Thursday May 14th, 2009

One attempt. One victory. One more attempt… and… victory.

We had already climbed the hill behind the University a few times now, but we needed to do it again. Why? Well, it is a big hill and there is more adventure waiting for us. This time we opted for a different route that would hopefully take us to another high point on the ridge. That would have worked great, but on the way there we saw another path that looked… intriguing… and opted to take that one.

It was a tougher path and really one that did not seem to get much use, but we went as far as we could anyways. The issue was that after some seriously sketchy climbing manoeuvres we had come to the end of the path. On the bright side we were then sitting in a beautiful patch of jasmine flowers.

Down a very steep but relatively short incline I could see a path through the bushes. Given it was my decision to take this path I felt I had to go first to see if we could reach this path. I was able to use the branches of trees to climb/slide down the incline. It was a tight squeeze through the branches and as I was almost free I did not notice the brambles wrapped around my leg. Seeing freedom I sprang from the bushes and felt the thorns rip through the skin of my leg.

I dispatched the vine before the rest of the crew came after me.

We made it to this path and were able to follow it up the hill. There were some beautiful graves and scenes as usual. The one thing that made this climb a little different is that there was more jungle. There were more vines, more trees, and more flowers. It was amazing.

One of my fellow hikers and I climbed to the top of a great boulder and were rewarded with an amazing view.

Back on the path we continued up the ridge all of the way to the great concrete path on the Temple on the other side of the ridge. We were able to take a break as we took the first time that we climbed over the ridge and then we made our way back down the long steep road.

For some reason I have been recruited onto our… amateur… dance crew made up of both Canadian and Chinese students. There is an enormous dance competition with dancers that I think would easily be considered at the professional level. We are not at that level so I know it might be shocking, but we will not be competing. Instead, we will be used as filler between performances or the opening event… kind of like… comedic filler. This is supposed to happen, but I will believe it when I see it.

Our COMS class is largely filled with guest lectures, and on Friday we had an amazing lecturer. He was telling us about Social Media and the power of it. Social Media? What does that mean? He was talking about such things as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Websites, etc.

What is the power of them? He showed us how information can travel, and how these forms of Social Media can be used to rally funds for causes, or to organise people. It can also be used for advertising and marketing. You know that when you Google something certain websites come up first? Well, this guy knows how to make it come first. He knows how to make it so that the number one search for certain keywords is whatever site he wants.

His skills as a lecturer are amazing and it sounds like his skills with Social Media are just as good. Those people who say that Blogging and the like is useless, pay attention. I am not saying that planning parties with Facebook will change the world in the ways that this lecturer can, but those forms of media, if used correctly, hold incredible power.

Classes over it was time to take the night off. There was a Fashion Show on Friday night, but instead of going to that we decided to go to our Professors house/dorm/thing to play Mah Johng. It is a Chinese game with a bunch of tiles and it is absolutely badass.

I did not know what to expect when I went over there, but after playing for a few hours I had grasped much of the basic concepts of the game and had much fun at it. There are a lot of rules and a lot of Chinese words to remember, but I think it is worth it.

We have decided that the people who were playing from Calgary need to get a set and then play it when we get home. Definitely worthwhile. It is not Settlers, but it is a good game, and with shortish rounds it makes it quite enjoyable.

On the way back from playing Mah Johng we did manage to catch a few minutes of the Fashion Show. It was very interesting to see, but really not something I could stay there for hours on end. It was interesting though and there were some very amazing outfits. I was able to take a few pictures of some of the outfits… they were definitely the leading edge of fashion.

How amazing to see such an event up close. Just amazing.



Mystery Date

Yesterday… well… yesterday from the day I am writing this post, and not necessarily yesterday from the day that it is posted. Anyways yesterday we were up early for a day of sight seeing. We went into Shantou Proper on the way to a village. When they said that we were going to a village I did not think that it would be inside Shantou, but it was. The village was small and old. True, it has since been surrounded by the city, but it is still evident that it is a village.

Most of the village was built during the Ming Dynasty (1500’sish). The buildings are built of stone and some of the houses have been owned and inhabited by the same families for hundreds of years. There used to be a wall around the village but it has since been largely torn down and the stones were used to build a bridge not too far off. Richer families had built shrines and temples inside the village and many of them stand today. Most of them were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but they have since been re-built.

We were told all of this by the famous war reporter Peter Arnett who is now teaching at Shantou University and was accompanying us on the trip.

While we were in the village we were able to walk anywhere. All of the little shrines and temples were opened to us as well as people’s houses. People were very interested to see so many foreigners walking down the streets of their village. There were dogs and cats and people everywhere in the village just going about their lives. As usual we were a disruption but hopefully a welcome one. We even came across a 94 year old woman who was happy to pose and sit in on pictures with Canadians.

We left the village and went for lunch in Shantou. More and more Chinese food, as usual. There was nothing overly exciting but one of our crew ate our fish eye. Generally when one person does it there are two more of us who have to try it… I am one of those two. My partner in crime on the eating weird stuff took her chopsticks to the fish’s eye and tried to get it out. In poking around the eye sort of… exploded… and all sorts of goo poured out. That was it. We were done. We decided that our other friend could have the title of she who ate the fish’s eye. We were content to pass. Bleaugh…

I will mention one more thing about lunch. Outside of the restaurant there was a polluted waterway. It was some kind of little river or canal or something. There are polluted waterways all over Shantou and undoubtedly all over China. I did happen to get a fantastic view of a toilet that was cantilevered over the river so that when you sat there your business would fall right into the river. Ahh… the wonders of modern sanitation. It was just something amazing.

That afternoon we drove to Chouzhou, which is another city not far from Shantou. We drove to the centre of the city where we saw the most amazing temple. This temple trumped all of the others that we have seen by far. There was one issue though where we only had 20 minutes to see it. It was huge and we were only able to see a very small piece of it. Either way, it was incredible.

After seeing the temple we went to see the walls of the city. The walls are now inside the city but they were used originally to keep the city safe. It was a great example of how the cities here have grown from little villages to enormous metropolises.

It is important to mention that the trip to and from Chouzhou was rather interesting. We did not get our normal bus driver and this one was a little… angrier. He was in a hurry and he did not seem to slow down when we came to bumps in the road. One thing that you need to know is that the back seats of busses in China are raised so that they fit above the engines. This means that you are much closer to the roof and are sitting atop the rear axle. When you have an angry bus driver who does not slow down at bumps this means that your entire back row is flung two feet into the air and head first into the roof of the bus. During this incident there were one person to escape injury, one person to suffer from a severe headache, one person to injure her neck, and two of us to crater our skulls into the metal vent above our heads and to have blood drawn. One of the two of us to have blood drawn did not actually notice for a long time, but that might be because she was in the centre seat and was almost thrown Wolverine style forwards through the aisle. Needless to say, today most of us did not sit in the back row.

Back at the university we went to a Rock Concert. The band playing was called Any and this was their last performance. Two of the band are graduating this year so they would not be able to continue playing. The concert was good. Actually, it was quite fun. On entry every person was given some glow sticks. I was quick to attach the sticks to my glorious helm so that when my head bobbed, all could see it. Chinese concerts are a little different from Canadian ones, so, we all had seats and we all sat down. This was fine for a while, but most of the Canadians had a different idea of how they wanted to enjoy this event. During a cover of the song Zombie they all stood and made their way towards the stage. There were only dancing and waving around for a few seconds before the rest of the crowd got the idea. They all stood and in a matter of minutes this concert began to look like one of our own. There is not doubt that we made an impression (the general we, as I was definitely not dancing) and I think it was a good one.

At some point the concert was over and we headed home. On the way we went to East Gate where I was tempted and seduced by a piece of… Street Meat. It was there, a piece of breaded meat on a stick and it was calling to me. It was beside a plate of beef on a stick and pork on a stick. I pointed at the breaded meat on a stick and the woman passed it to the cook. It was re-headed, thrown back on the grill, seasoned, and then passed to me.

I still do not know what kind of meat it was, but it was fantastic. I know what I will be having for supper tonight.

It was a long painful day. My head was still bloodied, and I had then re-acquired that familiar limp in my left leg as the nerves in my back/leg had been greatly irritated/squashed. What fun.

Eventually I made it to bed.




Sunday May 17th, 2009

Awake again early and onto the bus. This time, at the request of our Professor, we had a different bus driver and a different bus. That was a great relief for those of us still nursing injuries from the morning before. Nevertheless, most of us decided to avoid the back row for our own safety.

Peter Arnett was again acting as our guide, and on Sunday we were going to the Cultural Revolution Museum. When we were told of the museum we all had different images in our minds, but what we actually saw was something quite different. It was not really a museum promoting the Cultural Revolution, but instead it was a memorial so that people will never forget what horrendous acts transpired. The initial idea was meant to be good, but things skidded out of control and people were killed.

The memorial is built entirely from private donations and it beautifully tells a story of great tragedy. Photographs have been etched in stone for longevity and there is a great gong that when rung brings great luck. In a place of great tragedy it makes the world look like a very very dreary place. I could use a little luck.

I rang the gong.

We took the bus back to the University and resumed our usual activities. We played some badminton and then when we were tired we got ice cream… and then we played more badminton.

At some point there was a splash of water from one of the girls of the group to me. This spurred the idea of a water fight. Two of the girls tried to act stealthily as they left to get more water in the form a bucketful. Sensing a trap I ran to my room to get a bottle of water. Actually, I got two. I took one small bottle in my pocket and left a bigger bottle hidden outside. That way when I was running from their attack I could grab my bigger bottle without ever giving away that I knew of their sneak attack.

When it came I was ready. The main offender managed to escape the first attack as I used most of the first bottle on the accomplice. After a momentary regroup I found that my entire backside had been soaked by the water from the bucket and I was running around, outnumbered, and soaked. I did manage to get my other bottle of water and in no time at all I had evened the score. The two girls were soaked.

At that point things got nasty as one of them picked up a handful of leaves and threw it at me. Thus began a battle that ended up in a pile of people, water, and leaves. All of us were very dirty at this point, but I had proved my magnificence as I defeated them both… this time.

The tab is still open and since then I have since made a “truce” with the accomplice and have had an entire other bottle of water poured on my by the offender. This will get sorted out. It is a good thing that it is warm here…

That night we were at our best dance practice yet. The group of people who were there seemed interested in what we were doing and we all worked hard… well… most of us worked hard.

Day over. Night.




Monday May 18th, 2009

Our Professor who had come with us from Canada had invited us for a Canadian breakfast at his place. He has a kitchen so it was all possible. Some of us went early and it was a good thing that we did. He had slept in a little and had not started preparing. Some people had brought little things like juice or potatoes and all of it required some level of preparation.

We moved into the kitchen and took over. Very quickly we had both burners going in a great example of teamwork as we began to make scrambled eggs and French toast. The remaining guests would arrive soon and the food was not ready. The potatoes were an issue since they take forever to cook but we did our best. People arrived and in very small doses we began to feed them. Other than eggs and bread with were a little short on supplies but we pressed on.
After an hour of cooking we were almost out of supplies. The Chinese students there were able to try some of our staples and let me tell you it was much different than their breakfasts. One student even took her French toast and eggs and put them on her cereal to mix them in with the milk. This might seem strange but this is what they do with their cereal equivalent.

It was a good breakfast. People gradually trickled out and the kitchen staff cleaned up. We were able to grab a few bites of food along the way and at the end we had first dibs on the leftovers.

Class came and went and I was assigned my first piece of real homework. Me and one Chinese student have to interview two Migrant Workers and ask them what kind of media they are exposed to (tv, radio, etc.) and if they feel well represented in that media form.

After class we all piled onto the 39 bus and went for massages. It was gently raining at the time (and it might continue for days and days) but the weather was nice. We were downtown and at the massage place in no time. There was one slight issue, and that was that there were 7 of us and only room at present for 5.

Oh well.

Two of us volunteered to wait an hour for the next batch of massages. This in mind we had everyone brainstorm for a grocery list for Wal-Mart and we were off. Our Professor was with the massage group and lined up for his first massage. We hoped he would be ok…

In Wal-Mart we were two shopping machines. We divided and conquered, and then we conquered and then divided. The list was formidable, but we were moreso. This was our third trip to Wal-Mart anyway so we had a good idea were most of the stuff was. Really, this was a basic shopping trip except for one thing… when I grabbed a cart I noticed that it drove a little differently than our carts back home. Upon further investigation I learned that not only do the front wheels rotate, but the back wheels rotate as well!

This might not seem that special but I do have a video that should demonstrate the awesomeness of this…

After Wal-Mart we went to eat at McDonalds. After McDonalds we walked through the now heavy rain back to the massage place. We were a few minutes late and had to wait for our crew to emerge. They were out and it was our turn. We went into a room which had our Professor on a table and we laid down.

For the next hour I cannot reliably state what happened, all I know is that the Massage God (yes, the same masseuse as last time) was amazing.

Through the rain we made it to a bus stop and then realizing that we were going to be late for dance practice (which was not good since we had the leader) we hailed a cab. We were home in no time and then at the dance practice where the actual Dance Teacher from Shantou University was waiting to watch our dance.

Unfortunately there was a slight complication with resulted in my refusing to participate. I left and did not return.



Tuesday May 19th, 2009

Chicken Feet for breakfast. Gross.

For breakfast we went downtown for dim sum. I do not really know what that is (even now) so… yeah. It was like a buffet of Chinese Food. I say Chinese Food but when we say that here they make fun of us because here it is not Chinese Food, it is just Food. Anyways there were all sorts of strange things for breakfast. There were bread type things, and fruit type things… a friend and I grabbed something that looked like meat, only to learn later that it was meat and that actually that it was a bunch of Chicken Feet.

Truthfully, it did look like a plateful of feet, but we did not get a good look when we grabbed them. So, long story short, I can now add Chicken Feet to the list of strange things that I have eaten here.

On the way to breakfast we noticed a movie theatre, and on the movie theatre we noticed signs advertising Star Trek. After breakfast we walked back there to check out what was the deal. Star Trek was playing, and so was Wolverine. Some of us decided to meet back for Star Trek, while two of us decided to stay for Wolverine and Star Trek.

Either way we had time to kill.

Those of us sticking around dove into the streets of Shantou and found the most amazing market. Most of the market streets were the regular things you would find, like fruit, and fresh fresh fresh poultry, and all of the trinkets and bobbles to be found in China, but there were some other more tightly packed streets in the heart of the market. We headed there.

It turned out that we found the wildest meat market that I have ever seen. We were walking through the covered streets and then in something that resembled a parkade, but where we would expect to see cars there were individual stalls of people with cleavers hacking at meat. As we passed they looked at us ready to make a sale but we continued on. There was an entire wall of live birds in cages for slaughter on demands, and live seafood for the same thing. People were using buckets of water to wash away blood and entrails from their stalls.

It was a dark, stinky, and sketchy place but one worth seeing. It was amazing to see that kind of market and to see the different kinds of meat available. Just amazing.

We grabbed some lunch at McDonalds since it was quite convenient and then went to the movie theatre.

We watched Wolverine. It was amazing. When it was done we ran downstairs to the next show where our friends were waiting.

We watched Star Trek. It was also amazing.

I won’t talk about them here because of the spoilers… but it was fantastic.

We came home and then waited. For what? The meeting deciding the fate of our dance. Several of us had already had enough from the night before, but it was a meeting with all of the Canadians to decided if we wanted to continue or stop. The whole concept was kind of strange since there were only a few of us actually involved the dance but the meeting was held.

To reduce it to the results and hold the emotion free of this, we decided not to pursue the dance further.

After that we went for a walk to let of some steam and buy some snacks… and that leaves me here… typing and getting ready to send this to my posting angel back home…