More about the Bike (below)

So... this bike thing ... it was absolutely necessary. I craved a bike harder than pregnant women crave extra creamy double chocolate chip triple fudge swirl ice cream. And, thanks to my new friend, Lisa, I have one.

Lisa was soooo patient, visiting four different bike stores before returning with me to the first one to buy my sweet blue angel. (If it is not bleached out by the angelic rays, you will note that "Sweet" is inscribed right on the frame. It knows itself.)

Now Lisa and I can easily go to the market in Tangjia together -- which will, I think, be a happy accent brightening my collage of experiences here yet more. Walking there is fun, but not convenient. Biking there is not only convenient time-wise, but also in terms of transporting purchased goods back home. The bike has both a huge basket on the front and a rack on the back with a clip that holds a bag overflowing with greens tight to the back of my seat.

Ahhhh. I feel free in a way I didn't know I needed to be freed. It is the same way I felt when I was on the island vacationing with Serge and Lisa -- I didn't know how badly I wanted it until I had it. It is a good way to be -- all the relief with none of the prefatory pain.

Today's experiences reminded me of how happy I am to be in China with a small but growing knowledge of Chinese. I have made a new rule that is already showing benefits. If I directly teach someone English, they have to teach me some Chinese. I taught one of my students to say "stay balanced" rather than "make it balanced" when she asked if I could "make it balanced on a bike." In return, she taught me a complete sentence for ordering water: "Qing song shui yi tong shui dao rong yuan yi hao, wu ling si. 请送一桶水到榕园一号， 五零四。(Please bring one jug of water to Rongyuan 1, apartment 504.)"

My first attempt at ordering water was "women yao shui. 我们要水。(We need water!)” Then, when the guy on the other end of the line said something other than "nali? 哪里？(Where?)" -- which is what I was hoping to hear. I was thrown off, and just kept repeating our address, and saying "ni keyi lai ma? 你可以来吗？(Can you come?)". He hung up on me.

I later found out that the water delivery guy complained about my poor Chinese to the office. They taught me to say "qing song shui dao rong yuan yi hao, wu ling si. 请送水到榕园一号， 五零四。 (Please bring water to ....)" but even this did not appease the delivery man. The next time I spoke with him on the phone, and used this nice little sentence, he still said something I did not understand to which I was supposed to respond. So all I could say was, "Duibqi, ting bu dong. 对不起， 听不懂。 (I'm sorry, I didn't understand.)" He hung up on me with a very audible huff.

I now think that he was asking whether I wanted just one jug of water (what else would he ask???), so my student's sentence should solve the problem. We are low on water, so I can tell you tomorrow if the water saga is over.

By the way, speaking of resolved sagas (Whoohoo! A palindrome! In my blog!), I meant to post this story a while ago:

Waaaaaaay back on the 9th, I mentioned that I had bathroom photos to share but couldn't find them. Well, here is one:

The important feature you should notice is the Western style toilet in place of a hole in the ground. This distinction has been greatly appreciated by all in this apartment (although the holes in the ground really are not all that bad...).

In fact, the limited use of such toilets in this country means there is not much competition to spur on the design of toilet seats. This is the most uncomfortable toilet to sit on, even just for a minute, than any domestic toilet I have ever used. I am actually considering buying a toilet seat pad for it -- something I wouldn't have expected to want for myself long before dentures and hearing aids (both of which are clearly uncommon among the elderly of Zhuhai, despite what appears to be equal need as in the States).

So, I actually went out and bought that pad today. In hopes of making it as acceptable as possible to my roommate, I bought a pink one.

The toilet seat cover did not make the bathroom darker. The fact that I took this picture at night did. It's a perky seat, though, don't you think?

New Bike!

Yay! I got a new bike today!

I had been holding out for a used one since new ones are targeted for theft, but I really really wanted one sooner rather than later. This may just a 3oo yuan lesson in patience if it is stolen...

Anyhow, for a bit less than $50, I got a new bike with a huge mesh basket, a sturdy rack over the back tire (sturdy enough to carry passengers), a permanent lock adjoined to the frame, a chain to attach the bike to a bike rack, splash guards over the front and rear tires, a chain guard to keep my pants from getting caught in the chain, and a 2-year service guarantee. I bought the bike on campus, and the bike shop is just across the street from my apartment, so I think it will be convenient to go for a fixer-upper if anything goes wrong.

Doesn't it look simply angelic?

Air-conditioner Repair

I love this country. It is an experience. Did I ever mention seeing the guy working with a blow torch wearing only a cardboard mask held on my his eye-glasses, which poked through the perfectly cut lens holes in the cardboard?
Well, today, a new safety measure beat that one by at least a mile. Carrie's air-conditioner broke. The repairman, an assistant, and Jason -- a student who often helps us in the STI office -- used a nice big rope tied around the repairman's waist to prevent him from falling to a splattery death when he climbed out the kitchen window during the windy pre-storm of Typhoon Hagupit to replace a tube in the broken unit. At times, the wind was so strong that it sent a few dishes flying out the kitchen door into the sitting room of our apartment. And, yes, I got a little of the excitement on tape, but I suck at filming, so I got the least eventful moments on tape. (Isn't it funny that I still use the term "tape" even though I have used digital cameras exclusively for years?)

Oh... and you'll have to crane your neck a bit. I don't have editing software to rotate videos. Oops.

For those with bad backs, here is a picture of the repairman preparing to head out:

Typhoon Hagupit

I don't know which language can be thanked for the name of the typhoon that is making its way to me as I write (A typhoon has ripped apart the Phillipnes and is making its way towards many millions of people, yet I manage to place myself at the center of the universe and assume it is directed at me? Only in my blog – aka, my universe – would I indulge such a sentence. I am only so self-centered.), but I am told that I should prepare for Typhoon Hagupit.

Editing note: I was uncomfortable not researching the name “Hagupit.” A quick googling returned this: “The storm's name means to lash in Tagalog, the main language of the Philippines, according to the Hong Kong weather agency, which lists names used for tropical storms and typhoons formed in the northwest Pacific.” Thank you, Bloomberg.com.

So, what constitutes "preparing?"

Food: Oatmeal. Lots and lots of oatmeal in sealed plastic bags. Of course, to eat oatmeal, I will need hot water. No fear! I have a propane tank hooked up to a couple of gas burners, so even if there is no electricity, I will have cooking power. But, um... I have never checked to see if there was actually an propane in the tank... (*time ticks away while I hop up to check the propane tank in the kitchen. Shake shake swish swish. Thank God for onomatopoeia. There is something swishing in the tank. I will assume it is a usable fuel of some sort.) But now I have to go buy some matches.

Location: I am on the fifth floor of a building into which even minor rainfall easily trickles by way of the doors. Extensive mold and paint chipping off of certain areas of the walls indicates that the windows aren't too proofed, either. And I have no clue where to go if I need to evacuate. Yay.

Water: I have a two gallons of water to split between myself and my roommate. Maybe I'll go buy a few extra bottles at the store while I get those matches.

Flashlights: My phone acts as a flashlight, and I am told my smile can light up a room. Of course, I may not feel like smiling quite as much if I am really in need of a light.

Contacts: My phone is charged, and I have about 50 contacts in China and the States I can contact who speak excellent English and kind of like me, so maybe one of them could help if I were really in a bind. I wonder how many people I will be competing with for phone time, though.

Insurance: Eek.

P.S. Mom -- Seriously, don't worry. It's just a hurricane. While it is likely to throw, amongst other things, sticks and stones, I am going to take a wild guess that it will break no bones of mine, and, at worst, I will have to conduct classes tomorrow in a slightly wetter classroom than usual.

The Spiders Waldo

I cannot deny it. I am a people-pleaser. Maybe I am not very good at being one, but I am one all the same. So when Serge asks where the pics of the spiders are, I cannot help but immediately begin uploading what photos I have of the hand-sized monsters we saw on the island. There are actually several stories yet untold about our trip to the island, but blogging just takes so much time, and I have so many students...

I am now more thankful than ever for the helpful comments my professors made on my papers back in high school and college. I write notes to every one of my students... and, wow. It takes forever. They obviously internalize what I say, though. I can tell especially when students misunderstand me. Example: I told one student that she needed to include a space after periods and commas. Another student overheard but misunderstood what I said; she turned in a paper into which she edited extra spaces -- before every comma and period. I have the two drafts of the letter. I can see that she consciously made this change. It makes me very conscious of my role as a teacher, and it helps me take that role very seriously in ways that I would not have expected myself to. I took Craig's advice and made a rubric by which I grade -- because I know students will compare their work, and I want to have clear reasons for having given every grade I did.

But all of this is not getting you any closer to seeing the pictures of the island spiders. These guys were hanging off of trees and chilling in lamp posts. I never had to deal with almost walking into one accidentally, but, if I had, I think I would have been ready to swim back home rather than wait for a boat. I obviously learned nothing from my geology forays, indicated by the fact that I provided no scale to allow you to see how large these spiders were. (Actually, I did think to provide scale, but I was too afraid of the consequences of getting myself or anything else near those 4" long legs and 1/2" chelicerae. I mean, I asked Serge to stand in front of them, but was he willing to sacrifice just a little bit for the noble cause of science? Noooooo....)

This spider I named Waldo.

Can you find him?

There he is!

And he has a sister, also named Waldo.

Mid-Autumn Fireworks

I mentioned before that I did not take time to appreciate the moon on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. I was out under the stars, perfectly poised to say hello to Cheng'e -- the astonishingly beautiful goddess who lives up there -- but I was watching Japanese and British fireworks on a Portuguese-style party cruise boat instead. (Yes, now it all makes sense.)

I got some pictures of the fireworks and casinos -- an integral part of the great historical Moon Day, I am sure -- that I want to post before I completely forget their existence.

The fireworks below are making their appearance over the bridge that connects Zhuhai to Macau. Once I get all of my paperwork processed, I can walk over that bridge and come back.

And this is the bit of Gongbei that is probably trying to appeal to all those people who want to go gamble in Macau, but (like me) cannot:
Where was the moon in all of this? I really don't remember looking at it even once.

On the Island of Dongao

A beloved friend has just sent me a photograph of herself with her road bike on a beach with small mini-islands in the background. It was a beautiful picture, and it reminded me of how much I have wanted to share the beachful aesthetics of Zhuhai in both stories and pictures.

As shown on a map several posts ago, Sun Yat-sen University is along a beachside road called Lovers' Lane. "Why don't I have any such beautiful pictures of the beach just across the road?" I asked myself. Because it is close. I can take pictures anytime, therefore, I never do. But, when I went to Dongao Dao with Serge and Lisa, I remembered to take a pic or two.

---- I was interrupted in my writing by several events, one of which being this: My roommate had a student ask her whether "Wewin" would be an appropriate English name. Carrie responded that it would look foreign and often be mispronounced, but that the student could have whatever name she wanted. Carrie went on to list other names the student could choose from based on the letter that student had been assigned (when? where? by whom? I don't know) as the first letter of her name. F... Francesca, Felicity, Fanny, Fuschia...
The email Carrie got in response said that Wewin was not currently able to read his email, but he would get right back to her.
I can hear it now. "Mr. Felicity Wang -- will you please come to the front desk. Mr. ... (*whisper whisper Are you sure it's a guy? Okay...) Mr. Felicity Wang, please come to the front desk."

Actually, girls commonly take masculine names here with full knowledge of how sexed David, Ivan, and Frank are. Sunny and Cloudy know why I want them to sit next to each other in class, and Silently remarks (quietly) on how well she chose her English name. But I don't think that 未风 (Weifeng / Wewin) is going to like the selection of names given him this morning. Perfectly good names, but probably not for a guy who wanted something along the lines of "we are the champions" for his first name.

Sooooooooo....
Let's return to the regularly scheduled programming:

The island I vacationed on during Mid-Autumn Festival (or, just before it) was small enough to walk around in a few hours. It had papaya trees and banana trees growing like sunflowers in Westerville -- not a strange sight, but also not terribly prolific.

I didn't even know that this is what a papaya tree looked like, so,
Thanks, Lisa, for pointing it out!

Our hotel was on a hill overlooking the port into which we sailed. (Is sailed the right word if you come in by a motorized boat? "...the port into which we motorized?") The stairs on the way up to the hotel got me pretty excited --- they looked so old and provincial that I remembered as I seldom do to pull my camera out and snap away a few views. Hence, the next batch of pics.

Wouldn't these stairs inspire you to take a few photographs?

Here is the view from the hotel room. I was rather pleased, but I actually spent the least time enjoying it. We spent most of our two days walking around or playing at the beach. Serge and Lisa did some Kung Fu (which is said "gong1 fu1" by the Mandarin speakers I have heard) exercises out on this patio, but I must have been busy sleeping inside, because I missed out on that action.

Zhuhai is known for its seafood; this island must be known for its contribution to Zhuhai's dried seafood market because everywhere we went, there were fish hang-drying. That bench-like apparatus near the center of the picture is covered in small fish, but that was not the kind of sight that really struck me. It was when fish were hanging from door posts and motorcycle handles that I was impressed by the locals' dedication to drying fish in all places, all the time.

Our longest walk, which was only supposed to be a brief detour on our way to the beach, took us to a hotel with a spiral staircase leading up to a lookout tower. I was hot and sweaty and ready to swim, but I still took the opportunity (at Serge's persuasion) to go up to the tower and see whether our lengthy trek during the hottest part of the day had been worth it. You can tell me whether it was:

I got this photo of the port. Our hotel is, I think, one of the furthest buildings to the left.

The hotel we walked to had a beautiful little green space...

... and some strange decorations, like a humongigous ink pot:

The primary attraction of the hotel -- the one that convinced us to take the detour -- was the "Spring of Sun." Like every other English translation on the island, this was a misleading one. It meant to say something along the lines of "Spring That Will Bring Women Who Visit It a Son," which can be quite the selling point in China.

So, of course, there was a Guanyin statue with a baby boy in her lap,...

... and the spring ...
... neither of which made me any more confident of the sex of my potential child(ren).

I am happy we spent the night on that island. It was the night before Mid-Autumn Festival, and I forgot to appreciate the moon once I got back to Zhuhai. Fortunately, Lisa, Serge, and I stopped to enjoy the moon rising over an island peak the night before everyone else took their good long look at the moon; so, with what may be described as an American mentality, I could claim that we beat everyone to it. We enjoyed the moon before it was full, when others thought it flawed. Of course, then I have to admit that the moon has been celebrated every autumn in China for over a thousand years... so, I don't even win my own game.

But, I got a picture out of it =)