Almost halloween

So not a whole lot's changed here in the last few weeks. We have had consistent good weather, like nearly every single day has been mostly sunny and 75. When I say mostly sunny though it's hard to describe, it's more like a very bright overcast, because there is smog everywhere. One of my favorite things to do is take my bike out and drive around West Lake. It's pretty incredible looking, especially when the sun is setting. What's nice about the smog is that you can actually look directly at the sun when it gets low, which I've got to say, over a huge lake with mountains behind it is pretty beautiful. The lake is the biggest draw that this city has, and there are people visiting all the time. When I'm driving my bike around the Chinese stare and just think it's peculiar, but it's very funny when I see a big tour bus full of European or American tourist, who look at me like I'm out of my mind. The other day Pat and I and another friend of ours from Canada, Dean, took our bikes to this tourist spot about 25 minutes away. We had to drive through this huge tunnel that seemed to last forever and was absolutely terrifying, as I had only a few inches on either side of my bike to maneuver and clipped my mirrors several times. When we finally got there we were in deep woods, which I hadn't seen anywhere else in China. I kept saying how great it smelled, I remember it being very distinct and very refreshing. I guess I had gotten used to walking around the cities where there is a constant lingering of some funk. Anyways, after hopping some fences we were able to tour these caves and giant buddhas carved out of a mountain for free, so the trip out was definitely worth it.

In other news, my fantasy football team in the Hangzhou expats league is in last place, out of ten. I am behind 3 Australians who have never watched an American football game before.

If there is someone out there who can explain to me why Chinese cab drivers change their shift during rush hour, I would appreciate it. It is impossible to get a cab between 4:00 and 5:30, not because they are full, but because they refuse to pick people up, and also continue to have their lights on. It drives me insane, just completely illogical.

Chinese Team Building

So we were told by our boss that we would have to go on a team building retreat for school. 2 days and 1 night about an hour and a half south of us. There were only 8 western teachers that went, the others having legit excuses not to, and then 40 Chinese teachers. Having absolutely no idea what to expect, I was fairly skeptical heading into it. Waking up to thunder and heavy rain did nothing to help quell my feelings. After the bus ride, we approach a compound and walk into the main area. We are told this is boot camp, and we will come out of this as a great team, and glory for the school and some other ridiculous mantra that always sounds that way when translated to us. This was translated to us by our boss, who was laughing along the way at how ridiculous it sounded, so we knew it wasn't going to be like this. We get broken up into teams and handed cammo outfits to put over our clothes, then go off and do a few standard team building games. The highlight of which being we had to climb straight up this rickety pole, 8 meters high, and stand on the top of a pedestal at the very top of, then jump off onto a trapeze pole. We were strapped in and everything to be safe, but I couldn't help but keep thinking to myself, I'm still in China. That night, we had a big barbecue with everyone, and a big fire where we played these ridiculous games that would never fly back home. It was pretty hilarious actually, much help coming because the western teachers were able to find the beer reserves. Very fun night

Having spent the previous night wrapped in two sleeping bags on a couch because Pat and I couldn't put together our tent, we were beginning to feel a little cabin fever. The next day we did some more team building games that were much less engaging, but was capped off by the best lazer tag game of all time. This came out of nowhere, these soldier looking guys laid out all of these huge guns and told us the rules and the boundaries and the teams. We had helmets and vests that violently vibrated when hit, and played in this area with cabins and ravines and hills. The scene was straight out of a war movie, accept replaced with a few random white people and 40 Chinese girls. I got to have the sniper rifle for my team also, which was awesome. Anyways, when it was finally said and done, the Chinese team building was a very good time, and definitely worth doing

Another thing:
Young Chinese couples can be seen everywhere in Hangzhou, which isn't unlike any city really. What I find strange is that they often wear matching t-shirts, like literally his and hers, and hold hands when out. It's as if you can go to a store and buy them together. One t-shirt that I noticed just had matching colors, but for the guy's, in big letters over the front of it, it read "This is my Bitch." What's funny is that I'm positive he had no idea what it meant

Been a while

So the government found a way to block how we were getting around them blocking many websites. Anyways, Pat just came back from work and told me another way of getting around it, so I'm back after a long hiatus. Things are going well here still, work is good and we actually just got off of a break for the Chinese new year. It's the 60th year anniversary of the revolution, and 60 is some huge number in Chinese culture so I guess it's a pretty big deal around here. Fireworks are pretty huge in China, obviously, and there are hooligans that run around late at night and early in the morning blowing off black cat rolls that last several minutes. It got old about 10 seconds into the first one that I heard, and it's woken me up repeatedly over the last couple weeks. I did wake up the other night and walked out onto my balcony to see a pretty legit display happening right across the street from our apartment which was pretty cool actually.

I bought an electric scooter a couple weeks ago. It is the coolest thing that I have ever owned, looks like an old vespa, but its brand new and is probably the biggest bike on the road. Not that I didn't stand out a bit already, but it brings even more attention. Pat and I have had to two man it on several occasions which I've thought the image of us cruising through the streets of Hangzhou during rush hour would make people laugh. Anyways, things are going well, China is legit though I do miss things from home. We did find a pretty good Mexican restaurant that will be frequented for the remainder of my stay.

A few more observations I've made:
Walking to lunch the other day, crossing the bridge, me and several co workers watched as a young boy was propped up on the bridge wall by his father so that he could take a large dump on the sidewalk

The Chinese word for the English phrase "Uhh" is a very vulgar racial slur, and it is heard all the time when around Chinese people, especially by my young students when asked a question that they don't know the answer to.

If anyone can tell me what "Shooting down airplanes" translates from english into chinese, I will give you a sly wink

Getting my medical

So we had to go in to get medically cleared in order to get our visas extended. It's something that everybody has to do, and people talked it up to being a real annoying experience. Anyways, we finally find this place and stand in line for a long time, then are told to go upstairs for several tests. One of them was a blood and urine test, and as we're standing in line for the walk up blood test, there's another American guy we see turning in his small cup at the other end of the counter, while holding a cotton ball against his skin with blood dripping down his arm. He's laughing his ass off while Pat and I are standing there laughing with him at the absurdity of this situation. Anyways, we basically just laugh our way through this whole ridiculous process, which included getting an ultrasound for whatever reason, and got medically cleared.

Observation:
Pat and I were stuck in traffic trying to get to work today at around 3:30 in the afternoon. In the taxi in front of us, a man sticks his head out and starts violently puking out of the window, then takes a look back at our cab, and settles back in as the taxi pulls away

Moved in

So we finally moved into our apartment, which is awesome. It's in a brand new complex so there's lots of construction going on in the buildings around us, but we're excited to have finally gotten settled. We also got the internet set up this morning, which took forever because the guy didn't speak a word of english and couldn't understand our computers. Whatever though, the place is great and in an awesome location, across the street from several of our favorite restaurants that we've found here, as well as walking distance from a great bar and a 24 hour mcdonalds. It feels great to have finally moved in, no longer living out of our bags.

Work is going well, we are just getting our new schedule with all of the classes we'll be starting. Yesterday after a staff meeting we all went out to dinner and then went bowling, which was pretty hilarious and a great time. The people we work with are from all over the world and are very fun people, all very interesting.

Observation:
Chinese couple sitting on a bench with a fresh bag of grapes. Man holds up grapes next to face and poses for a close up picture. Then switches hands for another closeup with the grapes. Then puts the grapes back into the bag on the bench, and women snaps a few more shots. They were having the time of their lives

settling in

So I haven't written a post in over a week now. The Chinese government really puts in a lot of effort in blocking blog websites, probably because they are very dangerous, right? Anyways, we've started actually teaching, as well as still observing some classes. So far they have all been good, none of the kids have really acted out, they find absolutely anything we do to be hilarious, and they go crazy for the games we play. Overall it's not that difficult and it's fun. Everyone we work with is pretty cool also which makes it much easier. Our biggest work days are on Saturdays and Sundays though which is kind of miserable, but then again that's pretty much everyone here's biggest workdays so it works out just fine.

On another note, Pat and I found an apartment in a pretty great location. Brand new building in a nice complex, with a garden and streams running through it. The landlord had to furnish the place so we can't move in until sunday or maybe monday, we'll see. There is also a McDonalds open 24 hours that's about 2 blocks away, which I find to be absolutely incredible, adding priceless value to our apartment.

Anyways, I'll try to update this more frequently, it is kind of annoying to do so because it takes forever to load, but we'll see how the internet at our new place will be which should help. Oh and I've also found a website that streams live sports, which is huge because missing the football season is one of the hardest parts of being here. We were able to catch the end of the Steelers-Titans game which was awesome, in case you missed it

Alright so since there have been issues taking out enough money in a single day, we had to hold out on moving into our apartment because they ask for like 5 months rent in advance, which makes a lot of sense. On the day we finally had this, we were told that they had given our apartment to someone else, so here we are again, still stuck squatting at Ross and Greg's place. Today I think we're going to be shown a few apartments, so hopefully we'll be moved out, I'm starting to feel bad about holing up here. We've gone out two nights here in Hangzhou, and for the most part the bars that the expats and teachers hang out in are pretty legit, and the beer is usually around 2 or 3 dollars. Last night we went into a Chinese rock and roll bar, and this foursome was bellowing out John Bon Jovi's "It's my Life" to great cheers from the crowd, which I found to be absolutely hilarious. One downside is the fact that a very large mouse ran over my foot at the first bar we went into, which made me want to cut my foot off or dip it in bleach. We start teaching today which should be very interesting because we kind of have no idea what we're going to be doing. A couple of the other teachers at our school had visa issues and have to go home to fix them, so they're throwing us right in to substitute. For those that remember my job as a camp counselor at Happiness Is... for the Winnetka park district, I think my skills with children speak for themself, so I'm not that worried about it