Seattle-bound!

We had a splendid end to our eleven-month journey abroad! We woke up at a reasonable hour, ate breakfast while talking with a fellow resident of the B&B; grabbed a train into Portsmouth; toured the HMS Warrior (which was built in 1860), HMS Victory (Lord Nelson’s flag ship at the Battle of Trafalgar), and the only surviving British WWII submarine; saw a cheesy movie about the British Royal Navy fighting modern day pirates; had a fantastic cream tea at café in the museum complex; rode on a water taxi; and just scratched the surface of what we could have seen in Portsmouth. All in all, it was a fabulous day and we feel good about how our travels have finished.


Now it’s off to bed because tomorrow will be a long day filled with trains, planes, and automobiles and we've got an early wake-up time!


Can't wait to see everyone again!

Liphook, Day 1

Lovely Liphook

And now we’re back in the UK! Yesterday, Jean-Jacques and I got up early and left Orval at around 8AM to drive to Caen so we could check-in our rental car. Before we could return the car, we had to fill it up with gas, but it took forever to locate a gas station and we almost missed our drop-off deadline; however, we did managed to get it in on time. 


We then took a taxi to the Brittany Ferries, where we caught a high speed catamaran across the English Channel to Portsmouth (where we saw the HMS Victory). Once on land, we took a train from Portsmouth to Liphook, where we’re staying for three nights in a lovely B&B.


Today we walked about two miles to a steam-powered amusement park called Hollycombe with traditional carnival rides and organs. We went on the Ferris wheel, but Jean-Jacques was terrified during the entire time, so I went on a couple of rides on my own. There was a restaurant on the grounds, so we had lunch and cream tea. Also, there was a beautiful garden that we sat and read in for about half and hour. On our way "home", we took a forest trail instead of walking on a teeny road without a shoulder and got lost for a bit, but eventually made our way back to Liphook. 

Train at Hollycombe

For dinner we got Chinese take-out and watched TV to relax after our busy day. 
I’m not completely sure what the plan is for the last day of our trip, but we might be going to tour the HMS Victory in Portsmouth. Or maybe we’ll do something completely different!

Final days in Orval

Strangely enough, this will probably be my last blog post from France. I can’t believe it, but tomorrow is our last full day here. The past week has been such a blur that I don’t remember exactly what we’ve done daily, but I can tell you that we’ve eaten some great traditional French meals, wandered around Coutances, visited an ancient abbey, toured a castle owned by Steve Forbes, and relaxed in our rental. The weather has been terrible lately, so we get wet if we do much outside.

In many ways I’ll be sad to leave France. Yes, there have been some times when I’ve been frustrated by the cultural differences, but I’ve learned that we can look beyond our dissimilarities and respect one another for what our two cultures have contributed/continue to contribute to the world. I can see how Americans could annoy the French and I understand how the French can irritate us at times; we simply view the world differently. My world view, as an American, isn’t any better than that of the French; it’s simply more comfortable to me and I’m proud of it, but I can also respect France.

Here are some photos from our trip. During the rainy weather, I’ve had time to do some much-needed work on processing so now I’m caught up and ready for all the photos I'm going to take at Isabelle’s wedding.

Enjoy!

View from a garden in Coutances

Garden in Coutances

American D-Day Cemetery 

Omaha beach

View from outside "our" stables

Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel

Château

Sainte-Mère-Église 

Château

Château de Pirou

The mighty beach tractors

Bayeux

Inside a church

P.S. For our final leg of our trip, we’re driving to Caen, dropping off our rental car, taking a taxi to the coast, riding on a speedy ferry to England, catching a train, spending three nights in Liphook, and flying home from Heathrow airport on Tuesday, July 26. It’s been a splendid trip; it was the perfect way to decompress after our school year in China.

More from McDonald's

Sadly, the internet is still out at our place, but we've been told that it should be back up soon. I'm not holding my breath.


Here's an update:


Monday
It was another splendid day of touring in the La Manche region of France. We woke up rather late, decided to take a hike, but ended up doing some other fascinating things instead. We drove through a number of small seaside towns, visited a couple of different beaches and walked for a long time on one (we’re planning to go back to it because there weren’t many people and the water was surprisingly warm). During the drive, we found a bird sanctuary so we thought about explore it; however, it turned out to be an example of France’s bureaucracy in action because the only birds we saw were seagulls, the “sanctuary” had 4-wheeling tracks running through the middle of it and the “path” we walked on was a service road. (No, I’m not exaggerating; it really was that bad.)



We made dinner for ourselves and are going to call it an early night. Tomorrow we’re heading to Bayeux to see the tapestry and hopefully find some good food. Maybe our taste-buds have drastically changed after ten months in China, but we’ve been sorely disappointed by the food here for a number of reasons (yes, the bread is good, but we can make almost the same stuff at home). First, we can’t find any open restaurants when we want to eat. Second, some of the cheese we’ve bought at farmers’ markets hasn’t been very good. Third, we like variety (Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, etc) in our food and we haven’t been able to find much of it. Third, the quality of some food has been poor and simply hasn’t tasted great to us.


Tuesday
The weather was horribly rainy, so we decided to postpone the Bayeux trip until the weather got better. Instead, we drove to Cherbourg to visit La Cité de la Mer which hosts a French nuclear submarine and an aquarium. My patience was almost used up by the time we entered the exhibits because it took an hour of waiting in line to purchase tickets; I don't know why it took so long, but the ticket-takers could have benefitted from a course in efficiency. (When I get frustrated by the French, which happens a little more than I would care to admit, I have to remind myself that I'm in a different country and I'm experiencing culture shock again. Though I'm in a western country, I'm still not home.)


The submarine was fun to visit, even though it was packed. We had a guided audio tour that explained many of the essential parts of the ship and we shuffled along the deck with a long line of other tourists.


After the submarine, we wandered around the aquarium and various other exhibits. I enjoyed it, but I think that aquariums I've visited in the States and Canada have been a little more interesting. You honestly can't beat Seattle's Aquarium. 


Wednesday
The weather cleared up enough so we could make the trip to Bayeux and enjoy walking around the streets of the old city. (Bayeux is special because it was one of the few cities in Normandy that was spared from the WWII bombings.) We ate a genuine French lunch at a small restaurant before heading to the tapestry. (Sadly the Petit Norman was closed.) Of all the places I've visited, I'd have to say that the tapestry was probably the most exciting. It was stupendous to see a thousand-year old object that we could understand; as Jean-Jacques pointed out, it shows a lot about human nature that we could look at something so old, but be able to identify with it. 


We had audio guides for the visit and it explained the tapestry's story. There were tons of people, but they didn't detract from the viewing. The anatomically correct horses were probably the most hilarious part of the experience. 


Thursday
We were both exhausted, so we took a rest day even though it was Bastille Day. There were a few outdoor parties we could have attended, but we didn't have the energy or desire to participate, so we stayed home and watched the Tour de France instead. 


Friday
When we woke up this morning, we were both happy about our decision to take a day off yesterday. We're feeling much refreshed and ready to tackle France again. Right now we're sitting in McDonald's, catching up on emails and blogs. (I'm able to receive emails on my Kindle, but it takes forever for me to respond to them because the Kindle is meant to be a reading device, not a computer.)


We're not sure what the plan is for today, but we'll figure it out soon. I'm sure we'll do something fun.


We're getting itchy to return home; we're enjoying our time here, but we'll be happy to be back on our native soil. Plus, we miss everyone bunches!


Hugs to all!

Posting from McDonald's

Sorry for the long silence, but we’ve been without internet for a few days here in Orval. The weather has been rather nasty and a thunderstorm knocked out the internet cables nearby; the person who owns the stable has informed us that it should be fixed within a week (hopefully), but that the French are like the Chinese in the sense that they give you the worst possible prediction, yet end up completing the work in a shorter amount of time than originally expected. Hopefully, this practice will be true because we are suffering from severe web-withdrawals. (I wrote this entry last night, but I'm posting it from McDonald's on Sunday morning.) 


Here’s a brief explanation of what we’ve done since my last entry:


Tuesday
We drove to the American Cemetery near Omaha beach, which was one of the American landing sites during the D-Day invasion. There was an educational, and moving, visitor center that we toured before entering the cemetery; the exhibits provided an excellent overview of the events and they reinforced what I’m learning in the book I’m reading about the military operation.


After wandering around the cemetery for a while, we took some stairs down to the beach. It was eerie, moving, and strange to visit a place I’ve heard so much about over the years and that has made such an impact on the world. This trip to Europe has taught me that history is important, but that we’re constantly moving forward and we should focus our attention on the past, present, and future because all are equally important. We need the past to help us understand our present and future, our future to push us to make a better present, and our present to live the lessons we’ve learned from our past. 


On the beach we encountered people playing in the waves, taking pictures of the historic landscape, and contemplating the scene. Though it was little disconcerting at first to see people being frivolous in such a historically bloody place, I became happy that the French had reclaimed their beach because it’s such a beautiful spot. I feel that we should always remember the people who made sacrifices for our freedoms, but if we’re busy mourning all the time and not living and enjoying the gift peace, it’s a tragedy.  


Once we had finished our visit, we stopped at Pointe-du-Hoc for a quick stop. Then we returned home to Orval (after eating a hamburger at a Leclerc and seeing a prostitute eating with her pimp), made dinner, watched some terribly trashy British TV (is there any other kind?) and went to sleep.


Wednesday
I was feeling quite terrible on Wednesday, so we took a break from touring and stayed in our stables in Orval. I read a lot, took a nap, and recuperated.


Thursday
Thursday was one of the market days in Coutances, so we made the trip into town, wandered around the market, bought some produce (the fruits were good, but the veggies weren’t quite as tasty), grabbed some food for lunch (sausage in a bun with mustard!), returned to our stables and relaxed the rest of the day.


Friday
We drove on the backroads to get to Mont Saint-Michel and man are the roads tiny! There were times when the road was only the width of our car, which is far smaller than most American autos, but it was considered a two-lane road. We were holding our breath through many corners hoping that we wouldn’t meet anther vehicle coming in the opposite direction; most of the time we were lucky, but we almost collided with a tractor at one point.


The Abby was fascinating, but extremely crowded; we paid that nine Euro entrance fee to tour the famous religious monument and, though it was expensive, I enjoyed the experience. At one point, Jean-Jacques and I lost one another and it took some time to reconnect because there were so many visitors.


After our trip to Mont-Saint-Michel, we tried to find a restaurant for lunch, but nothing was open. The longer we’re here, the more we’re discovering that we don’t understand the rhythm of French life; each country moves at its own pace, and has its own time table. We’re American, so we expect to be able to find food in eating establishments between the hours of eight AM to eight PM; however, in France this doesn’t seem to be the case. We have quite figured it out yet when the French eat lunch, but we do know that many of them eat dinner from eight PM to midnight. We’ll figure it out eventually, I hope.


Saturday
We drove more back roads to Sainte-Mère-Église and tried to find a mansion and chateau along the way; though we finally tracked down both locations, we were disappointed to find out that they were only open for about four hours in the afternoon. (We still aren’t accustomed to life’s rhythms here.) We did stop at a market and bought more sausages in a bun for lunch; we ate our meal sitting on the steps of an abandoned shop while people watching.


When we finally arrived at Sainte-Mère-Église, we toured a fascinating museum dedicated to the paratroopers who landed in the city to capture it before the main invasions forces arrived. Jean-Jacques and I both really enjoyed the museum and were impressed by the interesting displays; we both agreed that it was probably one of the most interesting and well-done museums we’ve visited on this trip (and by this time we’ve seen a few...). 


Along the way back to Orval, we stopped at a few chateaux, one of which was probably one of the most exciting places I’ve ever visited because of my cultural background. The Great Wall and Forbidden Palace will always be the most exotic sites I’ve wandered through, but seeing the medieval castle today thrilled me because I’ve studied, read and seen movies about European history for as long as I can remember, so being able to experience a real castle was a dream come true. 


I’m off to bed now. We’ll be home in less than three weeks!

At "home" in Orval

On Saturday we left Quimper at around 10 AM, and drove on back roads for a few hours through lush, rolling countryside until we arrived in Orval at 5 PM. We "checked-in" with our British host, went into Coutances for some emergency supplies (grocery stores are all closed on Sundays), returned to our converted stables, settled in, and cooked dinner. 

Yesterday, I wasn't feeling my best (I've been fighting a cold for a few days now), so we spent the day relaxing; I read a trashy novel (the whole thing, mind you), started a book about the D-Day invasion, did some laundry, hung it up outside to dry in the summer sunshine, took a nap, and processed some photos. I was surprised to discover that it was the first time in about ten months that I felt truly relaxed. China was many wonderful, educational things, but calming or soothing are not words I would use to describe it. 

Today I awoke feeling much better, so we headed into Coutances to explore the town. We wandered around an ancient cathedral, past a number of cute shops in old buildings, and through a game-themed botanical garden. On the way "home", we stopped by the Carrefour for more supplies and discovered a carnival setting up in the store's parking lot. Feeling terrible for the animals, we didn't have the heart to visit the attraction this evening. (Some ostriches were cooped up in a pen on hot pavement; it didn't seem very humane.)

Tomorrow we're heading to the D-Day American landing sites at Utah and Omaha beaches. It will be a sobering visit, but definitely one worth making because it will be extremely educational.

It's late, so I should head off to bed. Hugs to all!

Quimper, Days 1 & 2

At the top left, you can see Jean-Jacques charging off to find us a haircutter

Yesterday we left Quimper to explore the coast and we drove to Point du Raz (we simply drove around the parking lot because we refused to pay six euro to stare at the Atlantic), Douarnenez, and through some other towns. We ate a picnic of bread, cheese, and sausage on a beautiful sandy beach and returned to the room a little early because I wasn’t feeling my best. Unfortunately, the room hadn’t been cleaned yet, so we had to visit a bio (organic) store and have a beverage at a cute coffee/tea shop before it was ready again.


Today I woke up feeling much better, so we took a bus into Quimper, window shopped, ate a savory crêpe for lunch, and wandered around the city before walking back to our hotel. 


Along the way home, we stopped by a fascinating, but eerie, church that had been constructed in the ninth century; in the stone we could see marks that looked like bullet holes, so that added to the somber atmosphere. (We saw a statue in the middle of the town commemorating the liberation of Quimper in 1944, so it's possible that a battle was fought close to the church.)

A slightly less touristy part of Quimper

The trip “home” was surprisingly pleasant because we walked through some beautiful gardens and nature preserves. We even passed by a former German prisoner of war compound, which was located in the middle of a dark forest, so it was rather gloomy. Part of the historical area has now been converted to a golf course, so I guess it’s a good use of the space.


Tomorrow it’s off to Orval, which is where we’re going to spend the next three weeks in a converted stable that we rented back in January. I’ve certainly enjoyed our touring thus far, but I will also be happy to have a home base where we can do some cooking for ourselves and laundry. 


Oh yeah, we also got haircuts today! Thankfully, we’re no longer the Shaggy Têtus.

From Vannes to Quimper

It was another busy and fascinating day in France. We ate breakfast at our B&B, set off at around 9:30 AM, drove back roads along the coast through some stunning countryside, took a short hike to an abbey gate (we didn’t go in because it seemed too expensive for what we’d see), looked at a castle where Rasputin lived for a while (we decided not to tour it because it didn’t seem worth the 12 Euro it would have cost to enter the gates), ate lunch and shopped around in a seaside town called Concarneau (the old city was surrounded by ramparts and I was amazed by the advanced architecture that kept the sea at bay),  got takeout from small pizzeria (there wasn’t even seating inside and the man gave us a free pizza because the people hadn’t arrived to pick it up, so it was going to waste), and relaxed in our room. 

Outside of Vannes

As I recently posted on Facebook, I’m all cuted out. In my travels, I’ve never been to a place as adorable, cute, and just durn beautiful as France. Accuse the French of whatever you want, but you can’t label them as being uninterested in aesthetics. As you travel though France, you realize that to the people living here, beauty is life. You sense that appreciation of quality in everything you see, smell, or taste and that care is causing me to fall in love with this country.


In our adventures today, we passed though breathtaking countryside filled with forests, wheat, corn, or rolled bales of hay; wandered though villages composed of houses with plastered white walls, roofs painted black, and brightly painted shutters of dark blues, reds, or other bold colors; and strolled along beaches of fine, blisteringly white sand. When we arrived at our B&B this evening, my senses were over stimulated by all the beautiful things we had seen today and I’m not sure I can take much more adorable, though I’m sure there’s more on the horizon. 

Though we had vowed to take it easier today, we still managed to pack in a number of activities. We drove through a number of seaside villages (Carnac, Quiberon, Plouhamel, St-Pierre-Quiberon, Étel, Gavre, Belz, and Erdeven), saw the amazing megliths at Carnac and walked along the beach there, ate lunch at a créperie, explored an old fort, took a short break from our travels to eat some sorbet and drink a Perrier at a small boulangerie/patisserie, tracked down some freshly made goat cheese, and ate a lengthy dinner at our B&B with another guest. I was thrilled because I was able to understand almost all the conversation, though I had a difficult time speaking in French.

Tomorrow it’s on to Quimper!

From Nantes to Vannes

After a lengthy drive, we finally arrived in Vannes, France. Though the distance was short, we were our normal selves and got lost a number of times; it was fun to see the beautiful French countryside, though. Jean-Jacques and I remarked to one another that it reminded us of the Willamette Valley, Benin, and San Juan Island. 

Once we arrived in Vannes, we tried to check into our B&B, but the owner wasn’t around so we drove into the city center to explore. We walked along the docks, passed by touristy shops in the old city, and enjoyed some Perrier at a café. Jean-Jacques crashed when we finally were able to check into our room, so I had to venture out to find dinner. Unfortunately, the only grub within walking distance was a Chinese restaurant; I ordered sweet and sour pork and a beef dish. It wasn’t thrilling, but it fed us. It’s already late, so I’m heading off to bed! I think we’re going to Carnac tomorrow, so that should be an interesting outing.

Nantes, France

We’re now in France! Yesterday, we woke up at around 5:00 AM, took showers, ate a small breakfast of a banana, lugged our bags to the Tube, got off at the train station, took two high speed trains, and arrived in Nantes at around 5:30 PM. We checked into our hotel, took naps (I slept for about 2 hours), walked to a Carrefour and bought some bread and cheese for dinner. When we were finished with everything, it was about 11:00 PM; the time is deceiving because it stays light so late that it feels much earlier than the real time.


This morning we ate breakfast in our room and left at around 10:00 AM to explore the city of Nantes; this was a little later than normal, but we decided to take it a little easier today since it was Sunday. As we were walking along the river, we noticed some police cars and ambulances driving up to a spot near a bridge. When we got a little closer, we discovered that the authorities were investigating a body and I glimpsed the dead man’s face. Needless to say, it was one of my first experiences with seeing dead people (I might have seen a couple of people in China, though) and it was rather sad. It definitely put a damper on the rest of the day.

After seeing the deceased man, we continued walking and soon heard a kitten mewing. Confused by the sound because we were on a busy street, we decided to investigate and found a little kitten who was stranded in some bushes. It took a few minutes of our best cat impersonations, and some crawling around in the bushes, but Jean-Jacques was finally able to grab the kitty. We had to ask a few people if they knew about an animal shelter that was close before we found a family (mother, father, and toddler) who wanted to take the cat (either to adopt it or to run it to the shelter). They were thrilled and so were we, so all ended up well in the kitty rescue!


At this point, I discovered that I had left my purse in the hotel room. I’m not sure how Jean-Jacques manages to put up with my forgetfulness sometimes, because this isn’t the first time this has happened to me. Once I realized my mistake, we rapidly retraced our route back to the hotel (which, strangely enough, caused blisters on our feet) to recover the wallet. Fortunately, nothing had been taken, so the mishap had a happy ending.


We headed out into the heat again, though by this time Jean-Jacques and I were rather warm. We walked around Nantes for about an hour before we found the restaurant where we ate lunch, which was voted the best in the region. Deciding to splurge to celebrate Jean-Jacques’ job offer, we went with the menu special of a three course meal and were thrilled by our choice. I had a leg of lamb, Jean-Jacques chose the fish, and we both agreed that it was one of the best meals we’ve ever eaten. The restaurant’s décor was breathtaking and the food outstanding. 


Once we finished lunch (at around 3PM), we decided that it was time to return to the hotel because our blisters were hurting too much and we were rather overheated. There’s a reason that people in France relax during the middle of the day in the summer! It’s too darn hot to do much more than sit around enjoying coffee and conversation. 


This evening we ate dinner in the room because we had some left over food and were too full from lunch to eat a large meal. In total, I think we walked about six miles, so I’m sure we’ll sleep well tonight!


Tomorrow we’re picking up our car here in Nantes and driving to Vannes, which is about two hours away. Along the way, I think we’re going to stop at some stone formations that are similar to Stone Henge. À demain!

Last day in London

We spent our final day in London visiting museums; I visited three and Jean-Jacques, two. This morning, we went to the Natural History Museum and had a great time meandering through all the impressive exhibits. We took a short break from touring to eat lunch at a small, but incredibly authentic Italian restaurant. Jean-Jacques had risotto and I ordered an eggplant penne dish that was delicious! 


Since our tastes sometimes differ, Jean-Jacques and I split up to explore different museums; I chose to go to the Victoria & Albert Museum and saw some wonderful pieces of art from the Middle East, China, Korea, Japan, India, and Europe. Jean-Jacques was interested in spending all of his time in the Science Museum, so he went there while I was at the V&A and I met up with him later.


It was another night “in” for us and we got doner kebabs for dinner. I’m now off to bed since it’s an early day tomorrow; we’re going through the Chunnel, which is something that I vowed I’d never do because it’s terrifying. Funny how I always end up doing the things I swore I never would -- get married at a young age, travel to Asia, eat scary things, and pass through the Chunnel. 

London, Day 4

What another busy and fascinating day in London! We began our journey at the Imperial War Museum where we saw an emotional, but educational, exhibit on the Holocaust. The museum was well put together and had fascinating artifacts and information about airplanes, tanks, WWI, WWII, spies, nautical battles, and many other things. 


After the museum, we started walking towards Waterloo Bridge hoping to find an outdoor book market; along the way we stopped for lunch at a small Thai place. Unfortunately, the books weren’t out, but we did find some frozen yoghurt (and it was real frozen yoghurt, not the fat free ice cream version that we get in the states) that we ate on the bank of the Thames. The pigeons tried to attack me more than once, but I bravely fought them off. 

Once we had finished our refreshing dessert, we tried to find a Tube station, but had a hard time locating one, so we wandered around for a while. We visited a hat shop, a bookstore, had some tea, and witnessed a rent ceremony.  As part of this ancient tradition, we saw a man who was dressed up in “ye olde” clothes parade down the street with some important royal (or we assumed it was because he was driven around in a fancy car with a royal sign on the roof); accompanying the two was a marching band playing New Orleans music. The whole scene was rather bizarre and left the two of us wondering if we dreamed the experience. 


Since we were exhausted, we decided to call it a day at five thirty and return to the B&B to relax for the evening. I processed some photos, we watched some of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, and enjoyed resting our feet. Tomorrow will be our last day in London and we're planning to visit the Science Museum and Natural History Museum.

London, Day Three

Dr. Who fans will recognize this!

I know these posts are often devoid of exciting vignettes, and are mostly lists of things that we've done during the day, but by the time I am able to write, my eyelids are usually about "half mast", so it's a struggle to jot down notes. My main goal is to keep track of what we do so that I can remember everything later. I'll stop trying to rationalize or explain my lack of creativity and simply relate the day's events.

Today we visited Greenwich, snuck in a gate to take a picture at the Prime Meridian (it cost 7 pounds to officially enter the "museum", but we noticed an unlocked gate close to the meridian line, so we entered, took our pictures on the line, and left), spent a little time at the Maritime Museum (it had a very confusing layout and half of the exhibits were closed because of maintenance, so it was rather disappointing), and ate a fish and chips lunch in an authentic English pub, though we both vowed that it would probably be the last time we eat much friend food. The fish and chips were delicious, and we had some mashed peas (a very traditional English dish), but after eating oily Chinese food for ten months, our grease tolerance isn't what it used to be, so we're sticking to salads and other healthy food for now. 

Golders Green, where we're staying in London. Pretty cool, huh?

We then took the Tube to a shopping center close to the BBC television center, where we had some tea and scones, wandered around a mall, and took a tour of the BBC. As we were walking around the BBC station, we saw Barry Manilow. The whole experience at the BBC was wonderful and extremely educational, especially after our experience of participating in the taping yesterday. After our time at the "Beeb", we caught the Tube back to the area where we’re staying and picked up some Turkish take-out, which was delicious!

I’ve been editing photos for a very long time now, but I’m finished for the evening and I’m going to go to bed soon.

London, Day 2

Man was it a long day! We’ve been out on the town for a good thirteen hours this Tuesday, but every second was either educational, entertaining, or enjoyable. 


The journey started with a rather lengthy bus ride past 221 Baker Street and the Sherlock Holmes Museum (though we didn’t stop in to visit) to Picadilly Circus; we then visited a HMV (it sells music, videos, and books); stopped at Hamleys and saw all five floors of the Mecca of toy shops; ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant; walked to Trafalgar Square; strolled through St. James’ Garden; snapped some photos of Buckingham Palace (which was much smaller than I thought it would be); found our way to Harrods where we bought some cheese and rode the escalators in an Egyptian-themed stairwell. We needed a break at this point, so we stopped in a Starbucks (I know we’re terrible!) for a quick refreshing beverage. After this, we walked to the Science Museum, were greeted by a woman who asked if we’d be interested in taking part in a science experiment about color that was being filmed by the BBC; we agreed to participate and ended up spending the next five hours doing various tests, being filmed, waiting to do tasks, or waiting for the film crew to prepare everything. We had a wonderful time learning about TV production and chatting with the locals. 


The best part of our day happened when we arrived back at the B&B and found out that Jean-Jacques had been offered a HS science job at Mt. Si in Snoqualmie, WA. We’re so excited, though I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet. This process has been so long and involved that it’s wonderfully relieving to have it over. Plus, we could never have dreamed of such a wonderful location. Yay!

London, Day 1

It’s official, Jean-Jacques and I are no longer in China. On Saturday, we were driven to the Hefei train station, where we caught a high speed train to Shanghai; we spent the night in a posh hotel and woke up relatively early to catch our 11  AM flight to London. The plane was about two hours late because of some problems with paperwork concerning fuel calculations, but eventually we took off and twelve hours later landed in the UK. Surprisingly enough, the flight passed quickly (I watched four movies, so that helped me remain comfortable) and uneventfully. 


It was a fun-filled, but busy first day in London. We woke up fairly early (6:45 AM), ate a full English breakfast (eggs, toast, beans, sausage, and bacon) in the dining room of our B&B; caught a couple of buses to try to get into the city, but ended up taking the “Tube” instead because it was faster; saw Big Ben & Parliament; rode a boat upriver to the Tower of London (which is a castle complex that was first built by William the Conquerer in 1070); grabbed lunch from a deli-style restaurant called Absolutely Starving!; ate our meal on the bank on the Thames; toured the WWII warship HMS Belfast; and ate a delicious dinner at an authentic pizza place. We’ve walked a lot, and it was a great day. 

Zai jian, China

This will likely be my last blog entry from China since we leave Anqing in two days and China in three. There were times during our experience here when I never thought this day would come and yet I’ve found myself feeling a tad melancholy these past couple of days. No, I won’t miss the pollution, spitting, noise, and feeling lost most of the time, but I will miss the people I’ve met and connected with during my ten months. 


Today was filled with goodbyes. We bid farewell to some close friends during a lunch and dinner and it was difficult. I know that I’ll enjoy returning home, and the luxuries that come with living in the United States (blue sky, drinkable tap water that doesn’t smell like poo, a walled-in shower that doesn’t flood the entire bathroom floor, flushing toilet-paper, eating raw fruits and veggies without worrying about how they’ll affect my insides, etc.), but I’m not quite sure how I’ll feel about China once I’m stateside. 


What will I miss? I honestly don’t know because I haven’t figured out yet what this experience has meant for me. I certainly feel changed (who wouldn’t?), but I think it will take some time to process everything -- the good, the bad, and the bizarre. So far, I think that I appreciate my life much more than before; man I’ve got it good -- a loving family, a good education, great friends, a healthy savings account, a car, promising job prospects, enough food to eat, a computer, my travel experiences, the freedom to voice my opinions without worrying about repercussions, clean air and water, and the list goes on! In the coming days, weeks, months, it will be interesting to see the other ways I’ve changed. 


On Saturday I had my final day of teaching and I wish it could have gone a little more smoothly. The last class I taught was too excited about playing Jeopardy that they wouldn’t be quiet long enough for me to explain the directions. I gave the group a couple of warnings about their behavior and informed them that if they couldn’t listen to me when I asked them to, we wouldn’t be able to play the game. Unfortunately, they didn’t follow directions and I had to stop the activity and show them Mr. Bean episodes instead. Three students came up to me to ask if I would give them a second chance, but I refused to budge because the class had demonstrated to me that they couldn’t handle themselves (and this wasn’t the first time that I had problems with them). I was already taking a risk by playing Jeopardy, and the activity required a certain amount of maturity that the group of students didn’t possess. After a little while, I stopped Mr. Bean, explained to the class why they didn’t get to play the game, and told them that they had made the decision to refuse to listen to me so that’s why I cancelled the activity. Though they were unhappy, I think some of the students understood my actions.


A teacher arranged a going away party for us for the next day, but at the last minute the school informed him that he would have to attend parent-teacher conferences at the time of the event. This meant that we were on our own with students for about two hours, which caused a considerable amount of chaos because the kids didn’t know how to host a party. We didn’t know what was happening either, because the teacher hadn’t told us his plans. The students decided to rent a karaoke room, but it wasn’t big enough to fit everyone comfortably; the sound system was having problems and made intermittent, deafening screeching noises; three or four teens were hogging the microphone, so some of the other students wanted to open a new room; and many of the kids were unhappy with the party and left early, while others hinted that I should pay for the karaoke room (I ended up playing stupid and didn’t have to shell out the cash). Eventually everything got straightened out (we were never supposed to do karaoke originally) and we ate some lunch with a couple of students and some adult friends. Though uncomfortable at times, it was an educational and entertaining experience.


It’s getting late, so I should head off to bed! Our sleep schedule has been so out of whack lately because of interviews and late-night (or early-morning) calls to schools that I’ll be happy when it gets back to normal. Wait! It won’t for a little while because soon I’ll be dealing with jet lag. Oh well, at least I’ll be able to eat fish and chips and cereal soon (not together!) so I won’t complain. 


Thanks for being so supportive of us during our China Adventure! Your love, kind words, and cyber hugs kept us going through some difficult times and we can’t thank you enough!

Jeopardy and Feedback!

Sorry that it has been ages since I last wrote. I don’t really have any elaborate excuses to provide, other than that we’ve been busy applying to jobs in the US, planning our European Vacation, and finishing up our time here in China. We still don't know where we're going to be next year, but we have some promising leads.


Starting today, I’ll be conducting my last three days of teaching English in China. On Saturday, I decided to take a calculated risk and try playing Jeopardy with my students; I’ve got to say that I’m proud of my decision. The students are thrown off when they walk into the classroom because I’ve moved all the desks and arranged the chairs into six circles -- it’s funny to see their expressions as they take in their new surroundings. Noise levels are high during the game, but the students are quick to become quiet when I raise my hand to ask for silence. Surprisingly enough, everyone is engaged and interested in participating. Group work isn’t something used here often, so I think that the students enjoy experiencing something new.


Last week I played Mr. Bean for the students so I could talk with some of them individually to get some feedback about the class and my teaching. During the “interview” I got some interesting responses to the following questions:


Question #1: What was something that you enjoyed about this class?
Answers (NOTE: I’ve complied these answers to reflect general trends)
“The movie, cartoons, and Mr. Bean.”
“I like to relax myself in this class. It very fun.”
“You very funny. I like you very much.”



Question #2: What was something that you didn’t enjoy about this class or that I could have done better as a teacher?
“Class was very loud. We talk a lot.”
“More talking.”
“Nothing wrong. You very good teacher.” 


Question #3: What was something that you learned in this class?
“I learn spoken English and American culture.”
“You show me a new world. I learn about things outside of China.”
“I learned about western culture.”


Question #4: What do you think is one major difference between the United States and China?
“America is more open.”
“American students are more free. Chinese students have to study so much, but American students can do more fun things.”
“Classes in America are more fun. Chinese classes are very strict.”


Question #5: Do you have any questions?
“Why you come to China?”
“Will you come back to China?”
“Do you like China?”
“What you do when you get back to America?”
“Will your husband go back to America?”
“Why you leave China?”


Departure Countdown Clock: 10 days!

Greetings

Here's an amusing interaction I had with a student before class the other day:


A male student walked up to me, took a deep breath, made a concerted effort to stop for a few seconds, and said, "Hi! How are you? I'm fine, sanks. Goodbye."


During the entire "exchange", I had a bemused look on my face, but didn't have the opportunity to respond to the greeting because the boy quickly walked away after he finished his piece. 

Chinese students make me laugh

Unfortunately, I guess I’m starting to make a habit of only writing once a week; I think I’ve been too stressed out lately to take much time to keep track of exciting events. Also, most of what I’ve been doing lately is filling out job applications, preparing for interviews, worrying about finding work, trying to get my mind off the employment search, and attempting to get caught up on sleep.


Jean-Jaques had a late-night interview last Saturday at midnight and he knocked it out of the park. Despite the late hour, he was enthusiastic, energetic, and had some wonderful answers to the questions. We should hear from them by the end of this week.


We didn't get much sleep Saturday night because of the interview and the fact that we had to wake up early Sunday morning to participate in an activity for “Children’s Day”.  (You know you’re in a Communist country when you have “Women’s Day”, “Children’s Day”, “Worker’s Day”, etc.) Like most activities we in which we participate here, we had no idea what to expect from the day and there is no possible way that we could have foretold how it would all unfold. 


It started out with a private car ride to a spot where we met up with three buses. (We had to wait about a half an hour in the wind and rain for the third bus to arrive, but that’s nothing abnormal for China.) Once we had all boarded the buses (Jean-Jacques, a local Canadian named Stephen, and I all had to ride separately to fairly spread out the “foreigners”), we took a half-an-hour-long ride to a “natural” compound filled with fun activities for Chinese to amuse themselves with -- outdoor karaoke, a BBQ area, a ropes course, plants, artificial outdoor fishing, bike riding through vegetation, biked-shaped paddle boats, etc.  (During the bus ride, I sang “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” through a megaphone to a busload of screaming children.)


Once we arrived, we quickly trudged to a portion of the compound to set up residence where there were two covered concrete areas; the kids continued munching on snacks that they had started consuming on the ride to the park. During our time at the park, chaos reigned. There weren’t any specific activities arranged for the children, but many participated in tug-of-war, jump rope (and got whacked on the head a few times because they were in the way of the rope’s swing), eating, and just running around being kids. Sadly, most children don’t have the opportunity to relax much, so it was almost too much excitement for them to handle.


My ears will never be the same since I had to survive a constant barrage of shrill, screaming Chinese students. I had a good time, though, and it was worth the pain to have a hilarious story.



Today was hilarious on the student front. We’re finishing Stardust this week and if the two classes I had today are any indication of what this week will be like, I’m in for a treat. My students were laughing so hard that they almost fell out of their seats; were so thrilled when bad characters were killed that they clapped and whooped and hollered; and were so angry when I stopped the movie at the end of class that they screamed at me to keep playing it. Their antics caused me to spend most of the class period with a smile on my face, and I had the occasional outburst of laughter when the students were particularly effervescent with their reactions.  


One boy’s action was especially humorous. I have a picture of a crab shell posted for when the students walk into the classroom; before we start the movie, I ask the class what the picture shows. During one section today, a boy in the back of the room decided to play charades and act out the word. He made his hands into the shape of “claws” (think Spock making the Vulcan sign) and made them pinch the air. Undoubtedly, he was thrilled by his acting and had a huge smile on his face when I acknowledged him. 


So, I’m excited to see what other hilarious events this week inspires.

Catching up

This past week I taught a lesson about Hispanic and Asian Americans. We watched some Spanish-language music videos, learned a little Spanish (when my students see me around campus, they have been calling out “hola” lately and it makes me laugh because they are very excited about it), learned a little about the history of Asians in the US, and discussed famous Asian Americans. I was surprised by how well the students did with the lesson and how engaged they were with the content. One of the highlights for them seemed to be the section where we learned a few Spanish words and phrases. In China, the only language high school students study is English and they have no choice in the matter. Many of the students haven’t learned much about the Spanish-speaking world, or even heard the language much, so I think they enjoyed being exposed to something new.

To further enhance the new cultural experience, I showed them a music video from a Mexican brother-sister guitar duo named Rodrigo y Gabriela. Many of the students watched in complete silence (which is something rare here) and one of the classes even clapped when the song was over; I also noticed that many of the kids wrote down the name of the group so they could listen to the music later.

Believe it or not, we’ve got five weeks left in the PRC. It’s strange that our time here is winding down. I’ll be happy to eat pizza, cereal, and fresh fruits and veggies again, but I’m going to miss China. I’m not sure how to explain it. China can be dirty, disgusting, and the most frustrating place on Earth, and yet, somehow, it gets under your skin and endears itself to you. It’s so outrageous and completely different from anything I’ve experienced before that it forces you to love and be charmed by it. Yes, there have been many times that I’ve wanted to get on the next plane and leave because of frustrating cultural differences, but once you take a step back (and realize that there are multiple ways of looking at the universe), things get easier. My experiences here have taught me that our history and culture have shaped us in ways that we don’t fully understand until we are confronted by people and situations that cause us to challenge our ingrained assumptions. What might seem like a simple logical thing to me could appear completely insane to a Chinese person and vice versa.

Take the government, for example. Westerners often have a difficult time understand how the Chinese Communist government has been in power for so long, but now that I’ve lived here for a few months, I understand the situation a bit better. Historically, China has been ruled by dynasties and there hasn’t been the strong push for the individual freedoms that we have seen in the West. Many aspects of the culture (a strong desire for harmony for example) make it such that strong leaders are admired and even desired by the people, so, in many ways, the society is set up for a strong central government. Yes, this is a simplistic overview of the situation, but it does provide a good example of how people from different cultures view life and their roles in it.

Before I sign off, I do have a funny story from this weekend. Yesterday, Jean-Jacques and I stopped by a store that sells Western food items; we've been to this shop a couple of times, but we haven't established a deep connection with the owner. As we were paying for our goods, the proprietress decided to give us some smoked fish from her lunch. We tried to refuse, but she insisted and fed us with a toothpick. The food was good, but I did feel a little bad about taking about a quarter of her lunch -- she didn't seem to mind much, though.