Trip To China - The Full Account: The Adventure Continues

You try to take it all in but it’s like trying to drink in the ocean. (Not because it’s salty, but because of the amount of things to ingest.) The clouds rising halfway up the mountains that surround our city shine yellow as the sun sets on a busy day. The trees that live in abundance and line every street sway in the breeze as a small shower of rain wets their deep green leaves. A small kitten purrs as it cuddles up in my lap to rest after it’s weary day of toil. We’re in China, and we’re loving it. 

When we arrived in China, we were met by brother Ian, and brother Dom. We dropped our stuff off at the school, and took some of our possessions to the Crump’s apartment where we would stay the next couple of days. Thinking back now it’s a bit blurry, but, because Jewel and I thought to write things down as they happened, I can recall them. JET LAG, not the most fun thing. It was not until today (the day that I am writing this… which may not be the day I post this… so you’ll have to try to guess the day…) that I really felt like I was able to understand where we were driving in the vehicle. The rest was like that feeling when someone wakes you up from a short nap, and you hardly have the mental capacity to respond. Anyway, Ian and Candace have a very nice apartment, and we greatly enjoyed being able to stay there. Their little dog Jackie met us upon our arrival, and made us feel very much a part of the family. Candace was still in the states, and it was nice of Ian to host us there! THERE WAS COFFEE! For some of you this might not would have been such a big deal, but if you know Jewel and I you can be sure we greatly appreciated this necessity of human life. The only thing that gave us any trouble was the squatty, but we don’t need to dwell on that.

When Candace did return, we were allowed to stay with Brother Dom. His wife had to make a trip back to the states because of her father’s health. We are still hoping that things will turn for the better for their family. Brother Dom is a great man, and we have enjoyed getting to meet him, and are looking forward to a continuing relationship! It was not many weeks previous that they had some trouble with flooding. One of the drains on a balcony got backed up during a large storm, and water got into the second story of their beautiful villa home. They have been fighting getting the water out of the wood and walls since. They also have a two person scooter. This may be the death of Jewel and I, not because we almost hit a light pole our first time on the scooter together, but because the way people drive here in China, we will be their last consideration until we are made a permanent part of the pavement. Just kidding… mostly (duhn duhn duhhhhhhhhhhh)

Since we have arrived, we have experienced many different kinds of food. The local people are the Naxi (or Nashi), and I would describe their food as being so-so. I do like rice, and some of the meat and vegetables were good, but not the best we have had. At a little guest house by Tiger Leaping Gorge* (*see next paragraph for more details) we ate some Tibetan style food. The “garlic bread” was rather delicious and the rest of the food was quite great. I’m sorry that I am not being very descriptive, but you have to remember that we are trying to recall what happened in a dream state of mind, and it gets rather mixed up after a while. There IS a restaurant called the MAYA that we have eaten at twice now. It is run by an Indian couple whose daughter I will be teaching this next year. The food there is very good. They have great curry, mango juice, mango smoothies, the “best burger in town (and possibly China)” and a cool little salad with sliced carrot, diced peppers, uncooked ramen noodles, sesame oil, and love. (It tastes a lot like the asian salad that my wife makes… though I know only like Matt and Amanda have had that.) There is also one other restaurant owned and operated by an American who also runs an English teaching school. Their food (Pizza, Fried Rice, Fries, awesome coffee to name a few) is very delicious, and they also are the home to Snoop Lion, my new little kitten friend. We have been twice to his restaurant as well and both times the little guy has found his way to my lap to play together. The majority of the time we have had a lot of different Chinese foods, and have not disliked too much of it. Perhaps the bitter vegetable, and the chicken feet were the only things we were not so fond of. The bitter vegetable (actual name) is just that, and the chicken feet (at least the way it was prepared this time) looked too much like eating the last two fingers of a human hand for me to enjoy. 

*Tiger Leaping Gorge is a beautiful, and awesome place. Ian took us here in our first couple of days. The drive out there was absolutely beautiful. You drive along the Yangtze (Yellow) river for a while past villages, and Chinese homes. The actual driving however is not so hot. Dotted lines are on basically every road. Also, the Chinese sometimes have serious depth perception problems when it comes to oncoming traffic. Just about every minute you are cringing as a small car zips back into it’s lane within inches of a head on collision with a cement truck. At the actual gorge is a beautiful section where the water flows and tumbles with great power. It is rumored that a hunter was chasing a tiger, and the tiger (out of fear, and with the help of it’s magical powers) jumped the gorge. The hunter gave up the hunt out of respect for this magical tiger. Ian and I have surmised that a bad hunter told this story to his wife one day after another unsuccessful day out. The guest house was beautiful to say the least, and Jewel and I hope to stay there for a couple of days some time. It is rainy season here, but the weather has been absolutely gorgeous most of the time. 

Canvas above me, glass table top in one hand, refrigerator door in another. I was bouncing on my knees down the school’s road in the back of a Chinese moving truck. These guys are no joke! They get your stuff from A to B, but would just about roll your stuff there if it was the easiest was to do it. So I ((was)) volunteered to ride in the back of the truck and hold onto the things. See, we were on our way to Jewel and my new apartment, but all that information will have to wait for the next blog!