I've Moved!

Now that I'm married and this China thing is more than just a vacation... I've started working on a new blog:

http://www.achinathing.blogspot.com/

Catch all of my latest adventures there!

Rolling Blackouts

Shouts out into the void...

I'm still here. In China. Blocked behind the great firewall. There are thousands of Chinese tasked with taking down proxy servers as soon as they pop up. Logging onto Facebook and Blogger, it's 麻烦 I tell you!

But I'm here again to pass out an update. I've learned a lot since my last post. I spent almost a year working for a Chinese company. Almost a year being the nail that sticks up (which must be hammered down.) Let's just say that I got what I came here for, a first-hand glance of culture shock working for a Chinese company. Everything that I learned about Chinese business in college was evident and amplified. I've been paid with fake hundreds, I've been told that I should "jog" to the toilet. We were shown a WWII film in which a Chinese general sacrifices his own wife to win a battle then told that we are supposed to make these kinds of sacrifices for our company.

Well that was fun! I'll be spending the next six months freelancing and then I'm coming home! Home to fresh air and green grass... Taco Bell and Whole Foods... home to a place where I can chat up the lady at the market without spraining my brain in the process. America, I promise I won't take you for granted ever again! (Please just free up some space in the Chicago job market for me.)

This week I'll post some pictures to show you what else I've been up to!

This may fall on deaf ears...

But judging from the blog tracker, some of you still check in from time to time and it gives me the warm fuzzies to know that you're still here.

So the big question goes without saying, where have I been? Oh, I've been a lot of places... still having a ball exploring every little nook and cranny of Beijing while from time to time escaping the big city to go on a grander adventure. I've been to Xi'an to see the terra-cotta warriors and I've slept on the great wall again. I traveled south to the beach where I set foot in the Pacific for the first time in my life and north to cliffs that overlook an amazing river that I would have given anything to set foot in.

Yes, I'm having fun but no, I haven't been enjoying life so much that I completely neglected my blog. I'm not that busy!

In the words of a famous southerner, "What happened was...." ...the government blocked access to Blogger at the beginning of the year, round about the last time you heard from me. Seems they're weary about what all you freethinking westerners might put into the minds of the innocent young folk here. Especially given that the 20th anniversary of the big Tienanmen Square you-know-what was coming up.

It wasn't nice, but at least I had Facebook to keep in touch with. That was until July, when the Uighurs started rioting in XinJiang. The government wanted to contain the flow of information about what was happening so they banned Facebook too. They shut off cell phone reception in XinJiang so people there couldn't tell everyone what was really going on. Who knows what actually happened, the news is all lies and half-truths I'm sure.

That's when I discovered what a proxy server is. It took a while to find one that actually works, even the one I have now is almost more trouble than what it's worth... but hey, at least I can log on! What a mess.

Democracy might not be a perfect institution, but at least nobody's controlling your internet access!

More stories later about my run-ins with communism.

I'll be back!

Jackie

Spring is sneaking into China...

and I'm a horrible blogger. But really, to be honest with you, my life isn't all that exciting these days! You haven't missed much. The cold windy winter has made it difficult to enjoy much other than work and closed in evenings cooking with Chris and watching American T.V.

But, alas, spring has sprung and life is becoming interesting again.

Chris and I spent the entire day yesterday looking for a new apartment. The agents here seem determined to stick us in the slums. My camera was dead or I'd have pictures for you. We're looking for a place in Wu Dao Kou, the part of the city choc-full of colleges, universities, and students. Living in Haidian has been a rather boring experience, so we're ready to move to where some of the action is.

So I've been thinking about doing some freelance tutoring work and I met with a college professor yesterday who needs a tutor for his 9 year old son... turns out he teaches Chinese Philosophy and Religious Studies here at one of the nicer universities. He told me it's entirely possible for me to audit some classes, so its time to get crackin' on my Chinese! Just for the fun of it I might work on getting my master's out here so, this might be a good start!

Nothing else really going on these days. Jason laid outta work last week so we could go "mountain climbing." It was the first and only hot/warm day this year. I took the kite that my student Darcy gave me (BEST gift ever, by the way) but it wasn't windy.

We went to the friendship pavillion. Too bad we didn't have time to check out the Memory Woods for Guerillas. I'm sure it was awesome.

Ever since Chris showed me the macro setting, I've been taking pictures of bugs.

I love my kite!

This is a warrior goddess that we found at the top of the mountain.

Literal translation: Mountain Mouth. "Way Out" sounds better than "Ex it" I suppose!

When in China...

I told you I've eaten worse things. Yep, I ate a silkworm cocoon. It wasn't that bad.

Random pictures that never made it into a blog.

Spring festival hit: stuffed poo. I don't get it!

Cathy is my Chinese momma! She takes good care of me AND she loves my stuffing.

Chris 是我的爱！

Getting in touch with my capricorn roots. You know, my Chinese horoscope is also the goat. I get a double dose of pragmatism!

This is how we roll. My ride is sooo much more fuel effecient than yours!

A night at the Beijing Actors Workshop where we watched I Hearte Shakespere.

Squid, YUMMY! Just wait... I've eaten stranger things... but I have to get the picture from Chris!

Where did the time go?

So here we are, six months have gone by... in a flash! I knew in the beginning that it wouldn't be enough time, I just needed to get my feet wet before making a commitment. With that being said, I've decided to stay another year.

Beijing is my home now. I'm learning Chinese every day but unfortunately my life just isn't as interesting as it was when I arrived, so I apologize that my blogs are so few and far between. I just don't have much to write about! Maybe when the weather warms up I'll go on more adventures but for right now I'm just working and studying.

It did finally snow in Beijing last week. Follow this link to an interesting article about our "blizzard."

My house in the snow!


The lovliest pair of snowmen ever! Jason says, it's a snow-woman, don't you see she has a baby!
I love her watermelon eyes... and the baby is wearing a Corona box hat. I love it!


The mall parking lot... all those little piles of snow were man made... hmmm, just like the snow storm.

I take the best pictures of Chris!