Oh, The Places You’ll Go (Great Wall of China Edition)

Jinshaling Section, Great Wall of China 05/2012

   Ever get that feeling like you’re a part of something sooo much greater than yourself? This picture is one, of at LEAST 200, in which I tried to capture that feeling, and I did not do it any justice, believe me. And it’s useless to post all the pictures. It’s just one of those things you need to see for yourself.

  I will spare you the details of the disturbing bus ride on the way to the Great Wall, with the out-of-control bus driver who hawked and spat every 15 minutes, drove on the wrong side of the road, used his horn excessively (which for some reason was placed INSIDE the bus), and had piercingly squeaky brakes – all of which made it impossible to sleep. I am sparing you, only because these are minor details and, although annoying, I would have done it all over again to stand where I stood. When I think of the miles my little black Tom’s have taken me so far… Anyways, I’ll get on with it.

   The Jinshaling Section of the Great Wall was build upon the very tip-top of two mountain ridges: the Small and Big Jinshanling. It’s the section of the wall that is the most preserved, and runs for at least 6 miles. There are stones missing, 70 degree steps to climb, crooked walls, towns people selling souvenirs, and towers to discover. There were windows build into the wall for look-outs, and separate, smaller ones for shooting arrows. Yes, of course I immediately pretended to be Katniss Everdeen in the arena… how could you not? The longer I walked, the more little things I noticed, and the more stories started filling up my head. These stones that I was walking on, and touching, and taking pictures of, were laid as far back as the 16th Century at least. People DIED building this wall for the Emperor. Imagine their story! They left their whole life behind to chisel rock and drag enormous stones up a mountain to contribute to keeping their country safe. We were standing in a tower where soldiers slept. Back then, the stones on the ceilings were polished and there were probably old cots with quilts, drawers full of arrows and letter-writing supplies, and coffee pots. There were little reminders built into the architecture, used mostly in the watch towers, to remind the soldiers of their home towns, or towers named after certain areas. There are also many stories about people who have contributed to the wall’s construction, or sacrificed themselves to resist an invasion. I did not learn as much history as I had wished while being there, but I am definitely on a continual hunt for more stories. It boggles my mind how this wall was build now that I have seen the layout of the land all around it.

 We only had about four hours to explore before our bus left for the loong, bumpy, loud bus haul back, which seems like a lot, but we didn’t even scratch the surface. I am so glad I got to experience this, and strongly suggest making the trip if you are near to Beijing. Aside from the obvious, it’s worth it even just for the scenery alone (or the ski lift ride). And let’s face it – when will you ever get a chance to walk upon one of the  world’s great wonders; One of the few man-made constructions that can be seen from space (other than rotten old oil spills..)?? Not too often, I’d say. I think everyone should see it. Just go. For real…. What would Katniss do?

Fishy Coffee and Poo on the Shoe?? What Else Ya’ Got…

You know the children’s book “If You Give a Moose a Muffin”? I feel like that’s how my day was today – it was just demanding things and not giving anything back.

Here’s the newest version of “If you Give a Moose a Muffin”: “If You Give Meg A Good Night’s Rest”….If Meg get’s one good night’s rest in China, she’s going to want another. I feel like that’s a small request. Hoping to sleep well again, I took my usual bath in bug spray, closed the curtains, turned on the AC, and hopped in bed. It was going really well until 12:30, when an annoying, constant dripping sound woke me up. After turning on my light I realized there was a slight drip coming from my AC. So I turned it off, put a small blue cup under the drip, gave it a little rest, and then turned it back on and went to bed. The situation worsened at 1, when I was awoken by what sounded like a tropical rainstorm, pouring down onto my desk, computer, and fridge. Again, shut off the AC, tried all the different settings, and then rigged a fort strong enough to hold up my big blue bucket to catch all the water. Then, went to bed for REAL. Around 2 I started getting really hot.Turned the AC back on and a dripping pipe kept me awake in the kitchen… Fine. Shut it off for the night and went to SLEEP. I woke up with my blankets on the floor – of course I kicked them off, it’s 30 degrees here on a good day! My poor, poor legs paid the price. Bug bites. So. Many. Bug bites. Swollen, itchy, bleeding from scratching.. all because my stupid AC won’t stop crying. Those bugs were mocking me; laughing at me and my 7% deet. They probably eat that sh@# for breakfast! And they did, in fact, when I think about it. This is how my day began; bitten and tired.

At this time I’d like to add in a few more unfortunate events from today that really helps to build the character in “If You give Meg a Good Night’s Rest…” , the first being recess duty. As previously mentioned, I am not a mother and never have been. I am not used to forcing kids to eat, it seems like a natural thing to me. If you are hungry, you eat. In grade one, they just want to play. Makes sense. So they eat as fast as they can, and then go run as fast as they can. One of my students inhaled most of his lunch in a matter of minutes, followed me outside to the playground, and then ran, and ran, and ran, and ran. Moments later, he came to me with a glazed look in his eye, opened his mouth, and came within centimetres of puking on my foot. How do you clean that off the weird mesh playground mats they have outside? Well it’s not easy, I’ll tell ya that.

The second event is the disgusting worm I found in my lettuce today after I had eaten my salad. While washing the other half of the lettuce, out poked a thin, black, long, tangly worm. So long I couldn’t pull him out. He was all cuddled into the folds of the lettuce. Almost lost my lunch. At least the whole worm was there… not just half.  The third event, although it may seem small, did not improve my day in any sense of the word. The financial offices are on second floor, and they have cleaners. They were emptying the fish tank, and filling it with clean water. It was pretty dirty, I see it every

day. At this very moment, I was walking from the gate to the classroom, and got

rained on from above. What I can only expect was old fish tank water sprinkled all over me. On my arms, in my hair, in my coffee… It smelled…I smelled.

And last, but not least, while walking to my favourite sushi restaurant for a little pick-me-up, I stepped in poo on the sidewalk, while wearing flip-flops. It splattered all up the back of my light pink jeans. That pretty much sealed the day for me, but as usual the sushi was pretty awesome.

In conclusion, this entry was written to show my appreciation of the good days by acknowledging that this one sucked out loud. Really, I should say thank you. Looking back, this was actually a pretty tame day compared to some…so thank you, day, for sucking. You make my good days so much better, and my bad days so much more interesting.

Grade One Does the Zoo.

What. A. Day. There’s only so much a long, hot shower can do for a gal. Today was field trip day (take two, because it rained last week when we were really supposed to go). That means my class had one more whole week to be excited about going to the zoo. Yes, I will confidently admit that I was probably more excited than most of my students at the beginning of the day, but that wore off somewhere between the flamingos and the emu sanctuary.
Incase you didn’t know, Shenzhen has a big zoo, and not just ANY zoo. Oh no, it’s the Shenzhen SAFARI Zoo. They have safari animals there. Like lions and tigers, and even bears. For real! Not just because that’s how the song goes.
So the K-2 kids gathered up on a bus with hilarious tourist gear – visors with build in sunglasses,

umbrellas to keep off the sun, book-bags with wheels to cart around their lunches/water/snacks/weird things they pick up like dead leaves and brightly-coloured garbage. It was quite a scene. Anyways, keeping track of my class may have been the least stressful part of the day. Somehow, every one of my students lost their “buddy” and wanted me or the other chaperones to be their new buddy. It’s really hard to hold hands when you have a map of the zoo in one hand and someone’s drippy ice-cream in the other. I want to say that I was slightly prepared for the mental exhaustion, that I knew what it might be like at the zoo since I take care of these little beings all day long…but I’m not going to even pretend. I’ve never been a mother, but I think I get it now, Mom. Times sixteen. I have never heard my name spoken so many times in one day. EVER. Getting cheered for at a basketball game, playing sardines in the dark at the park, or even when someone jinxed me times a bajillion-and-one… This day takes the cake. I imagine, Mom, if you are reading this, you are nodding your head and laughing, and I don’t blame you. Kids are nuts! Way to go for staying *somewhat* sane with three.

So back on track, the zoo. It wasn’t too bad, there were lots of animals that looked well fed and kinda cared for. It’s too hot for bears here, and I didn’t like that they were there. The tigers were beautiful, and I also got to see a cassowary in real life. One fine day while roaming the Tablelands, I thought I was being chased by one of these babies – turned out to be a bush turkey, but nonetheless, was still scary. I also saw MORE sad puppies, this time with fleas and knotted fur :S. But we’re already been there, so I won’t drag you down again with all that nonsense. However, puppies at the zoo.. why?

At the end of the day, everybody was pretty tired out, but I think it was a good day. I even got to touch a dolphin for the first time – so did a few of my students. Then we all piled back into the bus (with no AC in 30 degree weather) and made it back to school. Nobody died, and I have a new appreciation for my mother and all the places she dragged my sisters and I when we were little. I would also like to apologize for the “Mom, Mom…..Nothing!” game. It seemed fun at the time. You can blame any wrinkles or grey hair on me, I think I may have earned a few of my own today.

Lightening Bugs and Fuzzy Pugs

This entry is Rated R: There’s a lot of ‘shit’ in it.

Lightening bugs from: http://thesatisfiedmind.wordpress.com/category/philadelphia/

Shenzhen is a funny place to live, if you haven’t picked up on that yet from my rants. And by funny, I don’t necessarily mean -HA HA- funny, although that is sometimes the case. Random things happen here often, things that you would never even pretend to plan. Yes, I do have an example coming up. Just you wait.

I’ve been pondering the origin of the name of this city in which I live: Shenzhen… I think part of the reason it was called Shenzhen is to stand for the Shit that Happens while you’re here (hence the SH, for those of us who need an explanation). Otherwise it may have been called Enzhen, or Tenzhen, or even Friend-zhen: a place where you get into the “friend zone” too quickly, perhaps. There is a lot of Shit that Happens: sad, happy, random, weird shit, you name it. It’s all over the place…like you may have read in my last entry. And then there’s always the more literal sense of that phrase, and those darned split pants that let “it” happen all over the sidewalks.

So more to the point:  The other night I was sitting at a restaurant called “Captain’s Bar”, enjoying the ocean breeze and the lighthouse, and eating delicious food with a few co-workers when my friend beside me jumped up and swatted what she thought was a cockroach. Luckily, I saw it before it disappeared, and was able to confidently tell her not to have the heebie-jeebies because it was not, in fact, a cockroach, but a lightening bug. Some prefer firefly, but lightening bug sounds way more mystical to me. So anyways, this little lightening bug reminded me so much of home, and the nights at the cottage we used to catch them in a jar, just like in the picture. This was the first time many of my friends had seen lightening bugs in China. Coincidence? I think not. This was a little message from Mom, maybe,  just flying in to saying hey… before being smacked to the ground. Or maybe from my friends who used to catch lightening bugs with me at the cottage. I just thought it was really cool how I can see reminders of home so far away. It’s random shit, and contributes to the “SH” in Shenzhen, in my opinion.

But the real reason that brought me to this blog, to write yet another entry about… nothing, really…was the event I experienced before my meal arrived (still at the place mentioned earlier). And for those who are wondering, I got penne shrimp Alfredo, and it was delicious. While I was patiently waiting, walking around taking pictures and patting the weird abundance of dogs that were running around the wharf, I spotted a man inside the restaurant with three tiny minions. A closer inspection led me to believe they were dogs of

some sort, although from far away they looked like mice, or small rats. Much cuter, up close. Some kinda cross between a chihuahua and a naked pug, perhaps? While we were petting them and watching them try to run with their stumpy little legs, a woman fromanother table came over and asked if they were for sale. She said she had been living in China for a while with her husband and other friends from Canada, and they were here teaching as well. After about half an hour, our meals had arrived, and the woman was still there with the puppies.

I guess the part that gets weird, for me anyways, is that she bought two of the pups. TWO. Not all three, and not just one, but two, leaving one all alone and sad. This is random shit. Who would plan to go  to a restaurant, eat yummy food, maybe have a few glasses of wine, and then buy a few puppies from a Chinese guy in worn out slippers and a plaid shirt. This is just so random to me, and again contributes to the ‘SH’ motto that is Shenzhen. On a positive note, at least they were still kickin’ this time. How do you even take care of a puppy in an apartment in China? There’s no fields, or grass. Maybe her apartment is just way better than mine, I guess I shouldn’t judge. And the dog’s were small, in her defence. That is just something I would not attempt while living here. How would you wash it?! In your shower? No

thanks, I already wash my lettuce there, weirdly enough. And there’s no tubs, no doggie places. Maybe she had this all figured out before she impulsively bought two puppies – who knows.What I do know is that the rest of the evening was filled with laughter and camera flashes form the other table, puppies drinking warm milk and getting cuddles, while their sad brother looked on from underneath the grill – clearly hiding from the cruel world around him. What a sad and weird dinner show to watch unfold while eating my alfredo. Typical, SHenzhen. I expected no less from you.

‘Nuff Said.

Sorry…. Love, The World.

Heartbreak in a Sunset - Kerry Kralovic

What in this world is sadder than a dead puppy, I ask you. (Editor’s note: Please don’t send me suggestions of things that are, in fact, more sad..It’s just an intro.. don’t get crazy.) Not very many things, and I don’t even want to think about it, actually. However, while exploring the depths of China today, that is exactly what I found. A sad, little, half shaven, no longer breathing, puppy. Laying in a cage with other puppies waiting to be sold. There were a few different “vendors” I will call them, because they weren’t anything close to what I would call a pet shop, along the street, all with different sized cats and dogs in tanks or cages, lifted up off the ground. Most of these poor little animals walk on the cages all day. Not many that I saw had any water, and I wondered if they would ever feel grass or get toy run in a big open field. Of course, maybe their life at night is peachy, and the vendor owner takes them for walks and brushes them and throws balls for them, and they’re extremely happy… but it doesn’t seem likely. Most of these dogs had either given up and were laying there in the heat, waiting to die, or were still fighting and yelping and trying to escape. The one that really was hard was the little yellow lab, just like my girls at home, but way too young to be away from his Momma. He was standing by the side of the cage, staring off into space. I went over to pat him – scratched his ears and talked to him, and he wouldn’t even wag his tail. He just gazed into space with the saddest look in his eyes. It practically killed me walking away. Who knows what he’s doing now, or where he’ll end up. And for the little puppy who wasn’t moving anymore…. what happens to him? Garbage can? Supper? I don’t know. I can’t tell which was worse, realizing that this happens every single day, or that there was nothing I can do, and it will happen again. I wanted to take every one of those animals home with me to live in my field, and apologize to them, from the whole freakin’ world. Sorry that was your life, beginning and end, I know you don’t deserve it. It’s just not right, and it makes me awful sad. I know usually my posts are sarcastic and exaggerated, but what I saw today had too much of an impact on my little heart to not share. So, if you do read this, send some positive thoughts to the little puppies, and the kittens, and the chicks, and the cats, and the dogs that I found in those cages today. Seems to me like they need someone thinking about them.

Heart attack moments, by Meg.

Today was an emotional roller coaster.  My friend and I went to Lohou near the Hong Kong border. People have been talking about this place since I got here, so I figured it was worth the trip. Basically, there’s a giant building dedicated solely to shopping, and I was ill-prepared for this experience, despite the warnings. At home, I am the first to admit I am not the greatest shopper. It’s hard for me to roam around a mall looking for items I would like – I am more of a target shopper, you might say. I need jeans, so I go in and get some, and then get out. I need to know what I’m going in for, I need a target. Maybe crowds make me nervous. I don’t know. But either way, you get my point.

So, this shopping centre is a few levels tall, 5 or 6 anyways, full of little shops filled with smaller shops, full of even more eenie-weenie baby shops (for mice – haha). From the moment we got off the subway and entered the building, people were yelling at me. “Buy my bags Miss, just looking Miss? Buy my watches, you like gucci Miss? Come see my DVD’s”… I took this one guys card who kept chasing, Eddy, thinking he would leave us alone and be satisfied. I said thanks, and we’d go later. But then he wanted to know where we were going next, and what we were going to eat, and walked around with us forever. He talked about his awesome bags, asking where wewere from, what kind of sunglasses we wanted to buy from him …and four levels later, he was still freakin there!! It was mentally exhausting, and all I got all frickin day was one stinkin pair of Toms. So this is the part where the roller coaster is slowly moving and you’re just getting tired of waiting, but driving yourself crazy waiting for something to happen.

Then it got better when Andrea and I made bruschetta and noonies for supper! Yaaaa. With my new-found attitude of getting things done, I travelled downstairs to my classroom and started re-arranging everything. That’s when I almost had a heart attack. Moving the desks around was easy enough. I also did not face too much difficulty piecing together the puzzle-mat in the comfy corner. It was those damn bookshelves. The first one, and I was almost finished. It’s not that the bookshelves are big, cuz they’re not; they’re built for my little Grade 1 minions. It was the giant, mother of all insects lazing around on the back of the bookshelf that almost ended my life today.

Had I been ready for this extremely exciting moment, I would have taken a picture, however, I was not, and did not. So instead I will be including some ridiculous

cockroach pictures because I’m going to bed, and son’t wanna think about that ugly thing right now. This thing was unlike any bug I have ever seen. Ever! And I’ve seen a lot of bugs.The dead cockroach in the kitchen is absolutely incomparable. Completely different species as far as I’m concerned. It was bigger than my hand, and I could actually see it’s hairy legs and white stripe  from the other side of my classroom – which is where I ran after I realized I was TOUCHING IT. *shudder* I don’t even remember what happened next, but I found myself wrapping my foot in paper so I could step on it. When I felt like I could see it’s heart beating I started thinking about it’s family, and why it was hanging out in my classroom – perhaps a fight with the wifey or bad news from the office… But then it started running and I got freaked out again, so naturally I drop kicked my bookshelf, hoping to crush my nemesis. That’s when it crawled into a little dark, hard-to-reach corner, like monsters do. It was approximately as big as this small child in a friendly cockroach costume:

So, with the help of Andrea, we pushed the whole freaking thing out of my classroom and down the hall. We lost it on the last kick, it climbed  over the wall and into the playground. Needless to say it was quite an eventful day, and I am entirely and completely, mentally and physically exhausted. Whenever the day comes that I am faced with a cockroach of that size in my apartment, I am moving back to Canada. Immediately.

*Roller coaster picture taken from: http://lighterportions.com/2010/06/09/i-have-a-blog/