Fire Emblem

The much-awaited(?) gigantic final post has arrived, wherein I dump all of the stories and pictures I haven't shown you yet!

First order of business: We saw the Olympic torch as it came through Qingdao! In order to get a good spot, we woke up before 5 so we could leave the dorm as soon as they unlocked the doors at 5:30.

We weren't the only ones.



The intersection immediately in front of campus was one of the major gathering points to view the relay, and so there was plenty of entertainment to keep folks busy until the torch came through.



And the videotape, featuring the voices of the lovely Lisa and the enchanting Jessica:
http://picasaweb.google.com/GandalftheCrazed/FireEmblem/photo#5236421143261120930

Unfortunately, it turns out that getting up early was largely pointless, as the sidewalks had been divided into sections reserved for those businesses and organizations which had sponsored certain aspects of the Olympics. After a short time of pretending "we don't speak Chinese, what are you saying?", we were gradually moved further and further down the sidewalk by police until we ran across a group who took pity on us and allowed us to stand in one corner of their reserved section.

Then the waiting game began. It was a few hours long, but I don't remember exactly how many.

Some of us were industrious and studied:



Others read Kurt Vonnegut:



Still others stood around in boots with nothing to do because their so-called "friend" had stolen a certain Kurt Vonnegut book from them. For shame, Miss Dickson.

Then the precursors to the torch began to arrive.

Because nothing says "Olympics" quite like a Coca-Cola themed truck featuring dancing Chinese people wearing Ronald McDonald wigs.



And finally came the big moment. The big moment of which I largely have no record because approximately a bazillion Chinese people materialized out of thin air between me and the torch, each of them carrying a flag about the size of the Chrysler building. Through the crowd, I managed one semi-decent shot, where "semi-decent" is defined as "the torch is visible".



Here ends the tale of the Olympic torch.

In China, the 4th of July is the best of times, and it's the worst of times. On the one hand, it's an excuse for all of us to get together, throw a party, and speak and sing English as much as we want without feeling guilty that we're not studying.



The original plan was for us to take a grill and some hot dogs to the beach, where we would light fireworks, sing, and generally party like it's 2009. But then it rained.

So we ended up going to The Duzi with a grill and some hot dogs, where we lit fireworks, sang, and generally partied like it was 2009. We filled all of their back room, most of their front room, and spilled out the front of the building to man the grill. We sang The Star-Spangled Banner and Hey Jude, among other songs that I don't remember.



Never before have so many given so much for such a terrible-tasting hot dog. Seriously, the degree of planning and price-comparing that went into choosing and procuring these pieces of garbage was matched only by the degree to which they were different from anything American.
Ironically, the Chinese students who attended the celebration didn't like them either. I can only assume that somewhere, there exists an alien species which considers Shineway brand meat sticks to be a delicacy.

Fortunately, we had other Americanisms to take the place of hot dogs. Of course, even they required slight improvisation:



(Yes, Virginia, that is a chopstick.)

Speaking of improvisation, one night we decided to make cookies. We (meaning, Natalie) made the dough, but lacked an oven. Fortunately, we (meaning, Miles) had just the thing:

A wok.



Like me, they weren't much to look at, but had excellent taste. Given that they were cookies from a wok, we decided to dub them "wookiees". Yes, like the guy from Star Wars.

I realized that I haven't yet posted a picture of my tutor, Wendy.



Here she is, in all her blurry glory (I swear, she has some sort of anti-camera field around her) at our favorite ice cream/milk tea place. (She practically refused to smile for the camera. I think it's a Chinese thing, kinda.)

In the States, we often joke about street signs, like the infamous "SLOW children at play". As it turns out, China has a pretty well-known version of this joke, which I unwittingly posted last year.



The intended meaning of this sign is, "Be careful, don't slip". However, the lower left character has (at least) two pronunciations and two corresponding meanings. If you interpret it the wrong way, the sign reads, "Slide carefully."

I think I've reached some new threshold of nerdiness by telling this joke.

Immediately before returning home, several of us traveled to Beijing for the weekend to experience the Olympics. We took the night train, a nine hour ride. For some reason, the train staff refused to change the channel on the onboard TV sets so we could watch the opening ceremonies. Not to worry, though, because we periodically received text messages from our classmates back in Qingdao, assuring us that we were missing the best opening ceremony in the history of awesomeness.

Such good friends.

Instead, we passed the time by playing cards, daring each other to befriend the girls in the next row, and sleeping under the seats.



This is the apartment that we stayed in for the weekend. All five of us. Later, we were informed by some guys who lived in the same building that we had been ripped off, which I have no trouble believing, though it served our purposes well enough.

For the more observant of you, yes that is exactly what it looks like, and believe me, there is no better way to make a 3-guy, 2-girl living situation slightly awkward.

The girls went to watch gymnastics on Saturday, while Kennedy, McDaniel and I went to the Temple of Heaven.



(Where's Waldo? Kennedy is in this shot.)

The temple grounds are absolutely ginormous. They're probably not bigger than you can imagine, but they're bigger than you will imagine. While exploring these grounds, we came across a grove that looked like something out of a movie -- flawless rippling grass, exquisitely placed trees. We stepped over the barely-even-a-fence and went wandering. About halfway across the field, we stopped under a tree to rest and take in the scenery. Kennedy said, "You know what this spot would be good for?"

And that is the story of how I came to take the best nap of my entire life, on ground where emperors have trod.



We wandered the back streets and residential alleyways of Beijing that night, and ate Peking Duck, which is every bit as good as its reputation would suggest. The next day, we hopped on a plane, which brought us to Chicago a full hour before we had even departed.

If I was interested in defending my reputation, I would simply tell you how good it felt to be back in the land of the free and the home of the brave, or about how impatient I was to make the last leg of the trip to Memphis and rejoin my family. In reality, while those things are true, two other things were and are also at the front of my mind: Mt. Dew, and China.

The first thing I did after we cleared customs and security at O'Hare was to seek out a drink stand which carried large bottles of Mt. Dew. I was about to approach the cashier and ask for one, when panic struck: "I don't know the Chinese word for Mt. Dew!!!"

"Oh, wait. They speak English here."

(Ironically, the cashier had a thick Indian accent and slightly curious grammar.)

As for why China is still at the front of my mind...the reality is that it's a home to me now. Maybe not home-home, but also more than a "home away from home." The language, the architecture, the crazy T-shirts, the food (and food prices), all of it is just ingrained into me now, like sweet tea. I'm hoping to go back next summer, but plans are sketchy right now. Until then, I'll just have to say...


Home

Sweet

Home.

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Hey, I ain't dead yet. ;-) I apologize for the lack of posts in the past...week? 2 weeks? I don't even know. Finals will do that to a guy. In any case, there /will/ be another post here.

Just not right now. I'll probably be home before I get it put together. It'll be the last one, and it (hopefully) will be huge.

Just, uh, not right now. ;-)

Silent Hill

There is a post which should have been written between this one and the previous one. I was planning a post last weekend, but have had trouble finding some pictures that I want/need for it. As soon as I get the pictures together, I'll write the post, which should cover the 4th of July and some other things. Until then, just pretend you're watching a Tarantino movie or something where the timeline is all twisted around.

We just got back from a trip to Mt. Tai and Confucius's hometown. The first day, what was supposed to be a 4-5 hour bus ride stretched to just over 7 hours, due to getting lost and ending up in a land of dirt roads and potholes large enough to nearly tip our bus over. Originally, the plan was for us to climb Mt. Tai that afternoon, but when we finally arrived we discovered that it had been closed for the day -- something about safety reasons, I think. Moving on to Plan B, we headed to a nearby temple.

As with all tourist locations here, the parking lot was home to several people in possession of English skills and cheap products, both of low quality. Of the products on sale at this specific parking lot, the most interesting was probably this man's:



Yes, that is a water bottle full of live scorpions. I forget how much he was charging for them. I'm pretty sure it was less than 1 American dollar. Briefly, I considered buying it, taking it back to the hotel with me, and leaving it open on the floor above ours. Kennedy, however, talked some sense into me -- wouldn't it be much smarter to release them on the floor below ours, instead? Kennedy is wise beyond his years.

Unfortunately, the problem with Chinese temples is that generally speaking, if you've seen one you've seen 'em all. I did manage to get some pretty cool pictures, though.




We spent the night in a nearby hotel. Not far from the hotel gate, there was a town square of sorts, which had been transformed for the night into a concert site and mini-beer-festival. The music was good, and from what I hear the beer was pretty good too.

The next morning, we went to the homes of Confucius and Mencius, famous Chinese philosophers.



Sightseeing and tourism has not had a good impact on China's historical landmarks. In an effort to make the locations convenient for tourism purposes, the government has added signs, fences and garbage cans everywhere. I got very few pictures of these places because I refuse to label a picture, "Ancient Chinese artifact, with trash can in background". One thing that doesn't seem to have changed is the wildlife.



These guys were everywhere. And when I say everywhere...



...I mean everywhere.

That afternoon, we finally made our way to Mt. Tai.



In China, there are 5 mountains that are considered to represent the various regions of the country -- North, South, East, West, and central. Mt. Tai is the Eastern one, and is associated in Daoism with sunrise, birth and renewal.

What's that? No, of course I didn't look at Wikipedia.

This emphasis on sunrise and new beginnings is one reason why one of the most common tourist activities at Mt. Tai is viewing the sunrise from the mountain's highest peak. Unfortunately, such viewings are most often undertaken in the autumn, when the air is clear. Given the amount of fog and just generally bad weather, the tourguides and teachers decided we would not be staying the night on the mountain.

But we climbed anyway.



It's just that we didn't make it to the top.



I mean, a mile's a long way to climb to see some fog, you know? I vow to return with a friend some autumn and conquer the mountain. Now accepting applications.

I have a video of the drive back down the mountain, but for some reason I can't get it to work. I'll post it another time if I can figure out what's wrong. All I have to say is: Tower of Terror, eat your heart out.

The next morning, we went to a kite factory.



As the first order of business, we were "taught" how to make clay birds for decoration. A play-by-play of my bird's development:






I think I must agree with the sentiment Miles expressed: If I ever, ever see a bird that looks like this in the wild, I will kill it with fire as quickly as possible to keep it from influencing the gene pool. It's part of being a good steward, you know, like pulling weeds out of your garden.

After creating these foul fowls, we moved on to kite-making.




I painted it myself ("Which explains a lot," I hear you thinking). The characters written around the edge are pronounced "I ren roo jee", the Chinese translation of the Golden Rule. Apparently, the lines and the yin-yang are supposed to have deep symbolic meaning and the colors you choose flow from that meaning. I found this out after I had already painted mine in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles colors. I wonder what that says about me, spiritually.

Before leaving, we checked out the gift shop.




Then we returned to Qingdao, and it was amazing how much it felt like coming home.

Prayer points for those of you who pray:

-I'm sick now, for like the 3rd or 4th time since I got here. Nothing serious, just sinus trouble and such, but it's enough that I'm running a fever. I don't know why I'm getting sick so often this time...I was never really sick last summer. The teacher is convinced that I am a frail creature, which I suppose is preferable to her thinking I'm intentionally skipping class.

-Several students here have had trouble with mold invading their rooms. It's causing coughs and such, but is really more of a nuisance than anything else -- usually. One girl almost lost several hundred dollars' worth of possessions because her air-conditioner broke while we were away last weekend, and the mold took up residence on everything...clothes, shoes, belts, her computer, everything. Fortunately, the cleaners at Jusco were able to take care of all the clothing items. (I'm pretty sure my sickness is not mold-related, because I haven't seen any in our room.)

-The Chinese government is continuing to "clean things up" prior to the Olympics. Generally speaking, this means making sure the trash-collectors are working hard, cleaning the monuments, etc. However, it also apparently means a few other things -- like dealing with the homeless people in the city, and I know of at least one international church which was forced to give up its meeting location. Pray that God's will would be done in the various related situations.

-"If necessary, use words."



(P.S. Anne -- because I know you're reading this -- I have a present for you, and I can't wait to get home and give it to you.)

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

I know I haven't been posting that many pictures. This is due to the fact that I haven't been taking any pictures, which is in turn due to the fact that nothing has happened which was sufficiently different from last year to warrant taking pictures.

That changed this week, however, with our trip to Laixi, a "small town" of "only" 700,000 people.



The goal of the trip was to introduce us to the urban-rural differences in China. To this end, we visited two elementary schools and a factory, as well as participating in town-square activities.




At the first school, all the children ran to the windows to watch us arrive, waving and smiling excitedly. You'd think we were rockstars or something, but the reality is just that "Waiguoren", or foreigners, are a spectacle just about anywhere you go here. It's good to be interesting for a change.





Immediately after we arrived, we were treated to a series of presentations by the students, showcasing elements of Chinese traditional culture. Or so I'm told -- I understood about 1% of what the kids were saying. It's depressing to realize that after spending most of my time for the past two years on studying this language, I'm still getting completely schooled (literally) by little kids. I mean, even their handwriting is better than mine.

Then again, that's probably true in America too.

We were paired off with the students to make crafts. My "little friend" (a literal translation of how elementary students are referred to here):




And the crafts he gave to me:



Incidentally, he was also better at these things (calligraphy-style painting and decorative knot-tying) than I am. Apparently, Chinese kids just win everything.

To further prove this point, we went out to the schoolyard and played various games. The first of these games was something like a cross between Musical Chairs and Hot Potato. One player would sit in the middle of the circle and play a drum while the other players passed around an embarrassingly pink bouquet of flowers. When the drum stopped, whoever held the flowers had to sing a song or dance a little.



Oh, the shame of defeat. Poor Miles. On the plus side, we did manage to win a game of netless volleyball. There are nasty rumors circulating that this victory was due to our team being composed entirely of male college students and the only boy from the elementary school, versus a bunch of 4th-grade girls. These rumors are, of course, entirely true unfounded.

For the remainder of the day, we just wandered around the town, experiencing daily life there. We learned a few things:

1. Goats are disapproving of people, generally speaking.



2. Laixi is not a good place to look for a girlfriend.



These two signs declare that it is the entire society's responsibility to be aware of AIDS, and to take steps to combat it. The signs were hanging from a lightpole on a busy street. Apparently Laixi is a dirty place in more ways than one.

(We ate dinner right under these signs.)

3. The only thing more interesting than Waiguoren is Waiguoren dancing. Or maybe a bear-sized dog.




Speaking of dancing, when we first arrived on the town square, it was occupied by a gigantic conga line of sorts. Group dancing and other such activities are a regular part of Chinese nightlife -- it's not uncommon to see groups of elderly locals participating in synchronized exercises in the evening, both in Laixi and in Qingdao.



Kennedy and Andre got in on the act too:




The next morning, we visited a Nestle milk processing factory. To be honest, it was pretty much one of the least interesting things I've done in my life (which is saying something), except getting to see these flags next to each other:



Afterwards, we went to another elementary school. This one was further out in the countryside than the first, and had less advanced facilities.



(A countdown to the Olympics. It's hard to believe they're that close, especially because we're returning to the States right after they begin.)

The board at the back of the room instructs the students to study hard, cherish life, and welcome the Olympics, among other things.

The group I was with sat in on a few minutes of the students' music class, during which we were treated to a Chinese song to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne". We were then invited to sing a verse of an American song in return; we chose the first verse of "The Star-Spangled Banner", and wondered if that song had ever been sung anywhere near Laixi before.

We had a lot of fun.




Back in town, if not home,
Nathan

P.S. Andre, another one of the students here, has a blog as well. He hasn't updated it in a while, but he said he might pretty soon. If you're interested: http://tzeltal.blogspot.com

P.P.S. Kung-Fu Panda was fun, and has amazing graphics.

P.P.P.S. The above blogpost was not written in a single sitting, due to the fact that I went next door to McDonald's to meet the USA Olympic Men's Sailing team. We gave them our contact information in case they needed extra translators, and discussed getting together sometime to play frisbee and shop for DVDs. It is a pretty cool time to be in China. :-)