About 3 Month

Its about 3 months now, in China.

Look, he's taking a picture of ME...while I am taking a picture of HIM...I guess we are both doing blogs...

Ya'an, the rainy city...and the cold city. This place rains a lot and is getting cold. My basketball playing days have been greatly numbered..."what a pity", as my chinese students would say.
In 3 months I have found a few more places to eat, more noodle shops, dumpling shops, and a Taiwanese restaurant. I really like the food here, but, it does start to get monotonous. My power occasionally goes out, usually for a very short time, the water was out for half a day, or something like that. My heater works good (only one of them) and thats GOOD. ITS COLD. And thus, I cannot hang my clothes out to dry! Oh, we do get about one day of sunshine a week. I think it's gov't sanctioned. That is usually when I scrable on my bike and get going to the mountains or countryside.

Since we dont have a clothes dryer, this is how i dry my clothes.

I can tell that I am getting used to China. As I go around town nothing strikes me as odd or strange, and I am used to people staring at me..I just stare back...It's normal to do such things...just dont put your shoe on a seat or a table...my students hate when i do that...so of course I do it ALL the time! haha. Besides the stair, I get the usual "hallloooooo", "how are you", and the "where are you from?"...and if I respond I get back the usual "ting boo dong" ( I dont understand).

The stares, especially when I venture out of town on my many bike rides can be quite long.
I usually will go off-roading, through the farm lands, where I think many are surprised to see me, especially the kids...sometimes chasing me for a while, after their initial shock and/or fear.
In my short time here I have been learning abit more about the culture, the people, my students. The students have it a little rough here. No heater in their dorms...electricity is cut at 11pm...that's right! Lights Out...11:30 on weekends, so the Powers-that-be do show their mercy! They do not have showers in their dorms, so they have to walk to some big building to take a shower... haha...that sucks. One thing I found funny is that besides the fact that so many of these students are coupled up...the usually pay dutch when they go out...they tell me its about equal rights...ha. How about that, u american women! I tell them that its usually opposite in America, and the guys fear...and the girls hope! Many of my students have siblings...i suppose because we are more rural out here, far from Beijing. Some of the students that do not have siblings had told me that one of their parents worked for the GOV, and if they had had a second child they would have lost their job. U know, PARTY stuff (communist party for u uninitiated).

As I ride around Ya'an, I see more of this...the locals are getting into the bike scene, and i have read some blogs of the chinese traveling far...just to travel. From what i understand, this is a rather new phenomenon.

I dont have many students, and don't know much about their family lives, but so far at least one of my students lost a sibling in the big earthquake that happened out here last year. Sichuan province has many mountainous parts, where many tibetans live. A few of the tibetan students that I know had told me about their homes collapsing with the earthquake...and then they laugh. Always the laugh. Not a big laugh, but a half giggle. Its quite funny to hear them talk about losing their house, and then laugh about it...I cant quite discern it. But one tibetan fellow laughs at most things...I think he (and they) are just easy going lads such as us so-cal people.
One student had told me that she had to get a part-time job, and said it was because her family had no money because they had to rebuild their house after it fell in the earthquake. Bummer. Hard to speak of any hardship I may have after listening to my students.

Yeah, and my chinese is coming along...even though i rarely study. I can now ask someone where they are going, what they are reading, give me the big bowl of noodles, and my name is Big Mountain with Flowers. U gots to have a chinese name.

At the Dam

Finally arriving near the dam.

The Bee Man. (if u look closely, u will see the bees)
I have seen quite a few, producing their own honey for sale...

Another house right by the river.

A view from the dam.

And the waterfall and the end of the journey.

On the way to the dam

Traveling through the countryside as in the above post, I sometimes hop on the road for quicker travel. This last time, for some odd reason, I kept getting challenged to race.
As I was riding, I came along side a guy probably in his 40's, and rode with him for a few seconds, and then sped off. About a minute later he had caught up with me, and was laughing and saying something ( i obviously couldnt understand). So I determined it was a race. China Vs. USA. I took it seriously. I cranked up the high gears and left him in the dust.
BUT...

Literally a few minutes later, a second challenger...
This little girl...No Kidding!
I had passed them earlier. I had slowed for a moment, and she came hauling Arse behind me...
Again, laughing and mocking me as she and her mom and sibling zoomed by me.
BUT...lets just say that the score was 2-0 in favor of the USA.


And then these guys wanted some.






Apparently this guy was their leader.






Look at him mad dog me!
BTW...notice that the 1 Child policy isnt in effect out here.

The Rural Land

Some pics of my travels through the countryside starting just about 5 km's from Ya'an.















Watering the plants.

















Many of these tombstones dot the countryside.






Some are right next to their homes.

















One type of house on the land.








The farmers have their local market on the weekend.
This place has been packed each time I've been there.
This is one of the less crowded streets.















The babies...

will one day be dinner.










Yum, Yum...Tofu.

Gettin' some food outside of Ya'an

I took a ride to a dam outside of Ya'an, and about 12 km out I stopped at what appeared to be a small restaurant. I'm not sure if it was, but I was brought food and beer...and then everybody proceeded to watch me. It was quite fun.  And, just like the last time I was out riding through the villages outside of Ya'an, I was treated to a free lunch. Hospitality is King around here...and friendliness of course. I guess that is why I  enjoy the rural countryside and the farmers, not to mention the beautiful landscape. It makes riding a real joy. 

I found Skippy

The Skippy I am referring to is the peanut butter. Sure, this sounds odd to YOU, but to me...a Big Day! And I just found some margarine also. Yeah, that's right, I am excited about the simple things of life. Oh, the things u westerners take for granted.

Remember, I am a couple hours from the BIG city, so there are few western items. Not that I need them, cuz the food is great, but it can get repetitive, so it's nice to find a nugget like this. Hey, I found a small block of cheddar cheese a week ago and I had thought I won the lottery! Tells you how my life is out here, eh? (jk)

I must say though, that I was told about a place that served Pizza, and I thought, "naww"...but it was said that it was probably "chinese pizza", whatever that means.
So recently I took a stroll down to this particular coffee shop that served the pizza, and also had a pot of milk tea...AND I WAS AMAZED! Either I really miss western food, or it was really really good. (I believe its the latter)

Here is my pizza and milk tea




I wanted to give a glimpse into my eating habits, and some pics of all the wonderful food I indulge in at the many restaurants, but I generally forget to take my camera with me. But, to hold you over for a while, here are a few pics of my local fast food eateries that I frequent quite often.

Here's my favorite Noodle shop...




















And here is breakfast...or lunch...or maybe dinner. But it comes with an egg, so I call it my breakfast sandwich place. Someone told me the sign says its korean...but ting boo dong. A piece of ham, an egg, on lettuce with some spices served between some bread...and if u take it home, you can put some ketchup on it...yummy.











Anyhow, its Awesome!! (did you notice they are all the peace signs...bunch of old hippie offspring out here, i tink?)

If u look closely, on your far left, the delicious chicken's feet...hmm hmm, and some other assorted chicken parts ( i hope...or dont hope, not sure...havent tried it and not gonna, HA)




And my local bakery. Not real big, but good, and nice people, like everywhere. And they speak my language....CHEAP.






And for those of you worried about me not having my Big Screen t.v. This is for you.

Check this bad boy out!
Does your uni have one of these??
I take my chair and park it out in front of this baby all night, with my noodles, and have a good 'ol time.








I just wanted to throw this one in for the hell of it.

The Temple Visit

Up the hills, through the mud and in the rain, I trudge on toward the temple on the mount. All the while, not realizing my brakes barely worked...making the day, specifically the downhill more interesting than usual (but i made it in one piece).



The views from half way up the mount to the temple.

After taking a few pics of the gods, I got hit up for a donation. I did my duty, and when on to find the temple. Quite nice little temple, lots of older ladies eating(maybe the nuns), offering me some food, and yelling at me a little bit (I took a pic or two of inside the temple, which I sorta figured out I wasnt supposed to do). So after a couple times getting scolded, it dawned on me that that was the problem. So away with the camera, and bit of glancing around, and I was off.

Below is a brief look at some of the statues and relics in the temple.