hello dali

we just returned from spending a couple days up in beautiful dali. we took the 7 (was actually 9) hour day train on the way there, and soaked up the gorgeous scenery on the way. we rumbled through countless tunnels, practiced chinese with fellow passengers that we were cozily seated next to, ate noodle bowls (of course), and played some handheld yahtzee. it was a great way to start our exit from busy city to relaxing dali. our guesthouse was nestled between the cangshan mountains and the enormous erhai lake. a close walk to the (touristy, but inviting) old town of dali made our place just perfect. we are certain we found the best breakfast (a bakery run by a german woman), and the best pizza we've had yet in china. to be honest, we did not have a single meal there that was not western! the options were so great we just had to indulge. the weather was impeccable our first day there, so we rented bikes and leisurely made our way down to the shores of the lake. it could not have been a better day. any direction we looked held a view worthy of a framed photo...we could hardly capture it. of course, jon also dragged me along on some shopping time, and we found countless cups of yunnan coffee to keep us going. time well spent.

chewing the fat

most of you have heard the phrase, "chewing the fat". for me, the phrase used to conjure up images of friends sitting around at a coffee shop discussing issues and talking about life. since living in china, the phrase has taken on a new and much more literal meaning.  it takes some getting used to as evidenced by the pictures of elissa and me enjoying a pork barbecue with friends. the longer we're here, though, the more our culinary boldness increases.  lately, we have found ourselves eating more hot pot and tofu, more spicy lamb kebobs and lotus pudding, more duck and chicken parts, more bitter roots and mystery stuffed dumplings.  and as we frequent more street-side restaurants, i'm beginning to realize, there's a reason why people eat this stuff...most of it's pretty darn good! 

the garden of kunming

most of our days here are filled with studying chinese, meeting with people, prepping for our next english lesson or just taking the extra time it requires to get normal things done here in china...but last friday, we had a little bit of time to go out and enjoy a fun site in kunming - the Expo Garden. flowers everywhere, a fantastic bonsai garden that even mr. miyagi would appreciate, and dozens of wonderful little corners to sit and enjoy the great day together in kunming. jon especially enjoyed the beautiful hanging baskets (see photo). and it didn't even rain...until we got home.

cheapa

although it is quickly becoming more and more expensive to live in china, there are some things that are still so cheap that i do a double-take every time i hear the price.  take for instance this bunch of flowers that elissa is holding.  these 3 dozen roses put a real dent in my wallet at a whopping 8 yuan! (that's a buck twenty-five for those of you without a currency converter handy.) at that price every man can be a hero!  Anyway, in case you're interested, here's some other notable cheap stuff...

big dinner for 2 with plenty of leftovers - 4 dollars

one hour hair wash, head massage and haircut - 2 bucks

new pair of kicks - 5 big ones

16oz Coke - 35 cents

cab ride across town - 2 big d's

tenwest english camp

Originally, we were going to bring a team over here to run this camp, but since that didn't work, we basically had 3 teachers, and the two of us to run the whole sha-bang. so jon and two other american guys shared the classroom teaching, while i managed all the afternoon & evening activities (of course i recruited jon as my sidekick).  with our past castaway camp and youth camp experiences to glean from, we created some memorable moments for the kids - our own tenwest olympic games, an afternoon of relay races, and of course an amazing race around camp. we also had a movie night, a game night and a chinese favorite, the talent show - complete with fashion show of the guys dressed in the girls clothes...very interesting. the weather cooperated every day, and it only rained our last day there. we are so thankful for some small seeds that were planted as well - and hope to maintain those relationships. 

 

  

tenwest

picture with me for a minute, if you will...large stones as chairs, old cardboard boxes balancing on knees as desktops, no chalk boards or projectors and early morning classes by candlelight ...this is NOT tenwest! Many of you have been here, so you can picture the big orange logo outside the door, those blue desks that threaten to bust every time you sit down, and the packed elevator on the way up to the 20th floor. So for those of you that haven't seen, here are some pics of the place we teach our english class every thursday morning. (pics: views from the bottom, view from the 20th floor, and my fav student. her english name is Go-Go, after her favorite chinese cartoon character. she is actually albert's niece.) it's a wonderful facility and we love our students!

 

taxi

after teaching last night at tenwest, liss and i were just planning on taking a regular taxi home, but when we walked out of the building there were a bunch of three wheeled motor scooter cabs there.  it had been a while since we'd seen one and it only took us a second to remember that these are the little things that make living here an adventure.  So we agreed on a price with the driver and off we went on what basically amounts to a garden cart pulled behind a motorcycle.  I was giving our driver the benefit of the doubt when at first he took a different route than i would have, but then when we took the freeway on-ramp, I knew it was time to spring to action!  i told him to turn around and that i knew the way.  He agreed and quickly turned us around and headed back down the on-ramp in the dark playing chicken with real cars!  Our little adventure was really seeming like a bad idea...and it only got worse when he went back up the off-ramp on the other side and hit a biker at the top.  No biggie though.  we just kept plugging away and eventually made it home safely.  just got us thinking though...maybe the regular taxis here are adventurous enough.