You are far too eager and curious for a hobbit. Most unnatural.

At long last, here is the post where I get to show off my trip to Beijing.

I know I know, I haven't been around. At all. I blog-died again. But...in my defense, my internet has been dodgy, I've been having issues with picture transfers...oh yeah. And I'm lazy.

So...I've got a bunch of pictures. I decided to make picture slideshows with them, because I'm just not devoted enough to post every picture on this blog. I'll also just to get this blog updated all the way, past Valentne's Day, my birthday and such. Hmm...we'll see what happens.


So...Beijing! It was a great vacation, full of surprises and fun. Michelle, my lovable Michi, met me in Beijing from Japan. Yeah, she lives in Japan now.

So my first video is a selection of shots from around the city - beginning of the trip to end. I even put music to it! Because I like music. XD

Note: I'll give you a cookie if you can find the mistake in my captions. LOL






#2: Forbidden City. Well, obviously, if you go to Beijing, you can't miss going here. It was pretty fantastic. This video is really a fraction of the pictures Michelle and I have, but I really only have access to my pictures and most of them are building shots. Interesting for me, but maybe not for you.

Note: The music for this video is Japanese because...well...I just like this song. <3




Okay, it takes frakkin' forever to make these videos. More to come soon. This time I PROMISE.

It's talking, Merry. The tree is talking!

Score 1 for CMSU. They finally got their caboosies (For those lacking access to my mind, this means glutius maximus.) in gear and gave us something useful.

Like teachers' assistants.

And here I thought slavery had been abolished. Heh.

Heheh. This semester is going to be fun.

Can you hear the evil laughter? XD I can.

Since I'm the one laughing.

Bwahahah.

If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note they're not, I'd say we were taking the long way around.

Christmas.

Ah, Christmas. Jesus's birthday, Winter Solstice, evergreen trees, mistletoe and ham.

Does that sound about right?

Now, I'm not a native Christmas-er, to tell the truth. My cultural inclination leans more toward those blue and silver stars. And the 8 craaaaaaaazy nights. Of presents.

But I do enjoy a good yuletide celebration as much as the next foreigner, ya know? I can sing Christmas carols with the best of 'em, and did I mention the ham?

Damn, I love Christmas Ham.

Now, Christmas is...well...it's a Western holiday. In some cities around China, it can turn into a big ol' party, but mostly the locals just like wishing all us laowai a "Merry Christmas!", to which I sometimes reply with "Happy Chanukah!" just to get those ever-satisfying double takes.

My Christmas was relatively quiet to say the least.



(Except for this one huge party I went to that definitely involved dancing and Mike in a Santa Hat. Go figure.)







Christmas, in my opinion, is a time for family, love and warmth. For those of you who are especially lucky, it's also a time when all your relatives (blood, marriage, ex-con etc) all flock to your too-tiny house just so they can harrass you all the way up until the New Year. Our new year that is. Not the big red one out in these parts.

I had the great fortune of being surrounded by my new family this year. We came together for a big dinner at the nice hotel down the way from our university and had a delightful Christmas dinner. Students also helped us celebrate by gifting us with decoratively wrapped apples to promote health and happiness during our holiday season. All in all, it was certainly a treat to spend this Christmas here in China.

I even got to eat some of that oh-so-special ham. Score.

But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass.

At long last, I have returned!

Sort of.

Okay, so my blog died just a little for a month or so there (maybe two), because my internet went nutty, then my computer kicked the bucket. Ugh.

My my. I have a lot of updates to do. So, I'll use separate posts for separate events.

NOTE: These posts will eventually have pictures. Wonderful pictures, full of awesome...awesomeness! As soon as I get my computer running again. *sigh* Haroooold! Save my pictures, plz!


Okay. First thing's first. Thanksgiving.

In true American fashion, (southern american anyway), thanksgiving had all my favorite dishes: potato salad, a beautiful turkey, stuffing, and pie. Really good pie.

The holiday actually began a few days before Nov. 25th, as we were all working hard to make the food for the big shindig. I made my boyfriend's mother's shrimp and corn soup for the first time! Viviane was a huuuge help during this arduous process. Peeling almost frozen-shrimp is not fun. Not at all. I also made some good ol' potato salad, and that was a big hit. The brownies I made though....the brownies went so fast I don't think I even saw people swallow.

The meal itself was held in Pat and Beth's apartment. Soooo many people came. Some I knew, and some I didn't. They brought their own dishes as well. This Thanksgiving was a wonderful combination of traditional American dishes as well as super delicious Chinese food (Example: Himbo's spicy frog dish. Was that frog? I'm pretty sure it was frog...)

Fun fact: Who knew that people ate the soup last here? Usually we eat the soup first, right? I didn't think my soup was that popular until the end of the meal, when it was almost gone! Spiffy!

Really, thanksgiving is about eating. And giving thanks for the food you're stuffing your face with along with anything else you might have been grateful for during the year. My thought for the holiday was that I was damn lucky to be in such a place, eating amazing food with such amazing people. The holidays really drive it home here, how great this experience is, even if I miss my friends and family back home.




Let's pretend it's still November 25th, shall we? Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you had as wonderful a time as I did.

“The mines are no place for a pony, even one so brave as Bill. Bye-bye Bill.”

You know what makes China so great?

Harold bought me a little cake today at the bakery down the street. It's one of the sweetest cakes I've eaten in a while and, at the very middle of this almost too-sweet cake, is a tomato. A little cherry tomato.

Srsly? A tomato? in the middle of strawberry cake?

It makes me smile.

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by frost.

Oi! I was really productive today, even though I've been dog-sick since Sunday!

Look, this is me being productive. (Or just stupid with the camera, go figure.)

No, in all seriousness, I'm really quite proud of my ability to go off on my own around here and get things done. I'll admit, part of my culture-shock has been the fear of exploring on my own. Want to stay in the comfort zone, ya know. I mean, it's not like I lock myself in my apartment all the time. I go out a lot! But...I've shied away a little from going out alone. However, I've been gradually reaching out, doing things without calling people first, and practicing my chinese. It's horribly awkward of course, and terribly embarrassing, but...fun! (in a strange masochistic kinda way...)

So, tonight I went to grab some dinner (ran into Andy, said hello, traded some english and chinese and agreed to eat lunch together tomorrow). Then, I went to the store to buy some candy for my morning class tomorrow. I ran out of candy on them last week (for Halloween), so I'd promised to get more. Buying candy here is a little weird usually, because often they just have big buckets of it that you throw into a bag and have measured by the...umm..jing? jin? Not sure how it's pronounced....but it's a weight unit. I managed to have whole conversations over this candy tonight and bought way more than I needed. (I wanted some for myself of course!)

Next, I went to the phone shop to recharge my minutes again. Okay, family. Get skype. Seriously? I can't afford to waste anymore minutes on you people! If Grandma can get a computer when she doesn't even have CABLE, then Mom - you can get a damn microphone! Do it!

I also bought some oranges on my way home. This prompted another conversation about fruit, where I learned how to say "orange", "apple", "kiwi" and "pear" with a changsha accent!

...

Is that a good thing? *shrug* Who knows.


Now, I'm going to take some of this chinese medicine and watch Dr. Who before bed, because I think my fever has returned. Great.

A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.

(Part of Team Journey East! Harold, Shane, Lisa and my silly red face. Too bad the rest of the gang couldn't make it!)

Halloween!

Obviously, this post is a little late coming, but Happy Halloween anyway!

In celebration of my favorite holiday, a bunch of us got together and threw a party in the teacher's office of the library (the building where we have most of our classes). Several teachers attended, as did some of our students and friends!


I wish I knew how to get rid of red-eye...hmm...I'll probably start playing with picture-editing one day....

This is Beth in front of the group performing "The Telltale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe. She's a great scary story teller! We all told some stories of our own as well. Even some of the students! Jane, one of the local teachers, did a few jokes and taught us some excercises!



This party was a really great chance for so many people to come together and get to know each other! Claire and Michelle, of course, already know each other from the competition, but they also got to meet my friends from different universities, and they got to hang out with the other foreign teachers here at CMU.

Pat, aka Father Christmas, is the best addition to any party! I mean...look at that beard! Gotta love papa!






Shane and Lisa's crew were big hits. Those guys are great! Here, Viviane and Shane pose for a picture.

Soon the costumes broke out of the bags and attacked the innocent party-goers! Lisa, here, was one of the first victims. We will forever remember her monstrous sacrifice. ^_^

This is hard to see, but...somewhere in the shadows...many of the boys succombed to the evil rabbit ears and were subject to numerous flashing cameras.

Not even I was spared! Boy, that hat got around. And please, ignore the small stick in my hand. It's not a chopstick, I promise. It's a magic wand. Simply add another to make a pair, and you can eat dumplings!



No one, it seems, could defeat the Hat'o'Witches.


Or the Phantom Mardi Gras Mask.



After numerous futile attempts at victory, we all fell, one by one, on the battlefield that was the CMU 2008 Halloween Party.


Harold was the last remaining survivor.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!