching that number.

To finish up our time in China, Cecelia and I divided and conquered.  Cecelia and the girls spent the first two days of the week exploring other areas of Xi’an city itself, while I began work coaching golf with my friends James and Jason. 

                The first place that they started with was the old city wall.  During the Tang
Dynasty, the Emperor built the wall around the city.  It is about 8 miles long and the girls spent the day riding bicycles on top of it.  It was a hot day and the bricks on top made it very bumpy.  When we met in the evening, Cecelia told me she needed a massage just to work the kinks out in her neck.  They also went to visit the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, and the Muslim Quarter for lunch and shopping.

The Girls and a new friend

                That same day, I went with my friends to a very remote golf course located in the nearby mountains.  We drove about an hour and a half to a village that looked more like a Swiss ski area than a golf resort.  I thought we were there to do a golf clinic, but it turned out we were doing a photo shoot for a new driving range that was opening in September.  On the way, we also drove through the longest tunnel I have ever been in during my lifetime.  It was 18 km. long, which is about 10 miles.  It was an amazing feat of engineering.  In order to break up the monotony of the tunnel, the engineers break it up with sections that are lit up by black light.  In the black light areas, they have fake pine trees that look like they are real.  It is rather eerie and creepy.  I had images of Bilbo wandering around looking for a way through and greeting Shelob along the way. 

                In the evening we met up and were treated to a very nice dinner with our friends from Xi’an.

                The next day I began coaching at the golf camp, while Cecelia and the girls went back into Xi’an to explore more of the history of China.  To stay out of the heat, their guide tried to take them to the history museum but it was closed.  They ended up going to the tablet museum and the Wild Goose Pagoda instead.  The tablet museum is an amazing place in which patrons are exposed to the actual writings of famous poets and philosophers of China, which include samples from Confucious himself.

                The Wild Goose Pagoda area is surrounded by gardens that are full of sculptures that tell about the history of China.  It is also home to the largest fountain in China.  That evening Cecelia and the girls stole me away to go watch the fountain show.  In the evenings, the fountain bursts into a colorful light show that is accompanied by symphonic music.
   But before we went to the Pagoda, we got together with our hosts for a special culinary treat.  The culinary treat for dinner was Peking Duck.  Now, this was not the first time we had duck in China and none of us had really had a good experience with it.  We were asked if we liked duck, but we told our host Kei that it wasn’t our favorite dish.  He then educated us on what real duck should be like, so we decided to give it a try.  We were soon to find that we had not experienced such an amazing dish.  When cooked properly and served by a chef in the correct manner, Peking Duck is absolutely amazing.  We all enjoyed it immensely, even the pickiest member of our family.  (That isn’t Claire, Cecelia or I.) 

On Tuesday morning, Cecelia and the girls left for Guilin, while I stayed in Xi’an to finish camp the rest of the week.  She really wanted to see Guilin and Yang Shuo.  Yang Shuo is an area of China that has multiple limestone outcroppings that have been the basis for quite a bit of Chinese art.  The outcroppings are like giant pointed rocks that have dropped out of the sky.  Many of them are very steep and are dotted with caves and crevices.  Cecelia and the girls had an outstanding time exploring caves, floating on the river that runs through the area, having natural spa treatments and just enjoying the beautiful surroundings.  Most of the pictures from the blog this week were taken by Cecelia.  They spent about a day and a half exploring the area.  Cecelia would have liked more time, but she had to get back and prepare for our departure.

While Cecelia and the girls were exploring more of China, I continued to work.  I have kept the real purpose for why I was coaching in Xi’an a secret until now.  Well, I will let the cat out of the bag.  The reason we had the photo shoot earlier in the week and been coaching at the camp is because I have been asked to be a partners with a couple of Chinese friends to be one of the directors of golf at a brand new driving range facility in Xi’an.  No, it does not mean that I will be quitting my job and moving to China permanently.  It means that I will have a great probability to return to China next summer to train staff and develop a complete instruction program for golfers in Northwest China.  They want my skills as a coach, because I don’t teach in a traditional way.  My instruction is project based and teaches people how to practice with a purpose.  Our program teaches people how to work on their games in an efficient manner, rather than just hitting balls without a purpose on the driving range.

So, anyway it wasn’t all work for me.  On Friday, the last day of camp we played golf with our students at Xi’an International Golf Course in the morning. (That was still part of work.)  After that, I had the opportunity to visit a place in Xi’an called South Lake.  South Lake is an outstanding area in which I learned about some Chinese Opera.  One area of South Lake is dedicated to Love and Lovers.

Yang Shuo, Simply Beautiful

Spa Treatments already!!!!

 The reason is because of a place called Cool Cave.  Cool Cave is an actual cave that is the inspiration for the Chinese Opera called the Cool Cave.  The story behind the cave is that a young woman that was part of royalty tossed a silk ball into the air to find her husband.  It was caught inadvertently by a poor man.  The woman’s family was not happy about the results because the man was below their class, but the woman honored the tradition.  Because she honored the tradition, her family separated themselves from her.  To add insult to injury the woman’s husband then went off to join the army to improve his status.  So, what the woman did was begin digging her way into the side of a cliff face and created a very comfortable home for herself.  She was so determined that when her family realized that they had made a mistake and began sending her rice she refused it.  In the end, she survived and then her husband returned as a hero.  Rather than live in a traditional house, they decided to live happily ever after in the Cool Cave.  It was a very romantic place, but I was glad that Cecelia and the girls didn’t find it.  Many of the statues in the park were rather racy.  I don’t think Cecelia would have enjoyed having the birds and bees talk by herself when the girls asked what they statues were doing. 

Anyway, in the end I can honestly say that I understand at least one Chinese Opera, despite the fact that I can’t stand to listen to it.  It sounds like fingernails grating on a chalkboard to me.   I just consider it a feather in the cap of a Renaissance Man like myself!!!!!!
  Here is the link for the Pictures that Cecelia took during here trip.  Xi'an and Yang Shuo, China

"Hey Steve, You Won't Believe What I Found!!!"

Rows and rows of soldiers

  My friends I apologize for the blog being late this week, but I have a good reason.  I was in Xi'an coaching golf and had an extremely busy schedule.  This last week has been such a whirlwind that I haven't had time to give you an update.  So, I hope you enjoy the story of what happened this week and the culmination of a week that my family is soon not to forget.  This will be the first installment of a two part series.

SCHOOL:  Well, this week at school was rather interesting.  It was the last week for us and we had many things to do to prepare for our leave taking.  My end was rather uneventful.  I taught up until Friday and just said goodbye to my students and teacher friends.  There was much sharing of email addresses and promises of getting together sometime in the future with the teaching staff.  To be honest the feeling from the administration was more like, "Whew, thank goodness the trouble maker is leaving".  In the end, I guess I just didn't get a grasp of what teaching in China is all about.  When you are asked to help and give an opinion, they don't really expect you to answer.
  Now I don't want to leave you with a negative impression.  The experience here has been wonderful and life changing.  I also don't regret making the decision to come here for a moment.  China is wonderful and in a later edition I am going to share the things that I believe I have learned.
  Cecelia on the other hand had a great week.  She finished her assessments and then the teachers threw a party for her.  As the guest of honor she was treated to an outstanding meal and was treated like the Queen of first grade.  Her crowning glory was a string of pearls that was her parting gift.  Cecelia made quite an impression this year and was loved by the staff.  I teased her a little after her party, because she had been giving me a hard time about my easy schedule this year.  I told her that an easy schedule was my reward and a string of pearls was hers.  In all honesty, I consider my wife to be one of the best teachers I have ever met.  I am constantly inspired by her energy and creativity.  One final note, from what we understand the teachers in primary don't do this normally for leaving foreign teachers.  This just shows what kind of impact she made.
  For the girls it was a week of ups and downs.  They were up because like all school kids their school year was coming to an end.  The two of them also had an additional motivation, because with the end of school comes our return to America.  They are very excited about their homecoming.

Tay doing her best to sell Yosemite to Chinese tourists

  On the down side, this was really their first goodbye that had some sort of permanence to it.  At the end of the week there were many tears, because they were saying goodbye to teachers and friends that they may never see again.  This made a huge impact on them.  It was a realization that they have never experienced before.  Unlike living in Oakhurst and knowing that we would be returning, this had a finality to it that they didn't expect.  They were also very upset about leaving their friends the Madsens.  Even though the Madsens live in the United States, they had the feeling that they wouldn't see each other again.  We assured them that we would get together back in the States, but it still took some time to get over their sadness.  They didn't finally settle down until we were in Xi'an and they could use modern technology to Facetime each other.  They have grown to understand that the world is really a small place when you can communicate so readily.  This is unlike when my brothers and I grew up going to 19 different schools and moving from state to state.  We had snail mail and it really was difficult to communicate through the mail.  This meant as a boy I actually had to write by hand on paper.  Can you imagine?!!!!

ADVENTURES:  We began our adventure to Xi'an by rushing off to the airport right after school on Friday.  Our friend Sam dropped us off at the metro station and it took us about an hour and a half to get to the airport.  We arrived in plenty of time and met my friend James. 
  James is my friend from America that has worked with me in The First Tee at home.  He is also from Taiwan and knows China very well.  He was the reason we were making this extra trip to Xi'an.  His friends had arranged for us to teach the golf camp together.
  Anyway, after we met James and checked in my golf clubs, we were met with another delay.  It seems like common practice at the Guangzhou airport; too many people, too many planes going in all different directions.  Our two hour delay was due to air traffic congestion this time.  So, we ended up leaving Guangzhou at close to 11 pm.  We landed in Xi'an at 1 am.  It seems like a new habit for us to fly late and then arrive late at our destination.  Like I have written before, everything is an adventure in China.  Or better yet, everything is an adventure when you travel with us.  We finally got to bed around 3 am.

All 6 ft. tall

  The next morning we didn't have to be up at a particular time.  Our hosts for the week told us that we just needed to call them when we got up and were ready to go.  James had made arrangements for us to go to the site of the Terra Cotta Soldiers.  After a quick breakfast of chicken sandwiches at KFC, we met the other coach that was going to be working with us during the week.  His name is Jason and he runs a golf learning center in downtown Xi'an, but I will tell you more about him in detail during the next blog.
  The site for the Terra Cotta Soldiers is about an hour and a half outside of the city itself.  Once we arrived, we were met by an official from the site.  Apparently Jason had pulled a few strings and we were going to have a private tour in English.  The facility for the soldiers is a massive park like facility.  There are three pits that are surrounded by a beautiful courtyard that has fountains, statues and restaurants.  Outside of that there are acres and acres of walkways and paths that meander through pines and poplars.
  Our tour began in Pit 1.  Pit 1 is a massive area covered with a blimp hangar sized building.  The building covering pit one is so large that we had to have Cecelia take a panoramic picture to get it all in the frame.  Pit 1 is also the main site of the current archeological work.  This site is the one that you see in typical pictures of The Terra Cotta Soldiers.  There are soldiers standing in lines with broken soldiers behind them.  Pit one is the site in which the archeologists put the soldiers back together.  It is kind of like a real life Humpty Dumpty story.  The back of the site consists of a large flat area in which the soldiers are either standing or lying down while being put back together.  Once the archeologists get all of the pieces together for a soldier, they put them back in the pit where they were originally located.  The pit is about 9 ft. deep and has row after row of soldiers.  We learned that the soldiers in this pit were the front line of defense.  Many people believe the Chinese to be small in general, but things must have changed with time.  To be in this army you had to be a minimum of 6 ft. tall.
 

All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put...............

Pit 2 is smaller and has a lot less excavation.  The archeologists are going slower and making new discoveries all the time.  Due to their advances in technique,  the soldiers from Pit 2 have retained their original color better.  Also this part of the tour got us up close and personal with the soldiers.  They had three soldiers displayed in glass cases.  When you get close to the soldiers you get to see the amazing detail that went into them.  Even the hairs on their head are very detailed.  At this pit, I was happy to find out that even though I wouldn't make the height requirement, I would have been considered a good guy because I have a mustache.  If you didn't have a mustache, you were either a bad person or a criminal.  Every soldier has a mustache.  By the way,  every soldier has a unique face.  So far they have found over 1500 soldiers and it is only the tip of the archeological iceberg. There are also life sized horses in the pit as well.  The horses are spectacular in their detail and facial features.  One interesting thing that they found in Pit 2 was the only soldier that was entirely whole.  It is an archer and out of the hundreds of soldiers he is the only one without even a chink in his armor.
  You may be wondering at this point why the soldiers were broken.  It is not that the mud and dirt broke them, because they were originally enclosed in an underground building.  The destruction came from the following dynasty.  The conquering generals removed all of the weapons from the statues and then set the place on fire.  The destruction came from the ceiling collapsing on top of the soldiers.  You can still see remnants of the burned structures and wagon wheel imprints where they burned into the ground.

An archeologists dream job!!!!

  One final fact that I found interesting:  even though there are hundreds of things I could share with you, this one intrigued me.  It intrigued me because of the research and things that I have learned about China.  If the dynasties had not had the practice of trying to erase all history of the previous dynasty, China would have probably been one of the most technologically advanced civilizations in the world.  They had invented many things long before any of our cultures even thought of beginning.  For example, one of the swords they found was still razor sharp and had chrome alloy on it.  Germany supposedly perfected chrome technology in 1939.  The sword that was found in the pit was dated back to 3000 BC.  Let that fact sink in a little bit.
  Finally we made our way to Pit 3.  Pit 3 was similar to the two previous pits, but much smaller.  Yet, Pit 3 has a special importance to it.  This pit is where they found all of the emperor's generals.  They also believe Pit 3 to have the entrance to passages to the emperor's tomb, but they have not discovered them as of yet.
  After Pit 3 we headed to a gift shop in which we got a special treat.  The gift shop housed replicas of the Terra Cotta Soldiers made in the same compound the original soldiers were made.  It is the only licensed and certificated place in China to purchase them, so of course we had to pick up a couple of soveniers.  But, this is not the special treat that I alluded to earlier.  The special treat came in the form of the original man that discovered the soldiers in 1974.  He found them while trying to dig a well for his farming.  Since his discovery, he has been working with the site and been given a lifetime salary by the government.  Unlike in America in which people can own whatever they find on their property, China has a policy that any archeological find belongs to the people of China.  We had our picture taken with him and he signed our souvenir book.
 

Notice the mustache.  I have one of those.

One quick fact we learned that is hard to imagine is when this site was complete over 720,000 people died to keep the secret of the tomb and soldiers.  Everyone and anyone that worked on it were included in that number.
  We then made our way over to the Jade factory.  Apparently much of the really good jade comes from this area of China.  We were given a lesson on how to tell real jade from fake.  It was very interesting and informative.  So basically if you have any jade, put it up to a light.   If the light shines through and there are mineral deposits that look like flowers, it is real.  If it doesn't it is fake.  Also we learned that people wear jade because the body absorbs the good minerals over time.  Men are supposed to wear dark jade that looks almost black and it is supposed to be good for the heart.  Women are supposed to wear a lighter green and can wear it either on their right wrist to support lung health or on the left for heart health.  Kids are supposed to wear pink.  The pink supports healthy skin and complexion.
  After buying Cecelia a jade bracelet to support her heart, we headed out to find lunch.  We had a very nice lunch with our hosts and then went to one final place for site seeing. 
  Our final stop was at a place in which the Emperor from the Tang dynasty built a spa sanctuary for his favorite concubine.  He was so in love with this concubine that when it was complete he lived there with her for 11 years.  The entire place is designed around the concept of Fengshui and Ying/Yang.  I can tell you that I can see why he was attracted to the place, other than for his concubine.  It has mineral hot springs coming out of the ground in many places.  The pools also had varying temperatures and he built many of the pools to have open roofs so that he could look at the stars while sitting in the springs.  Kind of like having a Jacuzzi tub outside in our neck of the woods.  I mean kind of, because many of the spas were swimming pool sized.  He even built one spa for the chefs so that they could sit in the pools and be inspired to create culinary master pieces.  We even took a break and sat with our feet in one of the pools.  It was very hot, but refreshing.  I really felt like I had my Ying and Yang in order then.

The concubine dancing or the Emperor

  In later years when Cheng Kai Shek was fighting chairman Mao for power, he used the facility for his offices.  There are still bullet holes in the walls from where people were trying to assassinate him.
  One final note about this site.  Other than walking around in the heat and being tired we would have thought that it was just another cool historical site in China.  But our guide was very exuberant and excited about sharing with us the love story between the Emperor and his favorite concubine.  She shared with us that after the 11 years the Emperor left and was a better ruler after that.  I am not sure I believe her, because then the Tang dynasty was conquered by the Qing dynasty.  Makes you wonder if he had his Ying and Yang in order after all.  We did learn the significance of the Dragon and the Phoenix.  The Dragon represents power and the Emperor.  The Phoenix represents the Queen and control of the concubines.  The Lotus Flower represents all the concubines.
  We ended the day with a nice dinner back at the hotel and then went to bed.  I was going to have an early start to an incredibly busy week.
 

I have to be honest with you.  Going to the Terra Cotta Soldiers was not a priority on my want to see list when coming to China.  The thought of going to visit a place in which a single man had people build and sculpt things so that he could continue his glory in the afterlife just didn't interest me.  But after going, I am absolutely glad that I had the opportunity to experience such an amazing place.  It is hard to describe the feelings that I felt and I don't quite understand why I got a little teary eyed at one point, but it is hard to fathom the unfathomable.  What I mean is that I have no point of reference to draw on when experiencing something 3000 years old.  I have only been around for 50 years and thinking back on what life was just like only 30 or 40 years ago is difficult.  So how are we supposed to relate to something this old and this amazing?  The only thing that comes to mind is to respectfully appreciate the craftsmanship and hard work that those 720,000 put in to this project.  Here is a link to a short video that has more photos.  Enjoy and we will see many of you soon.  By the way, the next blog won't be written from home.  It will probably come from Hong Kong tomorrow while we wait for our flight.  It will be a short story about what I did while in Xi'an for the week.  for more pictures, enjoy the video found at this link.  Terra Cotta and The Concubine.
  
 
 

Miami Vice Comes to China!!!

         Hello Everyone.  I hope you enjoyed the bonus blogs about Beijing and The Great Wall.  It is still hard to believe that it was only last week that we were there.

Sometimes we can't tell if we are in Europe or China

 As we walked our last time to church, I couldn’t help but begin to think about the things that I am going to miss about China.  I am actually going to save the retrospective for a later blog, but I have to share that I really have enjoyed our treks to church in Guangzhou.  St. Francis of Assisi has been a great church home for us while here.  The choir is excellent and the priest has an infectious joy that Cecelia and I really enjoy. 

Are we in China or Hawaii?

On top of that, how can you beat having a great service and then walking back through the meat market and seeing half a pig hanging from the back of a truck.  Like I have said many times before, the simple is just never mundane here.

This week the weather has been beautiful.  A little bit humid, but not too hot.  Lot’s of high clouds and a nice breeze.  We would also get an occasional shower here and there, but it was the kind of rain that reminded me of Hawaii. 

This week began the process of saying goodbye.  So, enjoy the activities that we did this week and we will be seeing all of you sooner than you think. 

SCHOOL:  This week at school was all about taking care of the little things needed so that we can check the girls and ourselves out.  We each had a checklist that we needed to take care of in order to complete our respective assignments.  Taylor, Claire and I have completed our lists.  Cecelia hasn’t yet, because she still is doing assessments of her students and hasn’t had as much free time to take care of it.  I know this is all boring information, but I do have a funny story that describes working here best.

Cheng Family House

            The last thing on my list was to take my Teacher’s Edition text books to the library.  I have been holding on to them as long as possible, because I still have one week of school left to teach.  This last week I am teaching basic Trigonometry, remember Cosine, Sine and Tangent.  Of course you don’t, because most of you learned it about a thousand years ago and not many of you are engineers.  So anyway, there were a couple of cool assignments that I wanted to use and I was trying to figure out what to do if I turned in my books.  I figured out a couple of internet lessons and made up an activity so that I could turn them in.  When I handed the books back to the librarian, she informed me that I wasn’t missing anymore books, but I was having six rmb taken from my paycheck.  On asking why, the library informed me that my teaching materials were over due.  Now, understand six rmb is not a lot of money.  Actually it is slightly less than one US Dollar, but I had to have a discussion with the librarian just out of principal.  I said to her, “You mean to tell me that with one week of school left, I am being fined for keeping the books I need for teaching?”.  Her reply was in the affirmative.  I then said to her, “Nobody informed me when you check out teaching materials that they need to be renewed.”  Her comment was, “I’m sorry, but they made a mistake by not letting you know.”  I then said to her, “You were the one that checked them out to me.”  Her answer was, “I’m sorry I made a mistake.”  I then asked her to change the fee and fix it in the computer.  She said that she couldn’t because it was "already in the system.”  At this point I was just done.  I walked away laughing, because this is the perfect example of how many of the staff do not know how to problem solve.  It wasn’t worth my time to continue to argue my point.

            When I turned my paperwork in to the Foreign Affairs office, I mentioned the issue to them that this might be one of the policies that they should modify.  The answer back was a sheepish grin and a I’ll make a note of it response.  Yeah right!!!!!

Now this is the way to ditch school!!!!

ADVENTURES:  After my adventure with the Librarian and the Foreign Affairs Office, we ended the week by going to the local water park again.  Earlier in the year we promised Taylor that we would go back when she was tall enough to go on all of the rides.  She has grown quite a bit and so Cecelia took the day off and we had the girls ditch school to break up our seven day work week. 

            Before we went to the water park though, we had to have one last adventure at the local bank.  It only took us an hour and fifteen minutes to send money through Western Union this time.  Thankfully this is the last time we have to go through this pain.   

She was too short for this last time.

            The water park was fantastic and the crowds were small.  The longest ride we waited on was 25 minutes.  Taylor took advantage of her new found height and promptly went on the rides that she missed in the fall.  We spent about five and a half hours that afternoon and we relished the time spent together as a family. 

            After finishing at the water park, we headed for home and prepared for the evenings activities.  Cecelia and I were going to one of the many going away parties that were being held over the next couple of weeks.  Taylor and Claire were going to go hang out with the Madsens.

Beating the heat

            The girls and Madsen kids have really become good friends.  We call them the little rat pack, because the five of them get together and use the buses in our neighborhood to run all around the community.  I will tell you that one of the things that we and the girls are really going to miss is the freedom for the kids to run around with other kids in a neighborhood environment.  It reminds me of when I was a kid and we would get money from our parents, or collect bottles and trade them in so that we could go to the store and get sodas or candy.  Sometimes we would save up enough money to even go to the movies.  We just don’t have this environment where we live. The girls love it, because a typical evening with the Madsen kids is getting money, going to Little Italy for pizza and then riding the bus together to the water park.  This week they decided to forgo the water park for obvious reasons and just watched movies instead.  They also ended up having a sleep over.

            At the first of two going away/birthday parties that Cecelia and I went to, we took a bag of books and movies for people to take.  We collected many books and movies this year, because we don’t have TV.  The reason we gave them away, is because as we have begun to pack to come home and we don’t have enough room for the 50 or so pounds of souvenirs that we are bringing back with us.  So, the books and movies had to go.  Cecelia is a little remiss in getting rid of the movies, but we worry a little about copyright fines.  Also, it doesn’t look real good when you came to China with a DVD holder full of DVD’s and then you return with three times as many movies.  Can someone say Red Flag please!!!!  Anyway, we had a wonderful time at dinner and said good by to some of the staff that we probably wouldn’t see during the upcoming week.

This plaza was cool, because they kept all of the original architecture and put the shops inside

               The next day, Cecelia and I got up early and went for a walk.  The kids were not due to come home until around 9 and we figured we could get it in before they returned.  As I mentioned earlier, the weather has been great, but in the southern part of Guangdong Province there was a Typhoon warning. We didn’t think it would affect us.  As we started our walk the scenery was glorious.  The sun was shining on a crystal blue sky and you could see the large white thunderheads glimmering in the distance.  There was also a slight breeze that kept the humidity down to a bearable amount.  Little did we know or realize that the slight breeze was going to pick up and that the low clouds accompanying the thunderheads would roll our way.  We had decided to walk over to an open air market that is about an hour walk from us and then ride the bus back, but just as we arrived at the market the rain began.  It was a slight mist at first, but then quickly turned into a downpour.  I can’t tell you how often I have been caught out in the rain here in China, but after 10 months you would think we would have learned by now.  So, once again I found myself soaked all the way through my cloths and dripping on a chair in a bus.  I mentioned to Cecelia that getting caught in the rain here, has replaced my habit of running out of gas in the States.  At least she was a kind spouse and gave me some credit for the unpredictability of the weather here.

The coolest Starbucks ever!!!!

             After returning home and retrieving the girls, we headed to Foshan for the day.  Foshan is the city in which I wrote about earlier in the blog that has the Kung Fu school and was home to the Cheng Family.  It was the place that I wrote about that helped me to remember to appreciate the simple things in life. 

  We were going there to get Cecelia’s eyes check at the place where Claire and I had ordered glasses earlier in the week.  Also, Claire and I had found this really cool plaza that we wanted to share with Cecelia and Taylor.

          When we arrived at the optometrist store Cecelia got her eyes checked.  While the girls and I were waiting we were pleasantly surprised to find that the glasses that we ordered earlier in the week were ready to be picked up.  This was great because it was going to save Claire and I a trip back.  By scooter and metro it takes about two hours to get to Foshan.  Anyway, we received our glasses and Cecelia’s results were positive.  She only had a slight change in her vision and only needs reading glasses if she wants them.  It was funny, because the lady that did the eye exam showed Cecelia’s results in a book and it said “Old age vision”.  How is that for a definitive assessment.  One last thing about the eye glass store.  I told you I was going to save things about what I was going to miss, but I have to mention this one.  I will miss going to the eye glass store with Claire, getting our eyes checked, buying two pairs of glasses, and walking out spending about $120. 
 

The ladies enjoying themselves

 You may be wondering, whether the check was good or not.  Let me tell you that I have been to an eye doctor a minimum of one time per year since I was five and these people do as good of job as any I have ever experienced.  On top of that, my prescription included Transitions lenses.  Also, the frames that you get to choose from are not last years cast offs, they are actually very stylish.  I can’t even look at one pair of glasses in the States for less than two or three hundred bucks.  I have to use double insurance in order to cover the cost back home.

Had to dump Tubbs for her.  That's right she is HOT!!!!!!

          Finally, after shopping and getting lunch we returned home so that Cecelia and I could get ready for our next party.  The party that evening had an 80’s and Goonies theme.  So, if you know Cecelia and I we have to go all out.  We decided to go as characters from Miami Vice.  Cecelia dressed in a neon yellow mini skirt and a hot pink top.  To finish it off, she wore hot pink pumps, neon earrings and a neon yellow belt.  To put it simply from my point of view, “She was Hot”.  By the way, she was pretending to be an undercover narcotics agent and had a hand gun tucked in the back waste band of her mini skirt.  I of course went as Crocker from Miami Vice.  Some party revelers said I was a spot on double for Don Johnson.  Of course they had already had one too many drinks, but who am I to judge.  I wore white pants, a neon green t-shirt and a white jacket.  Of course I had my glock in my waste band as well.  To put it in a nutshell according to the Chinese we were typical Americans carrying guns.  Finally, to pull off our entrance for everyone, I downloaded the theme music from Miami Vice onto my iPad and we entered the party playing it loud and busting any suspicious party goers.  The one guy we had to frisk was Nathan.  He was playing the character of Chunk from Goonies.  He looked very suspicious indeed. 

We had a wonderful time and headed home earlier than our friends wanted, but we needed to get up early to go to church for the last time.

 I will share with you next week how we prepared to head for Xian and complete school at the same time.

Have a great week.  Only 15 days until we return!!!!

Bonus Blog II - I saw Space from The Great Wall!!!!

Welcome To The Great Wall Of China!!!

Cecelia took this panoramic photo from the west side of the wall.

  If you don't know, The Great Wall of China was said to be the only man made object that could be seen from the moon, but this has been proven to be untrue, thus the play on words for this bonus blog.  This will complete the adventure we had in Beijing.  If you can believe it, we did all of this in two and a half days.  When you read this blog and you feel your heart start pounding and you get short of breath it is OK, because that is how we felt.  The incline of the stairs was steep and unfortunately the pollution was so bad that we had a hard time breathing.  What, you think we got tired from just the exertion of our activity?  Come on, we are finely tuned athletes that spent the previous day at the Olympic Village pretending to win gold medals.  Granted we visualized winning them in Golf, but Golfers are athletes too.  Besides we live near Yosemite and climbing the stairs was like going up and down the Mist Trail twice.  No Problem!!!!!!

Getting ready to climb

SCHOOL:  Once again no school because of Dragon Boat Festival.  By now you are probably wondering if we ever really work.  Of course we do, I had to even work on Father's Day.  Man, talk about a surreal experience.

ADVENTURE:  After the previous day of tromping around Beijing, we woke up and headed out to find The Great Wall of China.  As always the research and planning of an Oetinger adventure is not always executed in the manner in which it was supposed happen.  This trip was no different.  The beginning of our excursion went well.  We rode the metro to the stop that we were supposed to get off on and began searching for the bus we were supposed to catch.  This is where it began to get interesting.  I had read two separate internet articles that gave the same clear details about riding the metro, getting off at a certain stop and then looking for bus number 68.  So, when we arrived at the area in which we were supposed to get on bus 68, guess what?  You probably already guessed it, there was no bus 68.  The four of us then wandered up and down the street for about 15 minutes before I finally stopped into the police station on the corner.  The police looked dumbfounded and didn't have any idea about bus 68.  I then wandered back up the street a little more and spotted a bus with the number 58 on it.  Now, at this point you are probably saying to yourself that he is lost and had the wrong bus number.  My own children said the same thing to me at this point and I promptly pulled out my trusty iPad and showed them the article that gave me the directions.  In bright red numbers the number 68 blazed out to silence them.  Same for you critics out there.  Besides, I had already asked the police rather than be a stupid father and husband that just drives around in circles without asking for help.  So, at this point I went to the number 58 bus and asked them where bus 68 was located.  Through my broken communication in Chinese I found out that we needed to ride the number 58 bus to the stop to pick the number 68 bus up that would finally take us to The Great Wall. 

We're going up there?!!!

Cecelia then asked me if I was sure I knew where we going.  I answered in a confident manner and said yes, despite the underlying trepidation that I didn't just ask them to take us to a really big Chinese restaurant.  My fears were increased after about 45 minutes on the bus.  We pulled up on the side of the road out in the middle of the country, and the driver told everyone to get off.  Fortunately there was a nice young lady that spoke some English and she told us to just wait for bus 68.  It was going to be coming in about a half an hour.  The nice thing was that bus 68 came about 15 minutes into our wait.  When we hopped on I met a mother and son from San Francisco that were going to The Great Wall as well.  They spoke not only excellent English, but fluent Chinese as well.  The mom's family lives in Beijing and here son that was with her was a freshman this year at Berkeley.  We had a nice chat as we made our way to The Great Wall.  This was actually their first visit to Beijing as well.
  About 20 minutes into our ride the driver announced that we were approaching The Great Wall.  Just some quick facts about The Great Wall.  It was actually built and rebuilt a number of times.  It originally was begun in the 7th Century before Christ was born.  It grew over many years and finally was considered one wall in 220 BC.  The current wall was seriously refurbished during the Ming Dynasty and has been maintained periodically since then.  The actual wall length is 3,889 miles.  That would be roughly as long as two thirds of the United States.  The part of The Great Wall that we visited is called, Juyongguan "The North Pass".  This section of the wall was used to protect the capital city of Beijing.  I don't know why they needed a wall here, because as you can see in the pictures, the terrain is very steep.  If I was a Mongol and just marched up through the valley to the base of this section I would have just turned around and been happy with conquering most of China.  This portion had never been breached by any army.

Seriously Sarge, we're going to attack that???

  We chose this portion of the wall because it is the steepest and the least crowded.  After hiking the wall loop, I can understand why.  The loop that includes a village with The Great Wall is roughly 4500 meters long, which is about three miles. When you add in the one climb, which I already mentioned was like going up the granite steps, and two descents that are like going down the cables on Half Dome, it feels like 10 miles.
  Our hike began at the valley floor.  We then progressed up the West side to the highest point of The Great Wall.  The steps are very steep and it reminded us of hiking up the granite blocks to the base of Half Dome.  After arriving at the top, we headed down the loop that headed back toward the valley and East Side.  Like I said earlier most of this has been refurbished, but let me tell you the steps that they decided to redo must have been made based on the original specs to keep it authentic.  Most of them are very uneven in height and width.  Some sections going down are as steep as leaving the top of Half Dome by way of the cables.  There was more than once that my vertigo attempted to kick in.  I had to do my best Jimmy Stewart impression and fight it off.

It goes on for Miles and Miles

  One section of the wall has a dead end at the top of the East Ridge.  Looking out over the dead end there is a section of the original wall that has not been refurbished, it is really cool.

The highest watch tower in all of The Great Wall

At the finish.  Another Christmas Photo??

  I have mentioned before how I felt at some other monuments during this crazy adventure, but while at The Great Wall it was different.  It was hard to get a handle on what I was feeling.  It took the first hike to the highest watch tower to clarify what I was feeling.  I think my initial feeling was one of disbelief.  I stood there at the very top of highest watch tower thinking to myself, "Never in my wildest dreams as a kid or a young adult did I ever think I would ever do anything like this."  You know, I am a very goal oriented person and I believe that it is important to have goals to reach your dreams and to be successful, but I can honestly say that standing on The Great Wall was never on my list until I got to China.  The next thing I felt was grateful. I then closed my eyes and said a prayer of thanks.  I thanked God for giving me the opportunity to stand on one of the greatest man made objects ever produced in human history.  I then felt joy, because not only was I standing on the highest point of The Great Wall, but my family was with me as well.  How could it get much better than that?  Even the bad Beijing pollution couldn't ruin the experience for us.  Let's see now, that is two of the eight Modern Day Wonders of The World Down.  Where should we go next?  Claire says, "Brazil to see Christ The Redeemer and to watch her play on the 2016 Olympic Women's Golf Team."  I like her thinking, a daughter after her old man's heart.
  After buying many cheesy souvenirs, like hats and t-shirts, we headed back to Beijing by bus and metro.  Our trip back wasn't nearly as exciting.  We returned to the hotel, had dinner and then Cecelia and I promptly had massages together.  Come on, even fine tuned athletes get massages after competing!!!
  By the way, remember the missing number 68 bus.  Apparently they have stopped service from the metro station.  They had changed within the last month.  So, ha I wasn't lost.
   Now, we will be frantically packing up, going to good bye parties and taking care of the little things that need to be done before we head for Xian.
  Enjoy the rest of the story in pictures and have a great week!!!  The Great Wall of China - Juyongguan Section