jvd213inBeijing2008

“It was a dream. We live inside a dream!”
- from “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me”

January 31, 2008: 10:35 am

Chinese phrase of the day:
Wo yao zhi shangfeng de yao. – I need something for a cold.

So, we’re now on Day 4 of my first disgustingly awful cold in China. I had to call in from work on Monday, much to my chagrin, and I was feeling a bit better on Tuesday when the real nasties swept in. I’ve tried to be a soldier and fight my way through at work the last couple of days, but I think I’m beating myself up more, rather than purging the sickness and infection. I suppose the weather isn’t doing me any favors either, as the bitter cold has continued throughout the last two weeks. Many of you have expressed concern over the Stateside news reports about severe weather throughout the country, but fortunately, most of those broadcasts are referring to the areas surrounding Beijing, where many Chinese travelers are stranded, trying to get to their hometowns for their Spring Festival holidays.

Yet again, I’ve got nothing too exciting to report, other than a few personal developments, but I’m looking forward to getting my body all healed up for a week of vacation, starting next Wednesday, the 6th (New Year’s Eve). I’m hoping to escape the confines of our “teacher’s circle” to venture out some more on my own, and I’m expecting to do some sightseeing in Beijing while many of the city’s residents are away on vacation. I’d like to make a trek out to the Great Wall fairly soon, and also get back into my scene a bit more - check out a few rock shows, and stop frequenting all these damn Western hangouts. I’ve quickly noticed that many of the teachers have built up a clique that likes to do all the stuff I’d do on a normal night back in New York or North Carolina (same sort of bars and clubs), and I really want to break away from that mentality and start to do what I came here for, which is experience the Eastern culture on a much more up-close and personal level. I figure there’s no sense in me even being here if I’m just going to hang out with Aussies, Brits, and Americans, and I’m very anxious to dig deeper into the Chinese culture and find out what makes these people tick. Our Chinese classes have been delayed (because of the absence of Chinese teachers during Spring Festival), until the next batch of teachers arrive, but I’ve been studying a lot on my own in the meantime, and I’m already starting to pick things up at a much faster rate than when I first arrived.

We’ll finally be getting our other roommate next week (another Brit), and it’s definitely going to be an interesting mix once he arrives, since his Facebook page seems to indicate that he is gay. It’s absolutely no bother or worries for me, since, of course, many of my best friends in the whole universe have alternative lifestyles of their own. Can you imagine – a Pakistani-born Muslim, a British homosexual, and a crazy American freak like me? Sort of reminds me of “The Jew, the Italian, and the Redhead Gay” (that’s a “State” reference for those who are completely lost). Anywhoo, I’ve already spoken with him on a number of occasions through email and phone conversations, and he seems like a really nice kid, so it will be fascinating to see how the apartment dynamic changes once he moves in (maybe he’ll help me keep the place clean, unlike every other roommate I’ve ever had!!! Oops – I’m venting a little…)

“On with the chlorophyll…” Since many of you have been bursting with curiosity over my latest fling, which I spoke ever so briefly about in one of my previous entries, I will indulge you (just a bit) with some news from that front. To speak bluntly and matter-a-fact, regrettably, I had to “nip that situation in the bud”. Look, I’ve only been here less than a month, and for the first time in my entire life, I’ve got lots of women that actually want my attention. I’ve already had to quell a little jealousy from one of the girls inside the teacher camp, and the Chinese women - albeit, for reasons unknown to me – think I’m (excuse my French, here) some seriously hot shit. Now, I know I’m not an ugly dude, per se, but there have been girls here (including many of my students) that have compared me to David-freakin’-Beckham (of course, I’m not stupid, I know it’s not true, too! It’s just the hair!), and I might be the straightest guy alive, but I can tell you that that’s one good-looking mofo! Anywhoo, let’s just say, I’m not tying myself down just yet. Let’s look around a bit, try to use this newfound confidence to my advantage, don’t you think?

On to my last little rant - which may be of even less interest than my personal exploits to some (okay, okay, to most) – but, in relation to my quote at the top of this post, I have to comment on the bizarre series of dreams that I’ve been having the last few weeks.

Now, I’ve always been quite a dreamer. I remember, as a child, having a few reoccurring dreams that would scare me back into my parents’ bedroom - or rather, have me scream out for my dad to take me to my parents’ bedroom. Those dreams were absolutely terrifying, and I can still remember, to this day, the details of those horrific nightmares. But, as an adult, no matter how vivid my dreams may have been, it is rarely that I’m ever able to wake up and remember those events that have occurred in the realm of Sleep. Sometimes, as we all may do, a whisper of the dream might linger on for just a few moments, but as the morning starts, and we go about our daily activities, that whisper drifts away, beyond reality’s bounds.

Now, many of you may not know this, but many months ago, when my mind was racing day-and-night about what step I next wanted to take with my life, it was a very vivid dream that prompted my initial search into traveling abroad, and specifically, looking East for a new sense of adventure. Since that very night, whenever Romero (my wittle doggie, for those of you that don’t know) didn’t wake me up and ruin it, I’ve tried diligently to record the events of my dreams into a small journal, which I’ve kept on the nightstand beside my bed. Sometimes, as in my past, those dreams are fleeting, and I’m only able to record a fraction of an idea, or a tiny remnant of an impression that the dream may have left on me. Other times, on much more infrequent occasions, I end up scrawling an intricate little story, writing as fast as I can to account for what I may have seen behind my eyes.

Now, for the past few weeks, as strange and ridiculous as it may sound, I feel like I have been living two lives – one, my every day adventures, here, in my new surroundings, and another, as Lovecraft so eloquently put it, “Beyond the Wall of Sleep”. Now perhaps it’s due to my increase in reading habits as of late, or possibly, due to my desire to share David Lynch and all of his bizarre mysteries with my new friends, but for some reason or another, my dreams have become more and more distinct lately, leaving increasingly graphic images imprinted on my waking life. When I wake up, oftentimes drenched in sweat, I’m able to see a clear and linear story that has taken place during my hours of slumber. It’s really very odd. Many of you, both friends and family, seem to be visiting me, interwoven into some nightly phantasm that spells out a kind of new chapter in my life. I sincerely hope, as these dreams sometimes do tell, that there is not something I have done to disappoint you, neglect you, or anger you, to the point where my subconscious is haunting me for things that I have or have not done. I only say this, perhaps selfishly, to lift the burden of guilt that seems to be the ever-present theme of these nightly illusions. I hope that my mind is not trying to tell me that I have, am, or will, hurt the people that mean so much to me. And, if that is the case, I hope that I can offer you some kind of solace through these written words, or that you can know through the love that I often attempt to illustrate, that I am more devoted to our friendships and relationships than ever before, if even, they are from the longest of distances. If there is something you want to tell me, something you want to reveal, know that I am always here, I am always with you, and from now on, I am listening…

“I do not believe in communism any more than you do, but there is nothing wrong with the Communists in this country. Several of the best friends I have got are Communists.”
– Franklin Delanor Roosevelt

“Art is the most intense mode of invidualism that the world has known.”
- Oscar Wilde

January 25, 2008: 5:53 pm

Chinese phrase of the day:
Women xiang qu kan meishuguan. – We would like to see an art museum.

Another inspiring day in The Republic, and now I finally have something a bit touristy to blab about! I convinced a few of the gals to tag along with me to the Art District today, and we spent the afternoon exploring a multitude of galleries and checking out all the surprisingly modern and individualistic work along the section of the city called “7-9-8”. The entire district mainly consists of huge redbrick warehouses that were once used as factories to construct and distribute weaponry to the entire national army. Now, they are home to the city’s finest art galleries and museums, much like the Lower East Side, Chelsea, and SoHo, in New York. It’s been a pretty frigid day out, so we walked around, dipping in and out of all the galleries, and stopping to take lots of photos with the sculptures dotting the sidewalks and hutongs.

I arrived about a half-an-hour before the gals, so I spent a while checking out one of the more popular galleries first, a three-story warehouse called “Beijing Art Space,” and I was immediately taken aback by the content and nature of the work. Many of the works in this first gallery were painted with oil on canvas, and the subject matters ranged from fighting dogs to bizarre landscapes, with a lot of sexually-charged pieces in between. My ignorance was proven even further when we went into a grand print gallery, with some incredible screen prints and linoleum cuts that sent shivers down my spine. I was interested to read some of the literature posted on the walls, and learned that printing was actually invented in the East, and its existence [here] predates anything in the Western countries by more than 500 years. Some of the intricate details, combined with lush and vibrant colors, actually gave me gooseflesh as I wandered around admiring the work, and, as always, feeling ever so jealous about the talent that these classically trained artists possess.

I quickly realized that it would be my job to teach a bit of “gallery etiquette” to the girls when one of my trances was broken, after overhearing a giggling conversation about something that they “didn’t like”. I’m pretty sure they felt I was being a little pretentious when I scolded them for using the flash on their cameras, but since we weren’t supposed to be taking any photos in the first place, I simply explained that the flash could possibly damage the work, and that it would be a bad idea to get busted taking pictures of artwork that ranged from 5,000-500,000 RMB.

After getting some of the really good stuff out of the way, I relaxed a lot once we started taking goofy pictures of some of the work that was on display outdoors, and the photos you’ll see here are a good example of how a few pretty girls can turn an uptight artist into a cheerful observer fairly quickly. Since the cold was starting to take its toll around lunchtime, we popped into an artsy little café, and had some coffee and sandwiches to hold us over until this evening. All-in-all, it was an absolutely terrific day, and hopefully I’ll be able to post a lot of my pics before the weekend is out, so that everyone can appreciate the similar style that these contemporary artists have to those that are highly regarded in the States.

Now, let me turn back the clock a few days… On Tuesday I finally went to get my haircut, and since my pocket-sized Mandarin phrasebook had a section on “Going to the Barber”, I was able to communicate on a very simple basis with the folks at the salon. It was an interesting experience to get a full head massage by a tiny, smiley Chinese girl, before sitting down in the chair with the male barber, who started in cutting without me telling him what I was trying to do. I imagine he saw the faux-hawk and knew right away what I wanted, but I had him pause while I looked up the phrases for “A trim, please,” and “Not too short”. He did a pretty damn good job with the cut, and the girl who had washed my hair and given the massage took over when it was time to goop and style me up. I was very proud of myself for being in and out in less than an hour, and took my confidence into the evening when I started to use some Chinese phrases with my cab driver, and again later, when a small crew of five or six approached me at the bar.

I had a great week of teaching, and am starting to get more and more comfortable working with larger classes, and I had a terrific elective class with a group of advanced learners when teaching a subject I know about all too well – debt – when I finished up on Wednesday. Thursday was, of course, supposed to be my day off, but I had to go out to the SOHO campus bright and early for an interview with a corporate client at 10:30 am. I had skipped out on the previous night’s “Chwar” so that I could be rested and on top of my game for the interview, and stayed home to watch a really, really terrific German film titled “Anti Bodies”, which was sort of like a foreign version of “Silence of the Lambs” (I highly recommend if you can ever snag a copy). Anywhoo, I took another cab all by my lonesome up to SOHO, and upon my arrival, was quite perturbed to find out that the client had called and cancelled about an hour prior, and no one had called to let me know. I spent an hour-or-so over at the Starbucks by the campus, working on the screenplay and doing some reading through a Clive Barker book I just started, “The Inhuman Condition,” a collection of five novellas, and then cabbed it back to Wang Jing so that I could put in my reimbursement forms for the taxis and catch the shuttle bus back to Bao Xing. It made me feel a lot better that the DOS (Director of Studies), stopped in to apologize and thank me for going out of my way on my day off.

Later in the evening, we went over to a Western-style sports bar called “Frank’s”, and had some delicious burgers and fries and a few pints of Carlsburg to give a big send off for one of the Aussie teachers, who was celebrating his last night in the country. Since I knew I wanted today to be a big one, I dipped out around 1:00 am, while everyone else was still pounding the booze, and I actually managed to guide my cab driver back to my apartment, since he didn’t know where it was.

Tonight, a bunch of folks are going out to some bar/club for “80’s night”, which I am interested to see what’s like in China. It’s a good thing I brought along my hot pink 80’s polo, and I only wish I had brought along my Chuck Taylor’s as well. The only question is, what do I do with this head of hair to make it anything remotely resembling an 80’s style. Maybe a goofy part down the middle would be funny!

Enough is enough, for now, and I will attempt to post as many of the photos of the Art District as I’m able to fit in my Flickr account. Thank God today is payday, because I have completely spent myself out over the last three weeks! Keep those emails coming, and please forgive me if I don’t respond to all of them right away. It seems as though many of them are taking longer than normal to come through, so I try to reply as soon as they end up in my inbox. I’ve got a few little presents to send back to a few of you, and as soon as I see some freakin’ postcards, I’ll get out the slew of them that I promised as well. In the meantime, take care, and let me know if there’s anything I can do for you from this great distance. Until next time, Seacrest out!

“Ah, the Socratic Method. The best way we have of teaching everything ⎯ apart from juggling chainsaws.” – Dr. Gregory House

January 19, 2008: 9:47 am

Chinese word of the day:
Xiaxue – snow

Well, it’s been a few days since my last update, but since I’ve managed to speak to many of you over the phone via my new “Skype” hookup on the digi-browser in the past week, I decided to hold off on the bloggin’ for a bit while really trying to “settle in” to my new environment. We had planned on trekking out to the Centre [of the city] to check out Tiananmen Square and the surrounding areas over our “weekend” (Thursday and Friday), but I ended up spending the last couple of days snuggled up in the warmth with my new “gal pal” instead (I’ll spare you the details there, at least until I can wrap my mind around the situation). I will say, however, that this one is (as always) way too pretty for me (even if she neglects to realize it), so we’ll see how long I’m able to maintain her interest! And no, she’s not in any of the pics I’ve taken so far, so don’t bother trying to pick her out of a line-up (Mom). I will fess up a bit, and admit that, yes, she is Chinese (damn that Yellow Fever!).

Otherwise, there isn’t much new to report, other than it snowed for the first time since my arrival yesterday, and as beautiful as it was coming down, much like in the city (NYC), it got really nasty, really fast, and kept us indoors for the better part of two days. Wednesday night was another big night out at “Chwar” with all the teachers, and Thursday was mostly spent in slumber, and getting in some much-needed recovery time. I have managed to keep myself stuffed with heaping piles of cheap eats the last few days, and I also cooked up a big meal of tasty [halal] chicken sandwiches and chips (fried potatoes) last night for a bunch of the new friends. After dinner (which everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy), we all piled up on the couch to watch a couple of Denzel Washington flicks, “American Gangster” and “Déjà Vu”, both of which were really good, with the latter being one of the better, smarter thrillers that I’ve seen in quite some time (I had to hide some tears at the end. I know, I know – what a wimp!).

I’m starting my week off this morning with a jam-packed day – three classes, back-to-back-to-back – so, I’m hoping all goes well, and I don’t run out of steam before this evening. I do think - so far, at least - that I’m actually a pretty decent teacher, but I have employed the Socratic Method (teaching with questions) on a number of occasions, just to help me seem a whole helluva lot smarter than I really am (thank you, wise Socrates). I guess being a nerdy bookworm has finally paid off!

Since this is probably my most boring rant so far, I’ll just keep it short and sweet, and get some more pics and updates up sometime next week, once I’ve got some fun “touristy” stuff to share with everyone. Hope all is well back in the good ol’ U-S-of-A, and I’m looking forward to catching one of the football games on Monday morning. I’m totally a “Packer backer” the rest of the way, but I really don’t care who takes the title without my Panthers or Jets in the mix - as long, of course, as it’s anyone but those damned Pats! Anywhoo, all my love is headed across the ocean as I type this… and it just so happens, its all aimed straight at you!! Now, ladies and germs, I believe its coffee time!

PS – Somebody tell me how “Cloverfield” was!

“Rather once cry your heart out, than always sigh.” – Chinese Proverb

January 20, 2008: 1:33 pm

Chinese word of the day:
pengyou – friend

I often tell the tale of sitting at a grand round table in a tiny little pub in Buhl, Germany, and how inspired I was by the experience of hearing Dutch, Swiss, German, French, and English, all being spoken at once, and by such a big group of friendly faces. Last night, I was fortunate enough to experience a similar inspiring event - this time, surrounded by Mandarin, Cantonese, and Korean…

Karen took me out with a big group of her friends last night (to show me off a bit, I think), and we went to a ritzy Japanese/Korean restaurant owned by one of her incredibly kind, old high school friends. I was the only American at a table of twelve, and I sat in awe, wonder, and amazement, as I ate the most massive meal of my entire life. For four solid hours, the food kept coming and coming and coming: sushi, beef, cow tongue, cow stomach, chicken, pints of beer, glasses of wine, shots of baijou, a divine medley of fresh mixed-veggies, potato salad, spicy pork, cabbage, pineapple, and finally, finished off with a big bowl of truly incredible fish-filled miso soup. I kept asking her how these people stayed so damn thin, considering the insane amount of food that continued to be consumed throughout the night. It was honestly amazing, and as much as I wanted to stop eating, I couldn’t pass up any of the appealing entrees that continued to follow, one after another, after another. The group was all just as friendly and amusing as they could have possibly been, and my emotions overflowed throughout the night (just as they do as I write this), as they all seemed to be pleased that I was amongst them. Karen did a pretty fair job of interpreting most of the conversations, but at one point, late in the night, I told her it was no longer necessary, as I was just enjoying the laughing and smiling and cheerful company.

Never in a million years could I have imagined being so accepted amongst these people, and it really felt wonderful having them embrace a Westerner with such gusto. One of the girls, a hairdresser with purple and blonde streaks in her gorgeous jet black hair, even tried to tell me in her best broken English, that I looked like (who else?) Bono. “Thank you for joining us,” she said. Eventually, as the night wore on, the owner came over and sat down with us, and he made a special toast to the American man that was comfortable enough to join them. A grand experience, indeed, and hopefully, not one that I am unfortunate enough to live out just once in this lifetime.

I know how expensive and difficult it may be to do, but I can only encourage all of you to come and visit this land of inconceivable splendor, and to embrace every opportunity to meet and make friends with these gallant people of the Eastern countries. To think that such an exciting experience could occur in our country is more than a ticklish task, and I only hope that you, my friends and family, have the opportunity to live out such an episode for yourselves. Perhaps one day soon, we, as a fledgling nation of great knowledge and wealth, will come to understand these ancient cultures, and cradle the love and wisdom that these people have to offer. It breaks my heart to think that in ours, a country of every race, nationality, and color, we have yet to completely shed the vale that shields us from embosoming those people who we do not yet fully comprehend. If this experience has taught me anything already, it is that people all over this world are genuinely good, and no matter how bad the things are that we might say or do, there is but one thing that will forever bind us all – love. Perhaps I sound pretentious or hoity-toity, or even like a wannabe sophisticate who wants to tout himself with the knowledge of something new, but something inside of me is growing, and I want so desperately to share it with you…

There are two brilliant lines that come from one of my favorite movies - they bring me to tears each and every time I here them - and I’ll close with these, in hopes that you can better understand this newfound passion to share all of my devotion and regard…

“Hate was all I knew, it built my world, it imprisoned me, taught me how to eat, how to drink, how to breathe. I thought I’d die with all my hate in my veins. But then something happened…”

“Every inch of me shall perish - every inch, but one. An inch. It is small and it is fragile and it is the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it or give it away. We must never let them take it from us. I hope that whoever you are, you escape this place. I hope that the world turns, and that things get better. But what I hope most of all, is that you understand what I mean when I tell you, that even though I do not know you, and even though I may never meet you, laugh with you, cry with you, or kiss you… I love you. With all my heart, I love you.”

With all my heart, I love you.

“A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, nor a garden without love.”
- Chinese proverb

“Diane, never drink coffee that has been anywhere near a fish.” – Agent Dale Cooper

January 14, 2008: 11:03 am

Chinese phrase of the day:
Qing wei wo chang yishou ge. – Please sing a song for me.

I’m running on fumes this morning, as I still haven’t been able to regulate my sleep too much, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to my insanely brick-hard mattress. Not to mention, I’ve been wide open all week long, and I’m still on the high of being in a new and foreign country. Yesterday’s classes went really well, and this afternoon/evening, I’ll have two more elective classes, but I’m not sure exactly what I’m teaching yet. The “elective board” goes up on Monday mornings, so I haven’t had a chance to prepare yet for today’s activities. Tomorrow will be my first day teaching over at the SOHO campus, and I’m excited about being over there with some of the teachers I’ve gotten in really good with.

On Friday night, about 8 or 9 of us went over to karaoke, and we had a real blast. It was absolutely nothing like I expected, as I’m used to karaoke being in a big bar or room with lots of people around, and folks taking turns up on the microphone. The place we went to was called “Partyworld” (about as original as “Drinkland”), and I realize now that “KTV” is what everyone calls karaoke here, and have started to notice the places all over town. The Chinese take their karaoke very seriously, and once we got inside I was taken aback by how nice and ritzy the establishment was. We were taken down to the bottom floor where there were hallways lined with little private rooms. We took a room at the far, south end of the building, where there were a few TV screens and little computer monitors set up to pick your songs. There were three microphones set up on a little one-person stage, and a couple of tambourines and shaker-things sitting on the tables. The girls who had been there before took over right away, and things really got going once Aaron and I performed a ridiculously hilarious version of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”. The TV screens were pretty ricockulous, too, as they played silly fake versions of the music videos while we all sang. When we did “Hey Jude”, there was a funny-looking Paul McCartney look-alike on the screen, intercut with goofy shots of landscapes and kangaroos and ducks swimming in a pond (WTF?). We had some really good laughs and enjoyed ourselves immensely, but I think the other teachers (and me, as well) were disappointed that Shebaz and Jasmin refused to sing. Just not their bag, I suppose, but you wouldn’t have thought it was mine either, and I was on the mike for at least a third of the songs.

When we got home, I threw on the Pilot episode of “Twin Peaks” (previously unavailable in the States), and I’m sure I’ll be quoting the series for the next few weeks (“That’s one damn fine cup of coffee! And hot!”) Before bed I sent out a couple of emails before hitting the sack a little after 1 am. On a side note, everyone here is on Facebook, and that’s how they send each other notes about coordinated events and such, so it’s going to be a challenge to keep myself from getting on there. I’ve held out this long, so I’m hoping I can get by without it, but I’m afraid I might finally have to break down and sign up once some of the teachers start to leave, as I imagine it might be my best source of keeping in touch with everyone. I’ve only been here a week and have already developed some good relationships, so I’ll be sad to see some of the girls leave after the Spring Festival.

Speaking of which, I’m really looking forward to the Festival, which is the celebration of the Chinese New Year, and the biggest holiday in China. It’s a week-long federal holiday here, so I’ll already get a week of vacation, but since the entire country apparently travels during this week, I’m most likely going to stay in the city and try to get as much done in Beijing as possible. On CCTV they’ve already been talking about the week-long fireworks display, as it will be the biggest and longest display in the history of mankind!! Setting off fireworks in the city was deemed illegal a couple of years ago, but during Spring Festival, everyone is allowed to shoot off as many as they like. I’ve been told that the first night will completely blow my mind, and will be the best thing ever, but by the third of fourth day we’ll probably get sick of the constant bombardment of loud “bangs” all throughout the day and night. Someone even told me to be careful when we’re walking around, because people will be shooting off fireworks in the street at all angles and hours of the day, so you’ve got to watch out for stray rockets heading for your face!

As I was telling someone last night, it’s a pretty incredible feeling in this city right now. Whereas moving to NYC at 17-years-old was amazing in itself, New York was already such an established metropolis when I got there. It would have been amazing to have been there in the 1920’s or 30’s, when the city was really coming to life, and that’s exactly the feeling you get when you’re in Beijing right now. This city is in it’s real growth stage, and there’s just something in the air that makes it feel special to be here right now. I don’t think I could have ever picked a better time to experience this city, and everything feels very bustling and vibrant, as if the city is becoming what New York or London has become to the rest of the world.

Last night was a real treat as well, as we traveled to any area called Hou Hai (pronounced “How high”), and about 20 of the teachers went to a beautiful little restaurant down in one of the hutongs to have a huge meal of insanely delicious pizza (a couple of you guys made fun of me for using the term “pie”) and French fries and red wine. It was nice to have some real-deal Western food, as the previous evening’s late-night trip to McDonald’s (which the Aussies call “Mackers”) was much less fulfilling. It was a bit of an experience, though, to order a Big Mac and fries in Chinese! At dinner I got to talk a lot with a teacher named Leigh, a 60’s-something Scottish teacher who works here with her husband. The two of them have been traveling across the world teaching English for the past twenty years, and it was really encouraging and inspiring to hear her tales of working in different countries, and how they had given up their dream of being rich, to live out their dream of traveling the world and experiencing all the different cultures our beautiful planet has to offer. Unfortunately, both her and her hubby will be leaving rather soon, but I’ve really enjoyed their company and stimulating conversations.

After dinner, we went over to a huuuge sports bar called the “Goose and Duck”, and had a great time drinking and playing pool and air hockey into the wee hours. Right behind our table, their was a huge photo of Yankee Stadium, and when I stood up on my chair to point out the section that we’d usually sit when we got to go to the games, the manager, an older American fellow from South Carolina with the strangest mustache I’ve ever seen, came over to ask me if I was a Yankees fan, and gave me a personal grand tour of the establishment. He invited us to come watch the Super Bowl at the bar, but he said they were expecting between 1,500 and 2,000 people for the game, and I think we’ll probably go over to another place that’s a little more low key. It was really cool, however, that there were some photographers at the bar in the room we were in from Sports Illustrated China, and they told me all about the NFL and NBA offices in the city. They also said that there would be a party the night before the Super Bowl with five New England Patriots cheerleaders, and as I explained there is one team in the world that I hate more than the Pats (those bloody Red Sox), I would certainly enjoy a bit of eye-candy if we end up being able to attend.

This afternoon, my first class doesn’t start until 4 o’clock, but I’ve got to go over to the school at 2:00 to get all my hours in. I’ll probably go see what my electives will be, and then go down to Starbucks to put together my lesson plans. Going to heat up some leftover chicken and rice now, and boil up some water to throw on a few dumplings. I hope it’s not nearly as cold over there as it is here (it’s sooo bitter and dry here, I’ve been using facial moisturizer every day to keep the end of my nose from peeling!), and it’ll really be weird when I come home, since I’m adjusting to all the metric measurements over here (today it’s -2° C). Time to get some food in my belly, so will post another update in a few days. As always, my thoughts are with you all. Lots o’ love, and “Zaoshang hao!”

“Rock and roll doesn’t necessarily mean a band. It doesn’t mean a singer, and it doesn’t mean a lyric, really. It’s that question of trying to be immortal.”

January 12, 2008: 10:10 am

Chinese word of the day:
gulou – drum tower

I’ve always said that New York City is the “best city in the world”, and ignorantly so, because I haven’t been to that many of the world’s cities, have I? But, needless to say, I’m quickly changing my mind…

I did my first “mock” lesson yesterday and it went fairly well. It was a great experience and good to get some critical feedback. I’ve already realized that I’ve got to do a lot less talking, and a lot more “questioning”. My lesson was an “intermediate elective” about ecological preservation, and I went way overboard with the scientific explanations, so I realize now that I’m not actually teaching a friggin’ science class, but rather, I always need to focus on how theses lessons are actually teaching the language. The Director of Studies, who sat in and gave us critiques after we were done, was very pleased with my preparation (I started out with a slideshow I put together with images of the Amazon rainforest and the pink dolphins which inhabit a particular river in Columbia), and also commended my confidence, presentation, and “board work”, but she made it clear that I need to devote 80% of the class time to letting the students speak, while doing a better job of guiding them along with questions and making sure that all the vocabulary, etc., are understood before I move through the topic.

My first real-deal classes will begin on Sunday – better to throw us in there and figure things out for ourselves – and my schedule mainly consists of VIP (one-on-one) lessons with a couple of teenagers and young adults. I have one guy that is a Chinese Customs agent, a 20’s-something female biologist who specifically asked for a “handsome American male” teacher, and a couple of others who I’ve yet to find out the specifics about. I also have a few electives that I’ll be teaching, ranging from beginner to advanced levels, and I’m happy that I won’t be having any Core classes, as I’ll have more of an opportunity to have conversational lessons, instead of trying to teach grammar, syntax, etc., which I obviously have some problems with myself.

Last night was another incredible night out, and I’ve already found my “scene” over here, an awesome area by the Beijing Drum and Bell Tower, where lots of ex-pats congregate to hang out at the cool bars and clubs and such. Jasmine and Cherry (a 22-year-old Hong Kong born Australian) and I went out for dinner over in that area around 7 pm, and we had a huge shared meal at a restaurant that didn’t have any English on the menu. We ordered a big pot of steaming tea (with what looked like an ounce of marijuana floating in the kettle, don’t worry Mom – it wasn’t), and three big dishes of spicy beef, pork and peanuts, and rice with shrimp and fried eggs. It was to die for. After filling up, we headed over to the Drum Tower to meet a couple of other teachers, and walked down to an insanely awesome rock-and-roll bar called the “Mao Live House”. I’m definitely going to be a “local” at this place.

As soon as we got in (it was a 40 RMB cover at the door), I immediately noticed all the hot Chinese rocker chicks, and also the big ex-pat crowd. Marilyn Manson was playing at the bar up front, so after ordering up a Jim Bean and Coke and a couple of beers for myself and the girls, I knew I had found a place I was going to love. We quickly went in to the live music part of the venue, and were greeted by an incredible Chinese band that was rocking out like it was going out of style. The front girl was a female Chinese version of Mick Jagger and Sid Vicious (cool combination, huh?) and kept throwing the microphone around to swing around her neck. The band was really ripping ass, and I was disappointed that I only got to see them do a few songs before another band took over the stage. This second band, more of a pop-rock group called Shampoo (I couldn’t understand the Chinese, obviously, but a cute American girl explained some of what they were saying), was just as awesome as the first, and my Dad would’ve loved the guy playing bass, as he was playing that really fast slap method, sort of similar to Les Claypool. They did maybe 10-12 songs, including a couple songs with scattered English and an awesome cover of “Video Killed the Radio Star.” After the two Chinese bands, we got a couple of British bands and one (I think) that were either Australians or New Zealanders. They were pretty good as well, but not nearly as fun and energetic as the Chinese bands. There were some smoking hot Chinese girls dancing around up front, and since I was the only American bouncing around and rocking out myself, at some point (I had quite a few drinkypoos), they collected me into their bunch and danced with me until one of the British bands finished up. One of the coolest things about the Beijing people is that they genuinely get excited to meet an American, and I only wish I wasn’t so ignorant and stupid that I have no means of communicating past a few initial phrases (but hopefully that will come with time). I also met a Jersey girl who had been a teacher with World Link a couple of years ago, and still comes out to hang with the ex-pats, who knew about Pratt when I mentioned it, and has a sister that lives in Park Slope. We shared a laugh over the fact that we had probably seen each other at “The Garage” or “Lucky 13” in the time that we had frequented those particular hangouts.

We caught a cab back to the apartment around 2:00 am since Cherry (who can’t drink because she’s taking Malaria tablets from her trip to Thailand) was ready to go. Thankfully, my little Wilmington hottie, Marie Elena, guided us back to Baoxing Yuan, and I sent out a few emails before finally hitting the sack. This morning I got up around 9:30, completely hangover free (to my surprise), and in a couple of hours we’re going to go out to the Third Ring Road to do some shopping. I’m hoping we can figure out a way to take the bus, since that’s something I haven’t had the cojones for just quite yet, and I’m looking forward to getting a bit lost and trying to venture out beyond my comfort zone.

Tonight, since we couldn’t get tickets to the Peking Opera, the school organized a trip to the KTV, which is a big karaoke bar, close in proximity to the area where we were at last night. I’m looking forward to putting on a bit of a show, as this experience has really enabled me to lower my inhibitions a bit, and ignore some of the pride that has kept me from doing so many of things I should have been doing for the past 27 years (I’m sure you’ll all notice how much I try to say “I love you” now!!!). Most of you who know me well, also know that I’ve slowly been regaining my confidence over these last couple of years, and I’m finally in a place where I’m completely comfortable with who I am, where I’ve been, and where I’m going.

Anywhoo, time for some breakfast, and I need to get myself together before we head out (you know I’m not going anywhere without my hair styled perfectly!). Love you lots, and I’m really enjoying getting these posts up, so continue to shoot me lines if you’ve got any specific questions about this or that, as it’s literally impossible to include all that’s going on. Guess there’s some football games this weekend (which I haven’t even thought about this week), so I might try to get over to a bar called “Frank’s” to watch the Giants rip the Cowboys on Monday morning. OK, OK. I’ll shut up now. Zaijian!

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.”
- Chinese proverb

“His hair was perfect.” – Warren Zevon

January 10, 2008: 6:01 pm

Chinese word of the day:
baijiu – fire water

I’m seriously going to get fat over here! Just got home from a short day over at the Wang Jing campus and sitting down with some leftovers to write another entry. I’m getting damn good with the chopsticks now, and I even managed to wolf down a huge dish of fried rice with seafood and chili without using a fork or spoon even once! So far, the best thing I’ve tried is the gongbao doufu, a dish similar to kungpao chicken, except the chicken is replaced with these tasty cubes of crispy beancurd. Who would’ve ever thought that this meat and potatoes guy would be raving about a weird vegetarian dish, huh?

The last two days have been pretty intensive with the training, and tomorrow morning I’ll be teaching a “mock” elective class about the mystical Amazon pink river dolphins to Baz, Jasmine, and the Director of Studies. Lots of you guys responded to my first couple of entries with a bunch of questions, so I’ll try to address them as much as possible.

We started our training on Tuesday morning, spending most of the day with Amy Lin, the Director of Real Life English’s parent company, World Link Education. She spent about an hour introducing herself and getting to know the three of us, before moving on to explain the structure of the company, and detailing exactly whom it is we are now employed by. We had a really big lunch over at a delicious restaurant called Pete’s, where we had our first Western meal in China, because Baz and Jasmine have both been experiencing some really bad bouts with the bubble gut and mud butt. I ordered a pie with ham and green peppers, and they had some cheese quesadillas (which Baz hilariously botched the pronunciation of), and they shared a bacon pie of their own. I ate all of mine and some of theirs, too (Chinese meals are made for sharing, and it’s common practice to just shove your chopsticks into someone else’s plate), and I took home all the leftovers to scroff down later in the evening. After lunch, we went over some “teaching theory,” and we ended up cutting out around 5 o’clock. That night, we hung out at the apartment again with some Tsing Tao (the most popular brand of beer), and watched a couple episodes of “House”, before tucking out rather early.

On Wednesday morning, I woke up at 4:00 am yet again, but was able to pass back out on the couch for a couple more hours, before heading back over to the school. In the morning we picked up from the previous afternoon, and finished discussing the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teaching methods that we’ll be using in the classroom. At 2 o’clock, we took the shuttle bus over to the SOHO campus for the first time. The SOHO district is right in the heart of the city, and has a much more metropolitan feel. The whole city looks like one big building site, due to the constant construction and renovations, lots of which are in preparation for the Games in August.

At the SOHO campus, we joined our first “teacher’s meeting”, where we had the opportunity to meet all the other teachers, and went over some nick-naks about some of the recent activities the school has been doing, and learning about a mentoring program that a [50-something] teacher named “Coach” is in charge of. He was actually very pleased that they finally had an artist in the bunch, and got all excited about a prospective program where I would be working with the small children to paint some pictures that would be sold in stores around the city, with the profits going to assist the mentoring of some impoverished children in the South [of China].

At the meeting, everybody kept laughing about the hazing that would take place later in the night, with an event called “Chwar,” that all the teachers go to every Wednesday night. In the afternoon we went over the different types of classes we’ll be teaching (core classes and electives), and talked over the process of lesson planning, and the importance of being prepared when you enter the classroom. After that, the three of us split up and did some peer observations, where we sat in on other teachers’ classes to get a feel of exactly how things work. If it sounds like they’re gearing up to throw us to the wolves, you’re right on the money, because we found out that our first day of teaching will begin on Sunday of this week!

With the long day finally over (10 am – 8 pm), a sweet American teacher named Anna took us back to her apartment so we could wait for the other teachers to finish their late classes, and we sat around looking at all the incredible photos she had taken over the course of the last year. She told us a bunch of places to go for sightseeing and touristy stuff, and when the best time is to do everything. It was really exciting to see all the places that I’m looking forward to going, like the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, the Forbidden City, and other countries like Tibet and Vietnam. At around 9:30, her other two roommates showed up (a Minnesotan and a Brit), and I was jealous that they had the opportunity to change clothes before we went out. By 10:00, we were all geared up and ready to set out, and we followed them over to the restaurant where the really fun stuff finally got started.

On our way, we ventured down one of the hutongs, one of the many narrow alleyways, and I stopped in a little smoke shop to purchase my first pack of authentic Chinese cigarettes (sorry Mom, but they’re practically free over here, 2-4 RMB!). I had been told by the smokers (almost everyone) not to get the Marlboro Lights, because the ones over here are manufactured in Vietnam, and they are the worse tasting variety in the whole country.

As soon as we walked in to the tiny little eatery, we were immediately greeted by all of the teachers and staff, who passed us some beers and gave us a big welcome “cheers”. It didn’t take long for the booze to really start flowing, and we were forced to drink shots of the Chinese drink called baijiu, which might as well be paint thinner in a glass. In reality, it’s actually a 100 plus proof fiery grain liquor that is consumed by the natives like Vodka is in Russia. Some of the teachers said that they had already sworn not to ever touch the stuff again, but I think over the course of the night, I had six or seven shots of the deadly clear substance.

Finally meeting everyone proper was really comforting, and it was great to see that these guys are all pretty good partiers, and even more awesome to get around and talk to everyone on a much more personal level. Of course, it is also pretty nice that a couple of the girls are serious hotties, and I’m already crushing on one of them a little bit already (uh oh!). At one point in the night, I heard someone behind me saying to someone else, “Look at Jared,” and when I turned round, she goes, “You’re really in your element, huh?” to which I could only reply, “You bet your sweet ass”. I was bouncing off the walls all night. In the photo I’ve included here, you’ll notice who is already in the front of the pack and cheesing like a rock star!

One of the coolest guys I’ve met so far, C.J., the head teacher over at the SOHO campus (who is into Argento, Fulci, Lynch, and Lovecraft, which automatically makes you awesome), announced late in the night that he and his girlfriend had gotten engaged earlier that week when they were out on their holiday, so the drinking got cranked up to a whole new level, with more and more baijiu being passed around. At around 2 am, everyone started filtering out, so since we knew that we had to be back at the school bright and early, we tuckered out and headed back to our apartments.

This morning, fairly hungover after some (in my opinion) very impressive alcohol intake, I got up at 7:30 am, and could hear Baz hurling in his bathroom (the Brits are total lightweights! I never want to hear “Americans can’t hold their liquor” ever again!). He decided he was too sick to get up and go in (which I thought was a very, very dumb decision), and when I got to the school I was amused to see that everyone was stumbling around in a hangover haze, but then much less amused when the Director of Studies gave them all shit for trying to kill us with all the devilish fire water.

Today, we went hardcore into the specifics of classroom etiquette, do’s and don’ts, and talked a lot about the concept of “face”, which is generally the most important thing to know when trying to relate to the Chinese culture. It is exactly what it sounds like, and it was stressed over and over again that we never, ever, never, want to put a Chinese person in a situation where they will lose “face” in front of another Chinese.

Later in the afternoon, we went over the policy for doing and filing our paperwork, and did our placement tests for our Chinese classes, which I handed back without a single answer (I know quite a few phrases now, but have no clue when it comes to the characters). We finished up fairly early, leaving the school about 3:30, and we got a cab back to Baoxing Yuan (the name of our apartment buildings). I invited some of the cuties over to our apartment tonight, so I’m going to head down shortly to go by the grocer and pick up some booze and snacky poofs, and see if I can find some good cleaning supplies, since the dust collects in our place about an inch thick each day (we keep the windows open because of the heat, which is controlled by the government in every building in the entire city – Welcome to Communism – and the pollution is so insane that it leaves a residue on absolutely everything over here). It’s actually a pretty unhealthy environment, and I realize now that the fog I spoke of in my earlier post is actually the thick smog which permeates the air, so I want to get some good vitamins and stuff, too, just so that my immune system stays strong and battles whatever weird bugs I might ingest by breathing in all the crap and eating all the crazy food. I also want to get some clothes shopping done in the next day or two, and since everything is so freaking cheap, I’m hoping to cop some sweet threads from a tailor that one of the other teachers referred me to. It’s totally annoying having to take my earrings in and out every morning, but I’m sort of reveling in the fact that I might just be the best dressed guy in all of Beijing (and by the way, I got my first couple of “shout outs” from some Chinese girls today! I might end up with Yellow Fever after all!).

Needless to say, yet again, but I’m really having an amazing time, and I absolutely love this city. It’s actually much more “livable” than I originally anticipated, so I just have to be careful about not getting apathetic with my Chinese lessons once they get started. Lots of people here speak English, albeit some, very poorly, and I’ve already got a decent sense of what I’m going to need to learn to get myself around on my own.

Anywhoo, I miss you guys a ton, and like I told some folks in my emails this afternoon, I get all choked up and watery-eyed whenever I think about how much I love you all (and that’s not even to mention how much I miss my wittle doggy! Go play with him if you get a chance!) Hope I’ve answered most of your inquiries, and keep all the questions coming, because it really makes me feel cared for. Hopefully in the coming weeks, I’ll get bold enough to venture out a little more, and will have some more interesting stuff to fill you in about. Time to get going, now, so I’ll get some more posts and pics up soon. In the meantime, take care of yourselves!

“Do you want me to tell you something really subversive? Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. That’s why people are so cynical about it. . . . It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.”

January 6, 2008: 6:20 am

Chinese word of the day:
Xie xie (pronounced “Tse tse”) – Thank you

Greetings from China!! Your favorite ex-pat is safe and sound, and although I haven’t yet been able to reach anyone in the States, I’m typing in this first blog entry on my laptop from the warmth and comfort of my awesome couch in my brand new [badass] Wang Jian apartment. I’m sure over the course of the year that this “blog” will take on a life of its own, and become as much a love letter to you friends and family back home as it is to the country and people I now reside with, but for now, I’m just going to pour out the happenings of my travel here, and my first full day and night in China. Hope you guys enjoy keeping up with me, and hopefully my writings and ramblings will give you an opportunity to be here with me in spirit, as much as you are all here with me in heart and mind. I’m hoping to get down and see the sunrise within the hour, so I’ll probably be as concise with my descriptions as possible. On to the good stuff…

My flight to L.A. from RDU was quick and painless, and I was fortunate enough to have a small row all to myself. I realized quickly that my travel plan was going to be as far-fetched as my as my ideas of what to expect when I got here, when I woke up groggily at the end of the five-and-a-half hour trip. I arrived at LAX at approximately 10:15 pm PT, and had about two hours until my departure to Beijing. Bundled up in my sweater, scarf, and trenchcoat, I was literally drenched by the time I had gotten to the airport’s far terminal, where the plane to China would depart.

After a second round of going through security (no strip searches this time!), I had a seat beside a pretty American girl named Jennifer, who was on her way back to Beijing from her Christmas visit to the States. She explained that she was a writer, and had been living in Beijing for almost four years, and kindly offered me her business card (which, by the way, was the most beautiful business card I’ve ever seen), and told me that should any problems arise upon my arrival, she would gladly meet me to help me out.

Needless to say, my luck had run out by the time I boarded the [Air China] plane, and I was uncomfortably stuffed between two Chinese men, who actually ended up being very friendly and talkative. I tried my best to make it through the (I’m guessing) the newest “Harry Potter” film, but by the one hour mark I had simply had enough (I still don’t understand the appeal to that series). I spent a few hours listening to Evanesence and Green Day before finally falling back asleep, and when I awoke, we were about half-way to our destination. The remaining time I spent reading my book, “Sharp Teeth, by Toby Barlow”, and watching a Japanese film on my laptop called “Cashern”, which I had picked up before I left.

When I finally arrived at the airport, I was blown away when my two massive suitcases were the very first two to roll off the baggage claim, and I hastily made my way through Customs, which was virtually non-existent, except for passing along an “Arrival card” to claim my belongings. A driver was waiting for me as soon as I exited the terminal, and I was more than happy to see the blue sign that he was holding, which read, “World Link Education welcomes Jared Davis.”

The drive to my neighborhood was an experience in itself, and much like my experience in Germany and Switzerland, the driver sped down the highway at speeds close to 100 mph. I was a little freaked out at first, but my excitement and wonder quickly took over, and I was more interested in peering through the thick morning fog at my new home. It took less than twenty minutes to arrive at the apartment, where my driver walked me all the way up to my building, and guided me up to the 27th floor. It took a few minutes to wake my roommate, since it was, of course, about 6:30 am, and the sun had not yet risen. Finally, he rose to greet me at the door, and the driver disappeared before I could offer even a “Thank you.”

When I got inside the apartment, I was almost speechless, as this is, without a doubt, the nicest apartment I’ve ever stayed in. You’ll just have to see the pictures once I’ve posted, because it’s really just too nice for me to describe. I’m sure my father will be jealous when he sees that our plasma wall-television is as big as his own!!

I could tell immediately that I had lucked out yet again with my roomate, a British muslim named Shebaz (just Baz, for short), from Manchester, and we talked soccer and booze and religion for a short while before I headed for the shower. Initially, I thought that I should get some sleep, but the excitement was just too overwhelming, so after we shot the shit for an hour or so, we ventured down to the massive street market that was bustling just below our building. There, I made my first purchase, a pair of cool leather gloves, which only cost 20 RMB, just a little more than two American dollars. We walked around for about an hour, reveling in our amazement, and checking out all the small stands, which were manned by shouting Chinese men and women. There were terrific-looking vegetables of every variety, and I was most impressed with the selection of seafood, much of which was still alive, swimming around in icy buckets of water.

By this time, both of us were starving, so we went back up to the apartment to give my World Link “buddy”, Aaron (a really smart kid from Miami) a call to ask if he could recommend somewhere or something to eat. He informed me that he had been sick for the previous two days and had been going completely stir-crazy, so he would be happy to pop by in about an hour and show us around the “hood”.

While waiting for him to arrive, the jetlag really started to kick in, and by the time he showed up, I was contemplating going on to bed, but since my stomach was growling loud enough to keep my awake, we decided to accompany him down to a small restaurant, where we had some hot tea and two of the most delicious dishes I’ve ever had. We started with a steaming pile of fried potatoes, and I ordered an incredible meal with spicy pork over rice, which was chock full of spicy peanuts, peppers and vegetables. After washing everything down with a huge shared beer (only 2 RMB), we made our way over to a little store where we purchased hangers for our clothes, a few trash cans for the apartment, and a converter for my laptop, which I didn’t yet realize that I didn’t even need.

After that, I informed the guys that I was about to fall asleep in the spot where I stood, so I made my way back to the apartment to take a nap for about four or five hours. When I woke up, Baz was in the living room talking with a couple of visitors, Owen and Marie Elena, two other teachers in the program, who had stopped by to extend a warm “ni hao”. I was really surprised when the (very cute) girl told me that she, too, was from [Wilmington] North Carolina, and we exchanged stories for a few minutes before they took their leave. Baz and I then went down to the little convenience store on the first floor, and I got a few Cokes and bottles of water, and of course, two huge bottles of beer (which come in about 30 ounce bottles, here). We came back up, watched another movie that I had brought on the laptop, and by the end of first beer, I was ready for bed again. I laid down around 9:30, and by 9:31 I was deep asleep, having wild dreams about zombies and cemeteries, likely inspired by the graphic novel I’ve been writing.

This morning (Sunday, the 6th), I woke up around 5:45 am (no, seriously, I did) and enjoyed a warm cup of coco, while I watched the morning news on our only English TV channel. After a steaming hot shower, I sat down with you, and well… that’s it, I suppose.

From our living room window, with a view you could only imagine, it appears as if the sun might be starting to break, so I’m going to close and run down into the icy morning to try and catch the daybreak. I’m terribly sorry that I haven’t been able to communicate home as of yet, but I’m sure by tomorrow I’ll be able to drop everyone a line. In closing, all I can say is this – I love you all – more, in fact, than you could ever know, and oftentimes, more than my foolish pride will allow me to say - and thank you all for your support for me in this bizarre, beautiful, and surreal endeavor. You are with me always, and hopefully, these “shoots” will continue to keep us close over the next twelve months. Gotta run, so, “zaijian”, and talk soon!!

January 7, 2008: 6:45 pm

Chinese word of the day:
piaoliang – beautiful

So, if it’s true, that before you die, your life flashes before your eyes, the last 48 hours will appear as prominently as any other memory of my first 27 years. Unfortunately, I’m still pretty jetlagged and adjusting to the immense time change, but whereas my body is tired and achy and ready to shut down, my mind is racing and my heart is beating… perhaps, like never before.

Baz and I laid pretty low last night, staying in and drinking a few beers and a bottle of “Great Wall Cabernet”. We watched another one of the movies I picked up before I left, a really smart horror film called “Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon”, and grubbed on our tasty leftovers from earlier in the day. I tried to go to bed around 11:00, but my mind was so full of excitement (and my mattress is hard a freakin’ brick), so I tossed and turned for quite a while before Sleep was finally kind enough to take me over.

I woke up at 4:00 am, thinking it was close to morning, and was too uncomfortable and sore to get back to sleep, so I moved out to the couch to watch some CCTV, which was showing a special about the Peking Opera (we’re going to one on Saturday night), until I finally passed back out an hour later. When Baz woke up around 7:00, I got back up again, and I ate an apple and a bowl of the Weetabix cereal he had brought over from the UK. We went over to catch the shuttle bus about 9:30, and met the other “newbie”, a really sweet and pretty girl from Melbourne, Australia, named Jasmin.

As soon as we arrived at the school, we were met by our orientation director, a young and constantly smiling Chinese girl, Kristy, and headed out to start our very long day. Our first stop was the Bank of China, where we waited in line for half an hour or so to open up our bank accounts. It only took 15 RMB (which I now know the proper name for, “kuai”) to open up my account, and we headed back to the RLE building to meet the program director, Jacqui, who I was afraid was going to hate me for bugging her to death prior to my arrival. Thankfully, she was extremely nice, and didn’t seem to hold my persistence against me. We met some of the other teachers at the school, another one of which was from North Carolina, who, funny enough, grew up in Concord and went to school at UNC-W. Who the hell would’ve thought that I would move half way around the world to meet a bunch of kids from good ol’ North Crack-o-lac?!

From the school, us and two other newer teachers, and also one new student, another Auzzy, went with Jacqui over to a really nice nearby restaurant, where we feasted on Peking duck and a variety of other incredible foods, which I wouldn’t dare try to name by name. After a few beers and a belly full of goodness, we traveled about 20 minutes across the city to the SOS building, where we were given a tour of the medical facilities that will be available to us during our stay. Surprisingly enough, most of the doctors at the facility were ex-pats themselves, and I went to the pharmacy to purchase some Melotonin, which I desperately hope will help give me a full night’s sleep this evening.

After this, we headed over to the local police station, where we registered for our residences, something everyone in China, even the natives, are forced to do. Somewhere in the midst of all the running around (the events of the day are beginning to run together a bit in my sleep deprived mind), we went by the China Mobile store to purchase our cell phones and Chinese sim cards, which all together was about 500 RMB (less than $60!!).

After the day’s activities were completed, a little before 4 o’clock, Jacqui walked us over to an overly expensive Western grocer called “Jenny Lou’s”, where we snagged a few brand-name necessities: some mac and cheese, tea for Baz, and some breakfast stuff to have at the apartment for the morning tummy grumbles. I went next door to the Starbucks and grabbed a cup of coffee (which I had been fiending like a crackhead for), and then we headed over to “Tom’s”, the greatest store in the history of mankind, where we bought a stack of DVD’s, including a unreleased David Lynch boxset (that included “Lost Highway”!!) and seasons 1-3 of “House”. (Baz just put on “I am Legend” as I’m typing (no, it’s not a bootleg – well, I suppose it is, but not of the shaky camera in the back of a theater variety), and we also picked up a few others that are out at U.S. theaters now, or haven’t even been released yet on disc in the States (maybe I won’t have to miss seeing “Cloverfield” afterall!).

After that, we trekked around a bit more, and I made Baz and Jasmin pose with me for a couple of pictures (I took a slew today, but mostly of buildings and some of the insanely beautiful architecture in the heart of the city). From there, we hailed out first cab (just like in NYC), and made our way back to the neighborhood, which we found out from another teacher is also know as “Little Korea”.

I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like much. I only wish my sorry and brief descriptions could do it justice, but you just simply can’t imagine how incredible and overwhelming everything is. From the people, to the food, to all the sights and sounds, and the all unbelievably cheap prices, for the first time in a very long while, life has becoming exciting again. It’s good to feel alive.

As much as I love and miss you all (and I must say, I do, now - more than ever), I know, without a shadow of a doubt, I finally made a decision that I can be proud of. Ha!! Can you believe that? Jared Vaughan Davis has finally made a good decision, after a long, long, history of making mostly the dumb ones.

Through effort and dignity, can one achieve true happiness?

I hope so.

I believe so.

Even if I don’t know what it is yet, I sense some purpose has finally found me.

Everything is new here. Everything is different. Everything - is beautiful.