Happy 4th of July Everybody

Does China have a fourth of July? Of course it does and it is today. Unfortunately, they aren't celebrating the day in the fashion I am used to--bbq with friends, time at the lake, or something equally fun. I won't let that hold me back though. We ran into some American students at our hostel last night and they asked about our plans for the day. I'm on vacay so of course I have no plans. They suggested we must 'represent' and get together on the beach and indulge in some American-style fun. I am sure Chinese firecrackers will be involved. Ironic...

40 Reasons Why My Folks Are Awesome

Hi Mom and Dad- Happy Anniversary! I am sorry to not be there with you this year, especially considering the momentous milestone. Forty years together is amazing! I want you to know that I love you both and appreciate all you have done to make our lives happy and fulfilled. I am proud to have parents like you who have supported me through all my crazy endeavors. Most of all, you have set a great example for both Chris and I. Way to go on reaching the big 4-0. We will celebrate as soon as I get home and recover from jet lag. Love you both- Dawny

Brief Glimpse at Shanghai

Here are a few shots of Shanghai (sadly I didn't shoot much in this city). One of the interesting places I did get to see was the Oriental Pearl Tower. It is the 3rd tallest radio/TV tower in the world. There is an observation deck at the top that has a plexi-glass floor. It freaked us all out a bit but we walked on it anyone, making the assumption that the construction must be sound. I am not sure why we assumed this since we had seen some funny construction practices throughout our journey. In Beijing, for example, we watched crews plant electric poles throughout a neighborhood and then just fill in the hole around the pole with only dirt--no cement. The day after we braved the Pearl Tower's glass floor we saw that a building in Shanghai had fallen over. It did not collapse- it simply fell over. Check it out.

An Apple a Day Helps When I Am Away

One of my favorite things about my Mac is the iChat program. I have been able to video chat with Noel at least once a day (when the internet is happy) which makes the time away a lot easier to bear. I got to chat with him one day while he was with his family. Here is a Garcia family portrait I took that day.

Swine Flu Be Damned!

Did I mention the precautions the Chinese are taking to avoid swine flu? It all started in LA where I had a 5-hour layover on my way to China. Almost every Chinese person in the international terminal was wearing a surgical mask. The biologist in me scoffed a bit at this and wondered if they actually believed their surgical masks would protect them from the dreaded swine flu. Some of the masks looked pretty high tech so I am sure they did their research and found the best possible protection from the looming threat that we now call H1N1. On a side note, it seems a bit ironic that my first trip to China was shadowed by the threat of swine flu when some years ago I almost went to China with Noel for his job and the trip was cancelled due to SARS. Back to the point: my masked comrades and I boarded the plane anyway- swine flu be damned! I must say that you are never more aware of your bodily functions until you spend 14 hours sitting next to a masked stranger who looks at you with dread every time you cough. Forget coughing—try sneezing a hundred times like I do. I thought they were going to make an emergency landing just to get me out of the plane. I can also tell you that 14 hours does not pass quickly in a plane. I have never been so happy to land in my whole life as I was when we arrived in Shanghai. I was so ready to get off that plane but something was not quite right. No one was moving. Then an announcement- no one could exit the plane until they had their temperature taken. I didn’t think they were serious, but let me tell you they were more than serious. Two guys boarded the plane in full hazmat uniforms and some sort of gun-like apparatus.- not kidding. Turns out it was a thermometer that read your temperature by shooting a laser at your forehead, which I must admit was pretty cool. Even cooler was that we were all deemed ‘normal’ and were allowed to enter the country. Woo Hooo! Everyone thought the threat was behind us once we got a few days under our belts in Beijing but on day two of our class our hotel was notified by the Central Government’s Health Department that some of our classmates needed to report their temperature, twice a day for seven days, to make sure they were not infected. These particular students flew out of San Antonio, which the Chinese figured to be a hotspot for swine flu. It all seemed a bit a comical but true. So, the long and the short of it…the image you see here is me, Kelly, and Mike wearing the surgical masks that Mike was given by the government (he was one of the sickies who flew in from SA). The masks were included with a package that include a thermometer, spreadsheet for recording his temp, and surgical masks to wear if he felt so inclined. We all got a kick out of it…thought you would too. Whatever they are doing is working I guess. None of us have swine flu.

On the 8th Day, God Created the Hostel

Big Chinese apologies to my good friends who are following my adventures via the blog. I realize I have been MIA for a while now. I am taking a little vacay now that class is over so I am making it goal to catch up on the blog. I left Shanghai on Wednesday morning (7/1) and took an 18-hour train ride to Qingdao (pronounced Chingdow). I am joined by two classmates, Kelly West and Mike Melanson. Qingdao is a beach town and famous as the home of Tsingtao beer (which coincidentally has become one of my favorite cheap things in China- also pronounced Chingdow). We are doing budget vacay and staying at a pretty cool hostel that used to be a church. Best of all, it is only about $8 a night for each of us. Staying in a former house of God seems to be a trend for me and my travels. I have stayed in either a former convent or church in Puerto Rico, Prague, and now China. I feel like there is a fourth on the list but it is not coming to me right now. Perhaps too much Tsingtao in Qingdao?

Schools Out for the Summer

Well, we are officially done with school. In fact, most of my classmates are already back home in the fabulous US of A. My last week of class in Shanghai was a tuff one. I had a nasty cold that put me out of it for while and then I spent the remaining time catching up on my class work. I didn’t really get a chance to do much reporting in Shanghai (since I was typhoid Mary) so my last two stories I finished in Shanghai were reported on from either Beijing or Xi’An. If you haven’t already, take a look at chinaonthemove.net. I have one written story called A Chance Encounter with the Book of Changes and I created a multimedia piece about a rural farmer named Li. If you go to my travel blog on the class site you will see both of these. These will be my last two big posts on the class website. I am supposed to write some after thoughts and those will go up sometime in the near future. For now, however, consider school out.

While you are at our class site you should also watch the “Where's the Tobaggan” video. This is a chronicle of our (Caitlin, Alice, Kelly, and me) adventures on The Great Wall.