the ultimate frisbee accident

As mentioned in yesterday's post, we have been playing frisbee on a weekly basis. between the organized competitions, we often like to just toss the frisbee around near our apartments, which you can see from earlier pictures have several obstacles including trees and buildings. These obstacles had been fun to throw around and we would make jokes when the disk got caught in the tree and call it "tree-fense" (a play on words from defense- in case you didn't catch the joke) Recently however, the tree turned a little offensive and decided to redirect the disk into Will's eye. I threw a hard, fast one to him and he attempted to catch it, but at the last second when he tried to grasp it, it nick the tree and got redirected into his eye! Instantly, his eye swelled in a greyish-brown puffball about the size of my pinky finger!

What does Adam have cold in his room that might reduce some swelling? Beer of course!

luckily I keep one in the freezer at all times

Yay the swelling has gone down

Ultimate Frisbee

I have no idea why I have waited three months to talk about Frisbee!!! We have been playing twice a week since I got here in August!
Before I came to China, (small) Ben informed me that they play a lot of ultimate frisbee in China, and that it might be a good idea to buy some professional frisbees to bring with us since they are difficult to find and expensive here... So, I found some on Amazon and bought a pack of six, not knowing at that time that I would be getting such great use from them.
Every Thursday and Sunday at 3:00 pm, we meet at the west athletic (most neglected) field on the opposite side of campus.All four of the foreign guys and several Chinese students show up every week to play a spirited game of ultimate frisbee, a game that one could describe as a mix between frisbee and American football. for more information check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_frisbee

This has been a great experience and through it I have been getting very good at throwing and catching the disk.. Also, I have a bi-weekly opportunity to run around and burn off some steam!

万仙山 the mountain of 10,000 immortals

2 weekends-ago I went on a trip with the group of Australian teachers that are here (Tim is one of them but the other 16 are all in their late 50's or early 60's) we ventured up to 万仙山 (Wan Xian Shan). This name is something close to the mountain of 10,000 immortals. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit overcast and we were unable to fully take in the beauty of our surroundings... when the clouds cleared for a moment, the view was indeed breathtaking! Here are a few pictures... 

the river running thought the middle of the park

A small peek of the peaks that were all around us... 

we knew that rock structures like this were all around us the whole day, but  due to the  heavy concentration of dew, we were unable to obtain decent visibility of more than about 100 yards... tragic 

the path winding around the cliff... pretty luxurious conditions for a hiking trail in a poor province

Toby, Our German friend. In his bag is a GOOD camera. As I am writing this blog, I have been texting him to pester him about getting some of those pictures.... hopefully there will be some good pictures forthcoming (he assures me that he can manipulate them to make them more clear...

the way down. Yes, it is as steep as it looks! and yes, it was wet!

Care (survival) Packages!

A week ago I got a long awaited package from home containing some awesome essentials including coffee and some American foods that I cannot get here. This package was from Anissa and my parents. To them I say thank you! the coffee itself has been a lifesaver and the microwave mac n cheese has been a delicious treat and a welcome change from my normally cheese-free Chinese diet. I plan on using some of the other ingredients when we prepare our thanksgiving meal next week!

This Monday I received another package: a total surprise: From my grandmother... Inside was a large slice of heave: homemade and very very delicious cookies! WHAT A TREAT! I couldn't help but immediately eat one or 4... But to save me from myself, I have resolved to share. The best way to do this is to save these treats until thanksgiving when the other foreigners can also enjoy them. I also will be able to have a little part of my family there with me on that day. Also in the box was a shirt that has to be one of the funniest I have ever seen.. Its black with white writing on it that says "there, their, they're not the same" The perfect shirt for an English teacher! I showed it to the other English teacher who all instantly became jealous! Thanks grandma for the wonderful and thoughtful gift!!!

Crazy Sunday Part Two: New Bikes

Preface: relevant background

Since adopting the bicycle that I found under the stairs of the neighboring apartment, I have continued to have several problems with it... First I replace the tires, then I replaced the seat, then the chain kept falling off. For a while it was falling off every time I rode it, I would fix it and then ride cautiously and pray that it would not fall off again. Finally one time when it came off, the chain snapped and came apart. So,,,, I had to go get the chain fixed... Then the peddle broke, I had it replaced, a week later, it broke again, I had it replaced... Finally when I thought I had everything in order, the chain started having problems... Needless to say, I have become quite sick of it... 

Since arriving, I have been going through withdrawal from not riding my motorcycle. Furthermore, I have been fascinated by the electric bicycles that many people are riding around. I thought, wow It would be cool to get one of those. In the back of my head for the last month or so, the desire to get an E-bike has been slowly growing! After discussing my desire to get an E-bike with Tim, he said "Heck Yes! Lets Do it!" so we did!

Crazy Sunday continued:

We left the hotel and jumped in another cab and headed to the new campus to meet with a friend of mine (Aaron), who had told me that he would help me buy an E-bike if I wanted to get one... After finding him we jumped on a bus and went to another part of the city where there is a street with about 10 E-bike shops right in a row... We did some shopping and found some bikes that we liked. Aaron was sure that he would be able to bargain the price down a little bit, but we would have to go through a little bit of theatrics first... We had to pretend that we were not interested and we had to pit two neighboring shops against each other.. After it was all said and done Aaron cut the price from 2200 RMB to 1800 (280 US) a savings of about 20%

Let me tell you... these things are cool! it is about the same size and style as a small bicycle, but in addition to peddles, it also has a battery. On battery power only, the bike can do a max speed of about 30 mph and go a range of about 25 miles on one charge!!!! it is easy to remove the battery and bring it in for charging or to simply plug it in while it is on the bike. --- It sure is a fun and convenient way to travel around the city. Since getting the bike, I have been riding around the city a bit more and checking things out... My only regret is that I did not get this baby the moment that I got here and that I waited 2 months before giving in to my desires!

Crazy Sunday Part One: Breakfast

For the past several weeks, Tim had been bugging me to go with him to the 5-star international hotel at the other side of the city to eat the continental breakfast buffet that he claimed was just excellent. Finally, last week I gave in and woke up at 7 (entirely too early for a Sunday) to go to check the place out... We took a cab to the hotel and the moment we got out, a doorman handed us a card. It had a number on it and it said in English and Chinese: this is your cab number and company, if you are dissatisfied with your service from the cab, please let us know and the hotel will complain on your behalf...

We walked through the revolving doors and into the immaculate lobby. Instantly the odors of a western breakfast filled my nostrils: sausage, potatoes, eggs and.... BACON!!!! Tim and I continued toward the smell and descended the winding staircase to the restaurant area where we were greeted in English and taken to our table. The dining area as beautiful... The one wall was completely glass that overlooked a garden with reflecting pools and flower arrangements. Beyond the garden lies a large lake..

the food itself was also stupendous! Everything that Tim had promised and more! He and I feasted on delicacies of meat, important cheese and western pastries and sipped juice and coffee for the better part of two hours before we finally had our fill. We paid the bill: 70 RMB per person (high for China but cheap for America: about 10 USD) and left the hotel where our day would become more and more interesting...

To be continued....

The International Band

Recently, I have been spending a lot of time with Tim, the Australian teacher from another department. I found out a few weeks ago that he plays guitar and that he is indeed pretty good. A few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to see for myself. Near new campus, we found a music shop that also has practice rooms in the back of the shop, in one of the rooms, there is a a complete band set-up including a drum set, amplifiers and microphones. Someone was practicing in there at that time, but we managed to convince them to let us come in and mess around for a little bit... I sat behind the drums and Tim picked up the guitar. Toby (the German), who was also there, picked up the bass. What happened next was magical... Tim fingers moved majestically and the intro of Sweet Child of Mine started blaring through the speakers.... I picked up and followed him and we rocked out for a few minutes. It had been almost 3 years since I played with a guitarist and the first time since Korea that I played with studio equipment. IT FELT GREAT...

To make a long story short, we have since resolved that we will start and an international band we already have an American, an Australian and a German, now all we need is a Chinese singer!!! I think that we are planning to play every Thursday and maybe prepare something to perform in the future!

Catch Up Time: Halloween Party

First of all, I would like to apologize for the massive lapse of time since my last my blog post.... I have been super busy lately (I will talk about this in later posts, that I will type now but schedule them for coming days) Right now I will catch you up with what has been going on in the meantime...

I believe that I left off with the lead-up to the Halloween party... Wow, that was more than two weeks ago! (Sorry) We had the party in the zoo behind my apartment. before the party, Ben and I strung some Christmas lights out of his window and looped them through the trees and around the fence... This was quite a difficult endeavor and actually took the better part of an hour to accomplish because of faulty strands and an accident with a strand being sliced in two by a slammed window.. (small) Ben's fault, not mine. (sorry Ben)

for the actual party we each decided that we would invite only 4 Chinese in order to keep the number low and manageable. This worked out pretty well and we had about 40 in attendance. The teachers were the only ones that took the idea of costumes seriously and most of the students showed up with only masks. For party activities it was decided that each person would take charge of one game or 'event.' We had bobbing for apples, pin the face on the Jack-o-lantern, mummy wrapping(mine), guess who I am (pin a name on someones back and they have to ask questions to figure out who they are) and scary story time... I also played some music and encouraged the students to dance, which was quite a challenge.

--- What's funny is that in China, everyone loves to sing and is encouraged to sing, even in public. Everyone sings and it very often I am asked to sing in class or at English corner. Even if the performer is awful, as I am, they feel no self consciousness and just belt it out. However, when I ask people of they like to dance, they say "no, I can't dance, I am embarrassed! I want to say "You can't sing either, but do it anyway!"---

Anyway, we foreigners had a great time and I believe that the students did as well... Although the Chinese Halloween experience was completely different from the last four I experienced at Akron, it was still a great time.... Whats odd is that I had never bobbed apples before coming to China... I found out that it is extremely difficult, but after holding my breath and dunking my head completely under the water to wedge the apple against the side of the basin, I was able to succeed!