Muslim Noodles

I may not be Muslim but I love their food! 

All over China but traditionally in the North, noodles are a huge part of their cuisine. You may think that Chinese people always eat rice but that is a big mistake. In the past the cold weather in the north only allowed for one crop of rice so they used other crops that could survive the harsh climate to fill in the growing season.

Now for some reason Chinese Muslims are well-known for their noodle-making. There is at least one noodle shop in every cafeteria on our campus. The most basic noodle dish is a noodle soup like my friend on the left has. 

Spring Time

Even downtown Nanchang can be a beautiful place in the Spring. Although it is undergoing a huge facelift right now with a new subway system in the works its parks are still a decent place to go. If you're looking for green grass well keep going to the outer reaches of the city but for a good time out of the crowds there is a new coffee shop where this picture was taken and it is really nice. There's a bunch of Starbucks shops coming but this is the first one that has a feel of a Western place.

Nanchang: the city of Love!

As common as this is...

...this is not!

(from www.guardian.co.uk)

While I was out of town Nanchang was flooded with one of the worst floods in a long time. I heard that the main shopping street became a fisherman's paradise and that people were walking away with 10+ fish from the flooded business area. 

(from www.guardian.co.uk)

Find the full story here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/20/china-devastated-floods

Pizza family

My friend and his little guy came over to make pizza. He has been wanting to learn how to make pizza and the next day was his Birthday so I was able to send him home with two full pizzas even after we ate lunch together. 

Tiger Kingdom

In Chiang Mai, Thailand there is a place where you can get in the cage with Tigers. 

Although they are sleepy, being nocturnal animals, they are not sedated. It was amazing to 

be next to such powerful creatures. Even the smallest tigers seemed to have a killer's mentality.

Hand to paw ratio was about 1 to1 on these little guys!

I loved the intensity of their eyes.

Caught a tiger by its tail!

How would you like to have that beast starring you down in the wild, 

or the Tiger for that matter?

Spring Festival Traditions

Isaac's older brother introduced to me the tradition of putting up new 

doorway "well wishes", red ones, of course!

Their mom got in on the festivities between cleaning and cooking for the big day. She changes into these comfortable and warm pajamas when doing house work. We were all wearing long johns since there's no indoor heat. They keep the windows open too. Still trying to figure that out but I think it has something to do with an obsession with fresh air.

Then we went back to their home in their old hometown. Here is where all their relatives live. 

We went to all the Uncles and Aunts' homes to deliver gifts. Each time we would drink tea, eat snacks, and chat for about 10 minutes. Then we would leave.

The CCTV Spring Festival Gala

Almost every Chinese family will watch the Spring Festival Gala on New Year's Eve.  I'm not sure what the US does on this night but for the Chinese it is somewhat of a Superstar SNL. A lot of huge name people will do skits and they end up being really funny and well done. I'm sure some flop but I could hardly understand most of them and they were funny for me to watch.
This is one of the more artistic performances that aired.
Peacock Dance

I just landed in Chaing Mai, Thailand today after having the unique experience of spending the Spring Festival and the preceding two weeks with a good friend down near Xiamen, China. I was able to experience a lot of the traditions and some family life as well. 

One of the traditions in China for Spring Festival is to go back to your hometown, which here means your family's origin basically. It's the town that all your relatives live in and that only began to change slightly in the equivalent of our Baby Boomer Generation (after 1978-ish) and much more now that everyone is migrating to mega-cities for work.

Xiamen is across from Taiwan and they say you can see some of its islands on very clear days. I never have. Isaac's hometown is a fishing town traditionally and every meal I ate had some kind of seafood in it. This is a short walk from his old house. They have a new house in the city and kept the one that his parents originally owned here in their hometown. 

There are still bits and pieces of gorgeous beach here but just behind the camera is a nasty mess of mined stone and which has completely destroyed most of this beautiful beach.

We met and walked about a 1/2 mile on a pier that protected the stone-mining bay with Isaac's classmate from his middle school days. They were #1 and #2 in their class back in the day.

That concluded our first visit to the "Old home." We were lucky to catch it on such a clear day because almost the entire two weeks were rainy or foggy.

Similar to a Mexican ciesta, the Chinese have a "xiuxi" and it 

inspires treadmill salespersons in the strangest ways 

Shocking Culture

The BK Bull was a hit with the tourists. 

I didn't even know there was such a thing!

I steer clear of sausage with the name brand "Yu Run."

Babel

As part of a team-building exercise my classes tried to build the tallest freestanding tower with limited supplies. I took this opportunity to take some pictures of the wonderful people I get to teach.

Some worked pretty well together

Most enjoyed themselves

and a few excelled

Insights Into A Moral Vacuum

"How can I be proud of my China if we are a nation of 1.4bn cold hearts?"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/22/china-nation-cold-hearts

The biggest story in China right now. Articles on this story received millions of comments on weibo.com - China's microblog - in a few days following the news report which showed a two-year-old run over and ignored by passers-by via surveillance video. This article is by a Chinese journalist in Beijing but writing for a British paper.

People...

Cultural Gifts

When you've lived here for 11 years 

sometimes you just get Maoed

City Life

For the Chinese National Holiday everyone has a week off. A group of us decided to go south to Fujian province for the week to see a student's hometown and the city of Xiamen. Xiamen is right next to Taiwan on the mainland and is very clean compared to Nanchang and full of charm.

The new 南昌 (Nanchang) airport which looks "Shanghai nice."Nanchang is getting a major face lift because it is hosting the 7th China City Games

Xiamen at Night

Picture This:

You're on the beach with your spouse-to-be hamming it up for the photographer, trying on different outfits, and having a great time. It's sweet, right? Even romantic. 

Then you look over your shoulder and there's 50 other couples doing the same thing and tourists (like myself) taking in the whole beach frenzy as you smile and pose.

The true mark of any developed city in China = Starbucks

Sports

An over dramatic, heavily sarcastic "Boom!!!" has become one of my favorite inside jokes. Whenever you need to DOMINATE something you just gotta say it.

Our newest expat teacher is a basketball lover and that is great news for me. It's so nice to have someone to play with who can understand your thoughts on the basketball court. It is actually very diffusing for emotions on the court just to have someone who has a similar understanding of the game.

 

 

"Ultimate!"

Circle Tour

This Summer I was able to take a trip around Lake Michigan on my motorcycle. It was a little nerve racking at first because it was my first long trip on my bike but I settled down eventually and the weather cleared up. I was able to get out there and have a little adventure, see places I've never seen, and have a sense of freedom that is impossible when borrowing a vehicle.

Fort Mackinac

 

Mackinaw Bridge From the Lower Peninsula

 

From the UP

 A beautiful little Town in the UP on top of a hill.

 

Same Town - Town Hall

 

My Ride. I didn't have to wait for traffic to clear here. In fact, I dismounted to relieve myself, turned around and saw my bike in the waning light and decided to take a pic. I didn't see a car for the 5+ minutes I was there. That was typical of this road's traffic.

 

First sight of Lake Superior 

 

Duluth/Superior - Still a Shipping town

 

Wisconsin - I don't feel like any of my pictures did it justice but the greenery and clean countryside feel to Wisconsin was very beautiful to take in.

 

The Mississippi's Humble beginnings

 

Americana

 

 

My first stop was Roseau MN for a wedding. One of my colleagues from Nanchang was getting married so it was like a Nanchang reunion. This was the rehearsal dinner.

  

Amazing soil in Roseau

 

Only 10 minutes from the border Michael and I went to experience some stereotypical Canadian breakfast.

Merrilee and her man Aaron.

 

The Nanchang Crowd

 

Next stop was the Twin Cities. Goofing around with Kristen - a Nanchang friend as well - and eating Camel Burgers.

 

After Minneapolis I stopped taking pictures but I had a really good time in Chicago with a great friend from my Hillsdale days. This trip was like water to my soul just from the places I was able to see and the people I was able to spend time with.