我不忙

In my blog I try to limit the stories and descriptions to the most interesting ones for the sake of space; not because I don't love to write, but because I think I will lose my extensive reader base if I bore them to death with details. I've noticed that I mostly tell stories though, and that it's difficult to fully grasp the environment itself. Obviously, I cannot possibly describe the surroundings well enough for you to truly understand, but I will attempt to give you a glimpse.

A vast array of sights, smells, and sounds assail your senses in China. Since China is the most populated country on earth, it's natural to expect a sea of people everywhere you go. Perhaps something I should have associated with so many people and so much walking is the sight of umbrellas, but the idea never occurred to me. In the rain, this makes sense, although I did not dream I would see so many everywhere I looked. But maybe one of the funniest things I've seen are the countless umbrellas in the sunshine. You see, while you are paying $30 a month for skin cancer that you think is attractive, the Chinese are running away from the sun rays like they are contagious. Women buy whitening cream and hide from every drop of sun. They are constantly complimenting me on my beautiful white skin, something I don't cherish very much. I find mirth in watching a Chinese girl run from shadow to shadow to avoid being touched by the deathly rays. Lucky for them it's not an every day issue, since the sun seems to be as scared of showing itself as they are of seeing it.

You can walk up and down any street swaying to horribly off-key karaoke and holding your breath when you pass the fried tofu stands. Students swear to me that the tofu tastes great, but I can't master the art of getting it near my nose. For those of you fellow Edmondites or OCers reading this blog, you understand well the dog food smell that constantly wafts through the city on a hot summer day. Well believe it or not, that is NOT one of the things I miss about Oklahoma (though admittedly that list is small). Somebody upstairs must have thought it would make me feel more at home to bring that smell to China though. Elizabeth and I were not overjoyed to discover that reminder of our college days.

After class this morning, Elizabeth and I went to Beishan Life supermarket, in an attempt to buy enough that we can avoid going grocery shopping every day, like we have been doing up until now. I've given up on trying to stay away from the supposedly tainted food I hear about on a regular basis. First it was milk, then it was oranges, now eggs. I refuse to do without any of those things, so I might as well just ignore the warnings. I'm going to die one of these days, so bring on the melamine! Every time I neglect to carry my camera with me to the grocery store, I kick myself for it later. We discover something new every time. I saw sticks of cinnamon the size of my arm, pink squids, and one of my favorite sights today was the strawberry-flavored cheetos. I've tried blueberry chips, and some of the other strange flavors the Chinese love, but the strawberry cheeto is one adventure I think I'll pass on.

I just finished an awesome study with a really sweet girl I met at the coffee shop. We have a great King, don't we?

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

-J.R.R. Tolkien

爱爱爱

Homemade applesauce, French Toast, and a cappuccino for breakfast. Does life get any better?

Friday I spotted a pumpkin at the supermarket and snatched it up. It's been sitting on my counter taunting me since then, so I took a knife to it today. I spent nearly the whole day cutting, scooping, cooking, stirring, and baking. I had no idea it would take so long, but it was worth every ounce of energy I poured into it. I listened to Rick Atchley while I created so it was encouraging as well as satisfying work. The look on Zack's face when I brought pumpkin pie over would have made all the effort worthwhile even if it weren't my favorite food of all time.

Some Chinese friends came over, and we shared pie together before wandering to Restaurant Row to eat dinner. Zack and Elizabeth don't have an abundance of Western eating utensils, so I ate my pie with a knife. I think that made it even more gratifying. Pumpkin pie straight out of the oven just may be the key to my heart. For all of you gentlemen dying to know how to win my affection, now you know. It's very possible to get a picture that I'm an extreme glutton by reading my blog. Well before that rumor festers into fact, let me just admit it. I am. Food is my weakness as you can tell.

We didn't have enough self-control to wait until afterwards to try the pie. Besides, my great-grandma lived a long and happy life by eating dessert first. After a tasty hot pot, we went back to Zack and Elizabeth's where the girls taught us some calligraphy, my new hobby. All my life I've wanted to learn to write Chinese calligraphy so I was fascinated. While learning calligraphy Elizabeth had them write her favorite verse, and the conversation drifted to Important things. They ended up staying until 10:40 because we were having such a good discussion. I call that a successful day!

"Don’t ask so much what the world needs. Go out and do what makes you come alive, because what the world needs most are people who have come alive."
-Howard Thurman

马马虎虎

Since our classes were indeed cancelled on Friday Zack, Elizabeth, and I decided to go to Wuhan on a whim, just because we had the chance. I’m somewhat disappointed—though not surprised—that I wasn’t given more warning that I would have a five-day weekend (I never have classes on Monday or Tuesdays); I would have gone to Beijing or Enshi or somewhere exciting. I actually was informed the night before officially, unlike Zack and Elizabeth who received a text message at 6:45am saying, “No classes today, have a good day off.” I would have replied a bit sarcastically, thank goodness I wasn’t the recipient of such timely news.

Evidence of what a thorough planner I am will surface in a moment. We met at 7:30 to catch a taxi for our 8 o’clock bus only to be frustrated by the lack of taxis driving down Da Xue Luo early in the morning and by the time we got a poor fellow to pick us up we were frantically trying to communicate to him that we needed to boogey. I’m shouting “step on it” in English as if that will help. Zack, being the resident Chinese expert, told him that our bus left at 8 and he finally put the pedal to the metal. We quite literally threw a 10yuan bill at him as we sprinted toward our bus with about 10 seconds to spare. Once we were safely seated we breathed deeply and prepared to enjoy the roomy backseat left open for us. Zack and I had a conversation about how enjoyable it is to be on a bus. You are relieved from the pressures of feeling like you ought to be doing something. You are absolutely free to gaze through the dirt, out the window at the triangle hats that hide farmers knee deep in the rice paddies. You don’t need to feel the least bit guilty about reading a book for four hours, or writing to your sister as I happened to be doing (although I did a bit of all three). About an hour later we were completely rethinking the aforementioned description of “enjoyable.”

Our bus stopped and people started trickling off. I assumed we had stopped for a potty break. Soon, though, it became apparent that we were the only people staying on the bus. Not only was everyone exiting, but they were carrying all of their belongings with them. In China, when everybody else does something, it’s safe to assume that they’re all obeying instructions. The wise course of action is to copy them if you don’t understand a word, as in our case. So we load up our bags and stand outside. And stand. And stand. Roughly half an hour later another bus pulls up and our fellow passengers formed the usual “line” to get on. I held back at first, thinking the people who were already on that bus would need to get off. Oh how I regret that mistake! Since we were a little slow in joining the rush we didn’t have much of a choice in seats on an already crowded bus. That meant that Zack and Elizabeth got zero leg room behind two ladies who exercised their right to leaning the seats all the way back. While I—the one with short legs—had plenty of leg room but got squished between Zack and some guy who was apparently afraid of water judging by his smell.

After a very adventurous ride we made it to WuChang and I begin calling all the people I know who live in Wuhan to try to find a place to stay the night. You may think it was a bit crazy of me to head to a city and not even have sleeping arrangements made. And I would tend to agree. It wasn’t that I didn’t put any effort toward that tiny bit of planning, but none of my efforts had been rewarded hitherto. Katera and Lucy happened to be on their way to Hong Kong when I called them. Thankfully the second or third time I called David and Katie they answered and had room in their apartment and no plans for the weekend. Recklessness doesn’t always end in disaster, as we managed to find accommodations and make it alive to every destination we desired. It was an event-filled weekend that I could tell many more stories about, but since this post is already verging on ridiculous in length, I’ll end the story there. If you want to hear more ask.

Today I went over to Brad’s apartment and was surprised to find four people from Wuhan, one of them being a good friend Tara! She was next on my list of people to call if we still hadn’t found a place to rest our heads. I would have been pretty shocked to hear that she was in YiChang while I was in Wuhan. I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t know they were coming, because I would have loved to have spent time with them but maybe next time…

We went to the Indian cafeteria for lunch where I got to try eating Indian food with my hands for the first time. It was exquisite as Brad so appropriately described. I enjoyed the meal immensely. Later I went to the guo mao to stock up on groceries only to discover that butter has undeniably vanished! Brad had warned me that they couldn’t find it but I had been holding my hopes high that maybe it was just hidden somewhere. Perhaps they rearranged the store like they regularly do and it got covered by drinkable yogurt or questionable meat products. After a reasonably meticulous search I’ve resigned myself to the fact that it may indeed be gone. I really don’t know how to survive without butter in this town.

"It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases."

-Bono

二百十三元五

Today for lunch I had Zack, Elizabeth, and a new friend Lisa over. I made homemade maple syrup, and it was delicious! Who knew you could get so creative in this country? French toast has never tasted better!

I mailed in my absentee ballot yesterday, and it cost er bai shi san kuai wu (about $30) to mail that and a few postcards. For that much my vote better be the deciding vote! I expect a personal letter of gratitude when he becomes the next president. I'm only halfway kidding.

I always complain about how my students whisper the answers when I ask them a question, and I can never hear them. It can be really frustrating when I know they know the answer but no one will speak up. I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall instead of human beings. Well I will never complain about that again. Last week a student of mine decided to shout everything he said at the top of his lungs. I asked them to read some sentences out loud, and I could not control my laughter as he yelled out his answers the whole class period. I'm still not sure what came over him, but it was definitely my favorite class period.

Rumor has it I have no classes tomorrow because of a school-wide sporting event. That would be delightful considering I have 4 classes on Fridays, provided they don't make me make them up later...which is what will probably happen. I'm not counting my chickens until it's official though. Just because a student tells me we won't have class does not necessarily mean the administration agrees. I guess we'll see tomorrow.

"You've got mail"
Not just a great movie, but also three of the most joy-filled words I've ever heard. Last week I called Zack to see what they were doing for dinner, and he told me that my absentee ballot had arrived, along with a box. Since my mom has already sent me a box, I certainly wasn't expecting another one and I couldn't figure out who had sent it. When I got to his apartment I couldn't wait to tear into it, and found candles, popcorn, germ-x, granola bars, Reeses Pieces, Fair Trade Coffee!! ...and so many wonderful things, but maybe my favorite part...BOOKS! Not just any books but classics, like the Fellowship of the Ring, Kidnapped, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and several others. What a wonderful world we live in. I'm so grateful.

As I type someone is setting off fireworks, literally right under my window. I'm not talking about Black Cats, I'm talking about the giant, spidery ones that just set off about fifty car alarms. I feel like my apartment is going to fall down. I am wondering what the occasion is tonight. Perhaps it's in celebration of the dozen stars that dared to show their light tonight. It was the first time I've seen stars in China, and although they are few and far between, it warms me to see their light. Maybe someone else felt just as happy about it and decided to add more lights to the sky.

"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."
-Gandhi

晚安

This past week has been one giant bundle of awesomeness. The weather set the tone for everything else it seems, with 6 straight days of sunshine and blue skies. The kind of weather where you open every window in the house, and never have to get out a blanket or shed a layer. Simple perfection. I wore a skirt every day and wallowed in the fleeting beauty. I know that very soon I will be getting out my sweaters and scarves but until then I plan to revel in every moment of bliss. On top of that I made several new friends who are very curious about the best thing they could ever be curious about, so we met together to enjoy one another's company and learn. It was a great time and I'm looking forward to many more good discussions. Life is settling into a routine in a way, making things easier; yet staying varied enough to stave off boredom.

One of my favorite pasttimes is visiting a coffee shop near here, where I've discovered my niche. The owner is the leader of a local outdoors club, he backpacks, camps, rock climbs, and in essence does all the things I love. He has a ton of beautiful pictures all over the coffee shop and loves to share stories with me. Not only is that my ideal atmosphere, but I've met some amazing people there, many of whom turned out to be interested in much more. The stories I have, from just this week, blow my mind they are so incredible. Two months of China have not dulled me to the wonder of the people here. I'm still astonished by how easy it is to make friends, and start a conversation that leads to more study. People are so friendly, helpful, and perhaps more importantly, seeking meaning in life.

Okay I know that my other blog is reserved for my opinions and this one is supposed to be about my adventures in China, but I just can't help myself. I just finished watching the final debate, even though I've already filled out my absentee ballot but I just need to quote John McCain: "Americans are innocent victims of greed..."
I won't even dignify that comment with a response.

“The United Nations reports that over ten thousand people starve to death each day, and most of you don’t give a shit. However, what is even more tragic is that most of you are more concerned about the fact that I just said a bad word than you are about the fact that ten thousand people are going to die today.”

-Tony Campolo

安静

Nobody likes being alone, but it's even less desireable at meal times. I met a bunch of girls at English Village on Sunday, and we had supper together and then they came over and I taught them how to play Uno. I didn't have any lunch plans today so I asked them to eat with me again. Three turned into five, as they brought friends, and one even came over 2 hours before lunch to try to teach me Chinese. I'm afraid I wasn't a very good pupil but I'm trying! We had a great time eating together, and I impressed them all with my ability to eat spicy food without bursting into flames. After a huge fight over the bill I emerged triumphant I'm proud to say. That started a whirlwind of conversation because they didn't know what to do, so they settled for buying me a milk tea. An excellent compromise in my view. Then they wanted me to come back to their dorm room and teach them some American card games, so I introduced them to ERS. I think that's one game that's as interesting to watch as it is to play. We had loads of fun and I met all their roommates, and while we were talking one girl asked me what my major was. So I told them about both of my majors. That prompted a lot of questions and ended with them all wanting to come over to my apartment and learn more. So now I have a whole bunch of new friends who are going to be starting from square one and learning the most important thing they could learn. Be thinking about our time together please.

Requests:
Please remember our brothers and sisters in India right now.
The awesome girls I will be meeting with this week.
That my eyes will be open to opportunities.
Wisdom as I teach.

“What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?”

-George Elliot, Middlemarch

高兴

Bewilderment.

That is the only possible way to describe today.

A happy little tune began singing loudly in my ear. Its effect on me was anything but happy. Stubbornly refusing to open my eyes, I groped around in the dark for the source of my anger. Finally I managed to push the right button, eyes still tightly clamped shut. "Hello?"
"Katie?"
"Yes?"
"Katie Marshall have you get up?"
"Um...no..."
"Can you hurry and get up? I am waiting for you."
"What?"
"You said you would come to my birthday party today."
"Yeah, at noon."
"I know but we are ready now."
"Um, who's ready?"
"Everyone."
"Now?" (I'm a little slow in the mornings.)
"Yes. I am waiting for you outside."
Knowing that eventually I must resign myself to the decision my eyes snapped open to rest on the indiglo of my watch. 8am. Saturday. The birthday party was supposed to be lunch. Beginning at noon. It's 8 in the morning. Repeating these details to myself a few times doesn't seem to make things any clearer so I sigh and give in. I'm much too tired to argue. After hanging up I tell my muscles to begin the process of getting out of bed, but they don't respond. Sleep starts trying to overtake me again, I can feel its pull hanging on for dear life. The picture of Li Meng standing outside my apartment waiting for me suddenly appears in my mind and obediently my legs swing over the side of the bed. The wood floor could be a little warmer I think grouchily as I make my way into the kitchen and peer through the grease-laden window. Sure enough, there she is standing by the playground with her cell phone in her hand. No shower for me today I groan as I start sqeezing toothpaste onto the brush. A few groggy minutes later I start hopping down the four flights of stairs and I decide that I had better smile and enjoy today for her sake. After all, no one wants a grouchy friend at their party. So with cheerful being the name of the game I run out into the rain and hug her. Thankfully I had the wit about me to grab my umbrella, camera, and Huck Finn. With these three things I can weather any storm. I don't know what made me think to grab a book as I ran out the door but I am very grateful for that bit of my thinker that woke up before the rest of me.

After four and a half hours of meeting people, remembering not a single name, and playing Beat the Landlord, lunch began. Only one person besides Li Meng spoke English, so we resorted to card playing. I'm amazed at how much friendship can develop without words. Lunch was delicious, albeit mysterious. I really am learning to love Chinese food. After lunch we decided to go for a walk. We meandered down the street for a few minutes and begin to veer to the left. We climb a few stairs...and a few more stairs...and then I realize that we are climbing Moji "Mountain." As Li Meng said, "The stairs seem endless." It's really a lame excuse for a mountain. Supposedly the highest point in YiChang, it's really not impressive as "mountains" go. What is impressive; however, is the fact that some brilliant person decided to put stairs ALL the way up. Not only does that defeat the beauty aspect of mountain climbing, but it also makes the climb much wearier. Chinese legs are shorter than American legs (maybe not mine, but most) therefore their stairs are shorter than American stairs. In theory this would be an advantage for short little me, but my legs are very used to a standard size that us conformists are required to use. They are very NOT used to tiny little stairs that tend to vary in size depending on the mood the builder was in. My giant feet couldn't even fit on the whole stair without hanging off. We made it to the top and I took turns taking pictures with every person up there, my smile becoming more fake with each snap of the camera. I was more the center of attention than the birthday girl, no matter how much I tried to blend in with the background. I start downhill, pausing to pick an orange off the overhanging trees, and realize with the rain I could easily slip and end up rolling headfirst down the entire "mountain." Halfway down that starts to sound more appealing. It's about now that we realize we picked the wrong side of the hill to descend. It reminds me of another time and place called Redcloud and Sunshine. Once you summit Redcloud and Sunshine, you realize that you have to go back up over Redcloud to reach base camp. Did I mention that these were 14ers? Well at least today's peak was nowhere near that magnitude, but it had the same effect on my morale. Then Li Meng turns to me and asks me to sing them an American song. I hope she never makes that mistake again. I had been singing "I'll Follow the Sun" to myself as I went down, laughing inside about how you couldn't actually see the sun in China, in order to follow it; but alas I couldn't sing that to them because I can never remember all of the words so I end up repeating the same 4 lines over and over again no matter how many times I listen to it. Since the words wouldn't come to me, I kept the Beatles theme and sang Dear Prudence to the poor souls. I hope their ears aren't permanently damaged. That put a little spring in our step, or at the very least they decided to hurry down so that they wouldn't have to endure the torture of my voice any longer. Eventually we made it down and walked back to the bus stop, where one of my students called me and asked me to climb Moji "Mountain" with him tomorrow. HA! But then he changed his mind because of the rain, so I didn't have to make up an excuse not to go. It was beautiful, and I might go back sometime, but climbing it two days in a row didn't seem like the utmost in fun.

Eventually I got back on trusty bus 23 toward campus, when my phone rang again. It was Gisele. Her, Zack, Elizabeth, and Salina were going to get foot massages and wanted me to come. So I got back to campus, got off bus 23, ran across the street in front of two honking motorcycles, and got back on bus 23 heading back to Yiling Square. Don't worry, the motorcycles weren't necessarily honking at me, they were just honking for the sake of honking. We stopped for food at KFC because what American doesn't love Colonel Sanders? After one of the longest and most confusing days yet, the perfect end to it was a 90 minute foot bath and massage with my nose buried in Huck Finn. It was 9:30 pm before I made it back to my apartment. I thanked Li Meng for inviting me today and for being such a good friend and she answered, "It is my pleasure. You can consider me a sister." You know, I really do feel like she is my little sister. She's the sweetest girl and even though I had no idea what was going on today, or why I was woken up at 8 for lunch, I had a wonderful time and am so glad to have friends to spend my Saturday with.

"In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad of eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do."

-Clive Staples Lewis

普通话

Things I am joyful about:
The crisp feeling of fall that hangs in the early morning air.
The warmth that creeps through my fingers as I wrap them around a hot cup of tea.
The old folks moving in slow motion and perfect rhythm outside the gym every morning during their Tai Chi exercises.
Good friends to drink coffee and share laughter with.
The light dawning in a young girls eyes as she hears the story for the first time.
A friend running up to me and yelling 'Hug me!' because she's so happy to see me.
Understanding a simple sentence in the mystery we call Mandarin Chinese.
The gentle rhythm of rain on the roof that rocks me to sleep.
The knowledge that nothing in the whole world can separate me from the love of the one who made me.
Elizabeth filling my belly with blueberry muffins, cheesy potato soup, and homemade applesauce.
Pumpkins for sale.
Laughing out loud at the thought of a joke shared last night and then realizing that no one around me knows why I'm laughing.
And life.

"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

听不懂

Today I correctly ordered a coffee flavored Milk Tea, medium, cold, with the little gummy balls at the bottom; all in Chinese, all without making a mistake. This is truly a milestone to be remembered. It was the perfect compliment to my day of sitting in the sunshine by the pink blossoms and the bamboo patch with a good book. I had grand plans of cleaning my filthy apartment, but when the sun is shining you shouldn't waste it. It's a rare enough occurance that it's highly valuable. I choose not to squander the precious rays on something that can be done after the golden light has faded. After all,

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
tomorrow will be dying."

Last night the girl that I have been studying with came over with one of her friends, and she gave me a gorgeous silk scarf that I'm afraid to even touch for fear of ruining it. She also brought some DVDs of her favorite singer so that I could learn some traditional Chinese music. We had been talking about this singer, because one of the things she loves about her is her generosity to the poor. That reminded me of someone else who encourages giving to the poor, so naturally I brought that up.

Looking forward to showing Dead Poet's Society to my classes tomorrow; hence the quote above. I hope it has as much of an impact on them as it has had on me.

三峡

This week was the National Holiday and the whole country gets a week off work, so me and 7 of my friends went through the famous Three Gorges, that my University is named after. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is my holiday:The day before we left I got this most wonderful package from my parents, my CHACOS, crisco (so I can make pumpkin pie!!), ranch dressing mix, maple and brown sugar oatmeal, kettle corn, cocoa (so I can make no bake cookies :), the best gum in the world, and vanilla. It was the best day of my life.And the best part was getting to spend time with my wonderful friends. My spirit is always refreshed and encouraged by being around them.

If you've ever played Nertz, you know that it can be an intense and sometimes downright vicious game...well six Americans are enough to draw a crowd anywhere in China, but six Americans playing Nertz draws an entire boatload of curious/slightly inebriated Chinese to watch. We had an audience during the game, which made it a lot more fun, and so did the drunk guys yelling Chinese at us. All in all it was quite an experience on our "cruise" through the Three Gorges. I can only imagine how beautiful they were before the dam flooded the area.

Today I woke up to the third blue sky I've seen in 宜昌. It was glorious. Had a Good conversation with a Chinese friend, and got to praise the One who made it all.


"I have an irrepressible desire to live till I can be assured that the world is a little better for my having lived in it."
- Abraham Lincoln