Chinaman in China: 2006

I thought common sense was a universal thing, but clearly it's not...

1. Push the button for either up or down and then move quickly towards the elevator door.
2. Stand directly in front of the elevator door, and wait until it stops on your floor.
3. The instant the door opens, walk directly into the crowd of people who are trying to get out.
4. Say something like "ai yo!" as one of the exiting people bumps into you.
5. Wonder for a while about why that person ran into you.
6. Despite others who are riding the same elevator with you, hold the door open for your friend, who is about 100 meters away.
7. Talk as loudly as you can, even though it's a small, enclosed space.

This may be a bit of an exaggeration, since I've never personally experienced all of these together in one elevator ride. However, for those of you who have been to China, you know what I'm talking about...

THE ROUTINE

Taught at Aston 2 (left and right), where all the cool teachers were. When it was warm out, we'd go out for some chuarn and shao bing during our lunch break (bottom). Otherwise, it'd be hong shao qie zi (红烧茄子) and hong shao rou (红烧肉) for lunch every weekend.

I'll never forgot those damn annoying kiddie songs that would wake me up at 7 AM when school was in session (left). Same music every day. Do not live next to a school in China.
When trying to be more health conscious, we would hit the weights at the Black Horse gym (right).

Coffee Club Express right down the street from our apartment (left). Spent many afternoons there studying Chinese. Coffee for 12 kuai and excellent tuna fish sandwiches. Sometimes, we would cruise around on our sweet rides (right).

Most Wednesday nights were still spent at Weiwei's (top left). Other nights were spent at the bowling alley (top right), Lan Gui Fang (middle left), the Pyramid (middle right), at a KTV (bottom left), drinking zhapi (draft beer) somewhere in the city (bottom right), or a combination of the above.

A common after-class activity was drinking and playing cards outside of Aston 1 (bottom).

Many group dinners (left). Half of our days were probably spent eating, or at least thinking about where and what to eat. Found a lot of weird stuff, including something that was later termed Whale Anus (right). Will never forget about that All-you-can-eat off the menu Japanese restaurant for 88 kuai.

Plenty of nights were also spent playing Beruit (below). At least we got some use out of the ping pong table.

TIMELINE

2003 started off a little hazy, having spent the end of the previous night puking outside of O'Malleys and then polishing off a plate of nachos at Badlands. Finally went to Qianfoshan (Thousand Buddha Mountain). Then came along one of the best days in Jinan. Live fish in the afternoon (left) followed by 6 hamburgers and a small coke each at McDonald's (right).

Spent Spring Festival in Hefei. Then off to Beijing and Harbin (below). Harbin: -30 to -40 Celcius.

Dog hot pot again with a much larger crowd. You don't want to know (left). Later on, went to KTV and Rick kicked some guy down the stairs for knocking over his kid. Chinese vs. Foreigners brawl almost erupted. A few teachers were hit with sticks. Mustache contest going on at the time. Patch missing on Chris's 'stache. Ha.

Had a week off between semesters. Hainan (left). Lizard on a stick. Free upgrade to the suite. Didn't win a hand for about an hour and a half while playing HK Poker. Sad. Welcome dinner for new teachers (right). Two kegs that night and lots of mushrooms soaked in wasabi.

Moved to a new apartment in Foshanyuan with Christopher (below).

Chengde trip to see some temples and then a stopover in Tianjin on the way back. Snuck into the soft sleepers, got caught, and then bribed them to let us stay.

Inner Mongolia trip during SARS (below). Someone reported that Christopher was coughing on the train. Temperatures checked after getting off. Doctors advised we be taken to the hospital. David arrived on a different train. Refused to pay for a taxi for David to follow us to the hospital. David hopped in the ambulance and got quarantined with us. Testing was done. Doctors said there was something wrong with one of us. Uh oh. Later said there was no problem. Finally off to catch the stream train. Hired a taxi and drove for a few hours. Hole in the road. Thought we were gonna flip. Saw the train pulling out as we got to the station.

May Day trip to Shanghai. Train was wicked empty since it was during SARS. Jesse and Alice's wedding outside of Dezhou (right). Very talented guy in the band who could play an instrument while smoking 4 cigs from his nose (left).

Party at Jason's dad's new restaurant (below). The guy can drink.

June trip home after 17 straight months in China. Taco Bell (left)! Went to see Weiwei's newborn: Mi Le (right).

Another live fish dinner (below).

Annual beer festival in Jinan.

July 4th weekend trip down to Shanghai. Barely made it down cause half the country's trains were delayed due to flooding.

First customers in the door for the opening of the 1st Pizza Hut in Jinan. Soeren arrives in Jinan for the summer intensive. Introduced him to balls on a stick (left). Tour of the Baotuquan Brewery. Qufu and Taishan trip with Patti (right).

Dinner with Anny and Sophie and then bowling (left). This is where it all started with Anny. Shaolin Temple (bottom) weekend trip with Chris and Matt. No seats on the way there. Paid to sit in the dining car for the night (right).

Went to Dafotou searching from some special grass. He's a botanist and just explaining what kind of plant he is holding (top left). Went to Qingdao (top right) for the Beer Festival (bottom right). Bill bought himself a nice gift (bottom left).

Trip to Kaifeng (top left), Zhangjiajie (top right), Changsha, Guilin, Yangshou (middle left and right, bottom left), and the Longsheng Rice Terraces (bottom right).

National Day trip with Anny. Beijing (top left), Changchun (top right), Changbai Shan (middle left), Dandong (middle right), really close to North Korea (bottom left), Dalian (bottom right).