tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91269580066021066472024-02-20T01:16:10.830+08:00A Yankee Texan in ChinaA transplanted Texan who is following his dreams on the other side of the world.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-33261193178723272422012-12-31T11:37:00.000+08:002012-12-31T11:42:59.875+08:00It has been a busy fall for me. I started teaching US History and Culture and Human Geography at Suzhou No. 10 High School. I have a great group of kids who are working hard to earn their way into good American universities. But the highlight of the fall was November 5th when I was able to take a week off from work and travel back to Yanji, Jilin to welcome the birth of my daughter Lexi May Sharp.<br />
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Ying has opted to stay in Yanji, where her sisters can help her, till she feels Lexi is strong enough to make the trip to Suzhou. I'm planning on going up to Yanji for the Spring Festival/Chinese New Year celebrations. I'll be returning alone but Ying, Lexi and a sister will be following in about 10 days.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-88083212846138645042012-09-01T08:23:00.000+08:002012-09-01T08:23:02.893+08:00It has been an interesting week for me. On the 28th I flew from Yanji to Kunshan to get ready for my new job in Suzhou. All I can say is thank God for China's high speep rail system. I can go from Kunshan to Suzhou in about 10 minutes. I actually spent more time on the bus and in a taxi than I did on the train. The last few days I have been busy setting up a simplified version of my AP history class for Chinese soplomore students. I'm using a US history book printed in China so the information it has is limited, but the director wants me to go into greate detail, but do it in a way to keep their interest.<br />
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I've also been looking for a place to live, and I must say that Magggie, the head teacher, is a jewel. she has taken time out of her schedule to help me find a place and I value her input, especially when I have to take into consideration that when my wife gets here, we will be dealing with an infant. The vast majority of the places I saw were marginal at best till we were showed an apartment on the 19th floor of a new highrise. If we had to deal with stairs we would have been limited to no higher than the third floor for that reason. But an elevator changes things dramatically, so even though the place was more than I expected, 2600 Yuan ($409.47), the company and school give me 2000 ($314.98) Yuan for housing assiatance so the extra 600 Yuan won't be a hardship. <br />
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We went the the bank to withdraw 13,000 ($2047.74) yuan for the deposit, 2 months rent and the realtor fee. We went to an ATM self service center to withdraw the money and the heat there was stifling. I just wanted to get the money and get out. Since I had to do it and keep track of it in incraments of 2500 Yuan ($393.73). It was hot in the selfserve lost track of ended up withdrawing 15,500 Yuan ($2441.10). In the lon run it was good that I withdrew extra beause as we were sitting in the realtor office I realized I had left my card in the machine. we ran back to the ATM but my card was not there. We called the bank and was able to place a hold on my card and it the last transaction they showed was the money I had withdrawn and the balance was ok. I hoping the machine ate my card and I can get it back. If not I'll just get a new card.<br />
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But, I was able to secure a real nice new apartment and hopefully I'll be getting our stuff from Kunshan soon and be setting up a new home for us and baby.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-41498155416492889272012-05-18T16:49:00.000+08:002012-05-18T17:01:08.398+08:00The Weather is Warm and Again Bellies and Knees Are in Fashion.The days are getting warmer and again the people of China show their fashion prowess in their daily ensembles. On another blog I like to read, <a href="http://lifebehindthewall.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/legs-legs-everywhere/">Life Behind the Wall</a>, Jo Gan talks about women/girls who wear skirts and shorts so short you see their kitty when they bend over.<br />
Not to be outdone, Chinese men have their own unique fashion style of dealing with the heat. I'm talking about the China wide practice of Chinese men rolling up their shirts and pant legs in an effort to beat the heat. It makes no difference where you are in China, be it the Northeast province of Jilin, the cities of Beijing or Shanghai, wherever it gets hot Chinese men will without shame bare their bellies and knees for fashion and comfort.<br />
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<br />Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-3771816252238932092012-05-12T10:52:00.000+08:002012-05-12T10:52:03.896+08:00The pregnancy is progressingFourteen weeks and little things are beginning to change. Ying is slightly more mercurial in her moods, but I continue to take it all in stride.She is also beginning to show a small baby bump. Every now and then I listen at her tummy for a heartbeat, but it is still to faint to hear.<br />
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It looks like I might be transferred to another city soon. The latest information is that I will be transferred to Nantong. Unlike Kunshan, where I am currently the only foreign or resident teacher, Nantong has two other foreign teachers, so I will have somebody to talk to. I called one of the teachers and he and his wife said that the apartment provided was less than desirable, but since it is not that far from us, Ying and I are going to take a train to the city to see if what they say is true or if they are exaggerating. If they are right, we might consider using the allowance to rent another apartment in the area.<br />
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Right now all I can do is sit around and wait for the company to decide what I'm going to do and when we are going to make the move. I just want to get back to work and hopefully repeat the successes I had in Kunshan.<br />
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Until then I'm enjoying a short vacation.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-85052734582170999992012-05-07T19:57:00.000+08:002012-05-07T19:57:21.557+08:00Ying is 12 weeks along. We went for an ultrasound and the baby is @7cm in length. I wish I could post a picture of the scan, but alas that isn't possible right now. If it wasn't real to me before, it certainly is now. No idea about sex, but I'm still hoping for a girl.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-25248677582722038602012-03-30T20:24:00.004+08:002012-03-31T09:34:55.129+08:00Huge life changing events on the horizonThe year of the Dragon and the month of March have been life changing events for Ying and I. It all actually started in January/February during the Chinese New Year holidays. I had a month off from school so we went to Yanji (NE China) to visit family and friends. Once the holidays were ended, I came back to Kunshan for work and Ying stayed in Yanji to spend another 2 weeks with her mother then fly back. While she was there, <u><b>EVERYTHING</b></u> that was supposed to happen did and and on 27 February when she came home, there was the usual celebrating and re-bonding us married couples do after a separation.<br />
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In early March I got an e-mail that home office would be visiting the schools they were contracted with to administer the International (US High School (+AP)) Program to evaluate the teachers and decide who they would offer contracts for the coming school year. I was dreading the day they would drop into Kunshan and observe one of my US History classes. For those who don't know I teach kids who have decided to forgo the China's <i><span style="font-size: small;"><span dir="auto">National Higher Education Entrance Examination</span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"><span dir="auto"> (the <i>Gaokao)</i> needed to qualify for the top Chinese universities and instead apply for universities abroad, usually in the United States. So far three of my students have decided on schools. Winnie, a small quiet girl has selected Miami University- Oxford, Ohio, Sarah, the class leader, has chosen on Ohio State and Mammon, a girl as devilish as her name implies, has decided to go to Univ of Washington. Of the two boys, I think Daniel, a thinker if there ever was one, has expressed a desire to go to Boston University and Frank, a real basketball fan, is torn between Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Ohio State. </span></span><br />
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Then last Saturday (March 25th) Ying notices her "usual monthly visitor" was late so she went to the pharmacy and got "<u><b>THE TEST</b></u>" and sure enough, she's pregnant.<br />
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Initially I was stunned, but then I got excited. After so many years of waiting, I am finally going to be a father. We told family and friends on both sides of the world and all are ecstatic. Since then we discussed different names we liked. The boy's name was easy. My grandfather, my father and I all have a first name that begins with a C and the middle name Edward. I wanted to continue the trend but also wanted to make some changes. I have always liked the name Casey and even used it as my society name in the SCA (although I used the original Gaelic spelling of Cathsasch) and part of my nom de plume on the internet, we decided it was a perfect first name. I wanted to get away from Edward as a middle name but still honor my family. I had learned through my research that I had a Great<span style="font-size: small;"> (to the 8th) grandfather named Enoch</span>, His name would be <i>Casey Enoch Sharp</i>.<br />
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A girl's name was difficult since there were to few girls on both sides of my family and Ying did not want ti give her an actual Chinese name, we decided on a western name that would be easy for the Chinese family members to repeat. We decided we didn't want to follow the C-E trend for her. I could have used the name Casey for her to, but I wanted her to be unique. In the past, I've known many women named Lexi who were outstanding people. Ying wanted her middle name to be Marie or something similar, but I told her my last two ex's initials were L-M-S and I just would not be comfortable seeing those initials for my daughter and not think of them so I suggested Ann. Ying immediately liked it and said it could be easily repeated and if necessary "Chinafied" for the Chinese family members, so if it is a girl, her name will be <i>Lexi Ann Sharp.</i><br />
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Finally if this month wasn't eventful enough I get an e-mail from home office that solely based on excellent feedback from the students, their parents and I guess the woman who is the school liaison for the company my performance as a teacher and not coming to actually observe me in class, offered to renew my contract for next year. Needless to say, I accepted and tomorrow (Saturday) I and the other teachers will be conducting interviews with the students who want to<i> </i>enter the International Program and eventually go to college in the US.<br />
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I'll be trying to remember to make regular reports about our progress as we wait for the blessed event. Until then, Y'all take care.<i> </i>Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-11907985623332049572011-12-02T20:52:00.004+08:002011-12-03T12:42:56.938+08:00Our Thanksgiving dinner in China<span id="goog_1121999589"></span><span id="goog_1121999590"></span>Last Thursday was Thanksgiving, but I had to work, so we decided to celebrate on Friday. Since turkeys are hard to fine in China and it was just us two, we opted for a duck. It came out great. Ying even made her own cream of mushroom soup and fried onions for the green bean casserole. This was our spread.<br />
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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQe3QQZQ0BasA4BHj30OuEWXziSKb5venu_rTBk0Ia0LeN4Mv__kfKGEJLFhVnAmYM1dyffvefKaqEUnKN9e1X6FFBvPfv1esOT_qLDTyunK7J9qhMDSrh7wnGZns6EXNyzU6oFCGFrc/s1600/Green+Bean+Cassarole.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQe3QQZQ0BasA4BHj30OuEWXziSKb5venu_rTBk0Ia0LeN4Mv__kfKGEJLFhVnAmYM1dyffvefKaqEUnKN9e1X6FFBvPfv1esOT_qLDTyunK7J9qhMDSrh7wnGZns6EXNyzU6oFCGFrc/s320/Green+Bean+Cassarole.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Green Bean Casserole</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uJW9w4KK8fZU7UpSPEwjnGByV1Vc4OZrDy0i-ayDCnytFRfVTODn5orHitQ2pZNRXJpj2zMzKrLvT05oiu98tao-Y0cpsaLm6_pVPt9R5tOXQO6p2SsFHzv68tZy8d_mbov_1DgANZU/s1600/Dressing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uJW9w4KK8fZU7UpSPEwjnGByV1Vc4OZrDy0i-ayDCnytFRfVTODn5orHitQ2pZNRXJpj2zMzKrLvT05oiu98tao-Y0cpsaLm6_pVPt9R5tOXQO6p2SsFHzv68tZy8d_mbov_1DgANZU/s320/Dressing.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dressing</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLcTuWeaCR9YlaQr08oRcYQ1UQKpGeefYJjUceTF_qAZTVS6v4bvCKmH6UBk7ER7zCuLrWVKLr0eVvKsRTv74ffzo8bVrct88VPIC4usZ6aalEyPj2DDZ9DVgc_EOCoGYXZUr0TBCbOw/s1600/Sweet+Potatos.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvLcTuWeaCR9YlaQr08oRcYQ1UQKpGeefYJjUceTF_qAZTVS6v4bvCKmH6UBk7ER7zCuLrWVKLr0eVvKsRTv74ffzo8bVrct88VPIC4usZ6aalEyPj2DDZ9DVgc_EOCoGYXZUr0TBCbOw/s320/Sweet+Potatos.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sweet Potatoes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehd_LSJgfFUAytQOpBZ8tKSD06ZXMJhRq_O1JY1D2vCHbKZAjAKqIfJHwloLGJOI_zDCWkm4ks2fPXDehizhKbqpxS56mnhPpGT_lI1WaeKGmbi8Q5a5kQ97aXQuDXDRnGlXnVzVhGq0/s1600/Broccoli.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehd_LSJgfFUAytQOpBZ8tKSD06ZXMJhRq_O1JY1D2vCHbKZAjAKqIfJHwloLGJOI_zDCWkm4ks2fPXDehizhKbqpxS56mnhPpGT_lI1WaeKGmbi8Q5a5kQ97aXQuDXDRnGlXnVzVhGq0/s320/Broccoli.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Broccoli</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xQCr0XiNx9ZcBQEaQgp5f14Z2Nj59sBjG9e3y10JmgKIfjqKqQUMOH01vf5NYESKKkQ_xA6DMptQ5bY60PPdQCG5YET8cB9h-xN8JcR46yrBySQShtztDJ7xoLL4937PO81H43DaEZc/s1600/Mashed+Potatoes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5xQCr0XiNx9ZcBQEaQgp5f14Z2Nj59sBjG9e3y10JmgKIfjqKqQUMOH01vf5NYESKKkQ_xA6DMptQ5bY60PPdQCG5YET8cB9h-xN8JcR46yrBySQShtztDJ7xoLL4937PO81H43DaEZc/s320/Mashed+Potatoes.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> Mashed Potatoes</div><br />
And there ya have it, the Sharp family Thanksgiving meal in Kunshan China. Happy Holidays and I will try to post more during the holidays.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-19251296831783375192011-12-02T20:21:00.000+08:002011-12-02T20:21:41.869+08:00It has been a while....I have been busy with my job and felt I had little to write about, but figured I needed to get on the ball. Ying continues to amaze me in the kitchen. Lately, when I go to the supermarkets I'm looking for bread I can use as buns for hamburgers and hot dogs. Lately there has been some negative publicity on the purity and safety of processed food in China, so Ying has little trust in it. She knows I have been craving burgers, chicken sandwiches and the like, but like her I'm not keen on going to Micky D's or KFC to feed my craving, so she decided to do something about it. <br />
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She looked up a recipe on the internet for hamburger buns and found one from of all people, Paula Deen. Ying loves Paula's recipes and decided to give it a try. It was so easy. this was the result.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqbd6wWwE5a-N3F2962b5kLHwVONPreg57BfbhBH0g-koMkVV4CESK8TAJLSfNON-wCxRWNlIyq7GX6V4NOZ8A7Ew47VHDkhY4z8JAhOBZVEGmNrqNqOkm1K1oRCPYpbWUuqOPnF56TQ/s1600/Homemade+Hamburger+buns3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqbd6wWwE5a-N3F2962b5kLHwVONPreg57BfbhBH0g-koMkVV4CESK8TAJLSfNON-wCxRWNlIyq7GX6V4NOZ8A7Ew47VHDkhY4z8JAhOBZVEGmNrqNqOkm1K1oRCPYpbWUuqOPnF56TQ/s320/Homemade+Hamburger+buns3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfCJTHkt0wOZ17kFnTWk6HcOBhQLxYek01IZbdE_uQyXhu4VlRe4Qg0zWWQ-mPUfnsTM-Vr6dMDmZEKMeryr2gsgX8ulGcGWYNepCP2A37AnfSaGjozDSFCJg5TrV71L-nHpM_TbO6h8/s1600/BUN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfCJTHkt0wOZ17kFnTWk6HcOBhQLxYek01IZbdE_uQyXhu4VlRe4Qg0zWWQ-mPUfnsTM-Vr6dMDmZEKMeryr2gsgX8ulGcGWYNepCP2A37AnfSaGjozDSFCJg5TrV71L-nHpM_TbO6h8/s1600/BUN.jpg" /></a></div>The recipe called for a dozen, but the size was what I would call a White Castle or slider size, but the burger tasted great. Since then she has cut the number down to 8-10 and has gotten a more standard size bun. <br />
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She has also improved on her peanut butter cookies<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfbktZSj-fuWQjPOjR-89J60DiEF3LcYgslSgioWxkA2iyL-1M5zrxjrmAnihrVdVZVBVI1dxiPeIrycIvWhzPTqQD3I9j771P_c7SYuW4ChUb6pqQaFb7HLA9fWm90KRZpK49vUjFNs/s1600/peanut+butter+cookies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfbktZSj-fuWQjPOjR-89J60DiEF3LcYgslSgioWxkA2iyL-1M5zrxjrmAnihrVdVZVBVI1dxiPeIrycIvWhzPTqQD3I9j771P_c7SYuW4ChUb6pqQaFb7HLA9fWm90KRZpK49vUjFNs/s320/peanut+butter+cookies.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
and as hard as it is for me to share with my class, I always do. The kids love them..Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-90159197690156084052011-08-27T19:52:00.000+08:002011-08-27T19:52:51.671+08:00More cooking in the kitchen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>First, instead of going to Hefei after two weeks orientation in Nanjing, I had the chance to go immediately to Kunshan and start teaching now. We have been here for a couple of weeks and Ying likes it. There are trees all over the area, canals criss cross the city, but most of all we have a huge three bedroom apartment all to ourselves. But more on that later. Since we have been here Ying has made all the usual American foods I like, but tonight she decided to try Mexican and make beef fajitas. I'll post the pictures and let you decide if they pass muster.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUPp2ko0Yhgok-0qkhTVGiJDJDAi-IxCAZcshGLJCTWjqh8NECTSHG8Jy7swaTeLhAnvT5efXkiKorRJeMa2Ju-igRcdgauxxUG9aGMsfI7sV7tYOA-F27P_p8jxbLudImIovZceuu0k/s1600/DSCF3913.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUPp2ko0Yhgok-0qkhTVGiJDJDAi-IxCAZcshGLJCTWjqh8NECTSHG8Jy7swaTeLhAnvT5efXkiKorRJeMa2Ju-igRcdgauxxUG9aGMsfI7sV7tYOA-F27P_p8jxbLudImIovZceuu0k/s320/DSCF3913.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Beef w/ green pepper and onion, salsa and tortillas (all home made)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZeEC9v0nqyZ9tVbEkFzwxgKGBBLWq7csW0AJxLXF72srB8d4sQ5BTNUp2t2TCkbrtkOxxdRerFL5zr7ppx_G6aCawW4HP42b8H6Jq17mvFBsjJBBzajmJIeF8eQha1GiswpZd8bMZMJI/s1600/DSCF3915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZeEC9v0nqyZ9tVbEkFzwxgKGBBLWq7csW0AJxLXF72srB8d4sQ5BTNUp2t2TCkbrtkOxxdRerFL5zr7ppx_G6aCawW4HP42b8H6Jq17mvFBsjJBBzajmJIeF8eQha1GiswpZd8bMZMJI/s320/DSCF3915.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The final product (for the record, this ain't your Taco Bell kind fajita--- It tasted wonderful, especially when accompanied with beer)<br />
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Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-59664709597431196012011-08-06T14:09:00.001+08:002011-12-03T12:47:16.970+08:00I was cast in a CCTV movieSoon after we returned from our trip to Hong Kong, a friend of Ying's called and told her that the Chinese TV network, CCTV, was filming a TV movie called "<i>My Home, Chang Bai Mountain</i>" and they needed some foreign faces in a few scenes.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNVZCjuZ7ZHMsciL77Bnn2hCepCE22DPCnWPbH6jeV4xOiJzop-VneqO-uCE6UOZ3XLG5jtRQYs46BlGxUx5sZ1-uBN5l-TibZupgVpKWUdDLqlxuU6U4epDHa-vrGNHejJojOES24lBc/s1600/110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNVZCjuZ7ZHMsciL77Bnn2hCepCE22DPCnWPbH6jeV4xOiJzop-VneqO-uCE6UOZ3XLG5jtRQYs46BlGxUx5sZ1-uBN5l-TibZupgVpKWUdDLqlxuU6U4epDHa-vrGNHejJojOES24lBc/s320/110.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> The friend who got me the role and Ying</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>When we got to the filming I was told that I was cast in a speaking role as a "Mr. Johnson" who was in China to look for some acts to book in the US. In an attempt to save time, unknown to me, they taped my rehearsal with the translator and they liked it so much they decided to use that instead of actually having doing it on camera. They said they would just dub it over some action shots I did in a night club with the male lead, Bai Wei. The last shots were actually at Chang Bai Mountain, which is similar to Crater Lake in Oregon.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjciwuC5kEy74DKpVQmUNxBtqVjBACGb95B7B1GybY5GJnQ_OXVpQiIfJxKiSqM59TV6N_CmxW7OcHERPoPUdCEhEDG5_BtPmqXKl1InhpP1OAcTmkGpPxIUNdA8BkhjZFcDtrjcXyWMc8/s1600/090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjciwuC5kEy74DKpVQmUNxBtqVjBACGb95B7B1GybY5GJnQ_OXVpQiIfJxKiSqM59TV6N_CmxW7OcHERPoPUdCEhEDG5_BtPmqXKl1InhpP1OAcTmkGpPxIUNdA8BkhjZFcDtrjcXyWMc8/s320/090.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPagw0ablXQK3WbD-o1VmBOqrU7UEjiBue40-HFrtJ401Wtc00SHH5ig4YlPjEAh95n7ehoNicI0R-c1NhdPrI-x78X40x6axtLhMQKuOtPIGYkN9_IDLixN5wQxIJWuiMzWyNMMSDTM/s1600/018.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiPagw0ablXQK3WbD-o1VmBOqrU7UEjiBue40-HFrtJ401Wtc00SHH5ig4YlPjEAh95n7ehoNicI0R-c1NhdPrI-x78X40x6axtLhMQKuOtPIGYkN9_IDLixN5wQxIJWuiMzWyNMMSDTM/s320/018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The guy in the white shirt was the producer, Gao Ning and the other is the director (sorry, don't know his name).<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmK1MfZI1ouQeOuSCFd1j4ETFKyg2KR07HtZiZVW-dcJ0144ZNg6EutLuJqc9OIjLEbY-6goA-sn_sY2YO-eIAfgWNQBMu8Vu1LTTfg7TYc4uvR0VHzTL9u3cUFUU-uZLqOTHHxqVsEc/s1600/119.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmK1MfZI1ouQeOuSCFd1j4ETFKyg2KR07HtZiZVW-dcJ0144ZNg6EutLuJqc9OIjLEbY-6goA-sn_sY2YO-eIAfgWNQBMu8Vu1LTTfg7TYc4uvR0VHzTL9u3cUFUU-uZLqOTHHxqVsEc/s320/119.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This is a picture of Ying and me with the lead actors. The man is Bai Wei and the lady is Sun Qian.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrEQSG7c7bMLnzEZXT4cLm_6QygSml5c-MOhQOa9bMjCzmaLg4Dm8cfe0oUpnq89ZhGL9feJLlO0s8anNOjtx6ETyyR2wvva3dH6EUaw7JE8YefvSw_PZePj36P61wj1pAkIyC56qQe8Y/s1600/109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrEQSG7c7bMLnzEZXT4cLm_6QygSml5c-MOhQOa9bMjCzmaLg4Dm8cfe0oUpnq89ZhGL9feJLlO0s8anNOjtx6ETyyR2wvva3dH6EUaw7JE8YefvSw_PZePj36P61wj1pAkIyC56qQe8Y/s320/109.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This is the actress playing our "English speaking tour guide," but because she was having some trouble expressing herself, they asked Ying if she could do a scene and describe the waterfall flowing out of the Chang Bai Mountain lake.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFcGqVj9u_1LQKxovZllP0I_vttBl5trQF8KfcNie9hloW2u7F3vMa8K5mZNCsiiiqKUXEOK0pFgd7y_5qemhQmFI1PjzuQpqqkaLv7nU358wxCBhhTSkDSD4cOsEoltbCO_jhsALumc/s1600/035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFcGqVj9u_1LQKxovZllP0I_vttBl5trQF8KfcNie9hloW2u7F3vMa8K5mZNCsiiiqKUXEOK0pFgd7y_5qemhQmFI1PjzuQpqqkaLv7nU358wxCBhhTSkDSD4cOsEoltbCO_jhsALumc/s320/035.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>These are some Russians who appeared with us...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgppvMKqe0uaJBgbSAZHdfuiAocbrdTsoIBrpPgUlefoi27L5v4M40u3z8zR2JiaaXiEbjM6YyWId7CvR7WpNL_Oui2n45nXpNBPao6VCzL65M-_t6deElebFBQK4FubwP-uBwZHxRZiz0/s1600/106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgppvMKqe0uaJBgbSAZHdfuiAocbrdTsoIBrpPgUlefoi27L5v4M40u3z8zR2JiaaXiEbjM6YyWId7CvR7WpNL_Oui2n45nXpNBPao6VCzL65M-_t6deElebFBQK4FubwP-uBwZHxRZiz0/s320/106.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9DiY-5FBc5AJmwqNY27Uj8_Uf3sHrcmDA3Qq1CioD8VlsL0oHFGyXlOlOBBEb7kBkQm8wA0xNCY-1wpcy3O9Fvc-CS_6oeX5FuVPxGm0D4E1wbWC9IFfu1gqbUrcgkbd-DYsoD4hzj8/s1600/104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9DiY-5FBc5AJmwqNY27Uj8_Uf3sHrcmDA3Qq1CioD8VlsL0oHFGyXlOlOBBEb7kBkQm8wA0xNCY-1wpcy3O9Fvc-CS_6oeX5FuVPxGm0D4E1wbWC9IFfu1gqbUrcgkbd-DYsoD4hzj8/s320/104.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyli7nudiB_4MhlgG7ACFpui66gQcvh7eLkPkuzzJebaDouK17-P8L5Z9bJx1JMIsGZESuDTWmnhfJcI1T8lHUQTAWAXyQUvKFSvQYym-u-N_Y2R04ghGauj78GQQyytsPOEWk46vXY2Y/s1600/016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyli7nudiB_4MhlgG7ACFpui66gQcvh7eLkPkuzzJebaDouK17-P8L5Z9bJx1JMIsGZESuDTWmnhfJcI1T8lHUQTAWAXyQUvKFSvQYym-u-N_Y2R04ghGauj78GQQyytsPOEWk46vXY2Y/s320/016.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm not sure as to when it will be broadcast, but I'm looking forward to seeing it when it does.</div>Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-33415944574680462932011-06-20T15:11:00.000+08:002011-06-20T15:11:03.668+08:00No Seven Year Itch Just Yet<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>ZH-CN</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/> <w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> <w:Word11KerningPairs/> <w:CachedColBalance/> <w:UseFELayout/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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</style> <![endif]--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">In June 2004 I made my first foray to China to meet a woman named Ying, a woman I barely knew, having no idea what to expect and it was the same for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had met on Asianfriendfinder (AFF) early 2003 after I had gone through a divorce (my second) from a loveless marriage and moving from Portland, Oregon to Kerrville, Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like me, Ying had gone through her own divorce from a loveless marriage of her own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was on AFF because I was curious about Asian women and she was there to improve her English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What started as innocent conversation soon became deeper and we started talking about the “M” word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we talked my curiosity became even more intense, so when I mentioned the possibility of coming to China, she invited me to her home without a moment’s hesitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because she knew the hassles of domestic air travel in China for foreigners, she decided to meet me in Beijing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon my arrival in Beijing, I had hardly stepped of out customs when this tiny woman practically flew over the velvet rope separating the customs area from the terminal at large into my arms. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was love at first sight for both of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next day, June 23<sup>rd</sup> happened to be my birthday so we went to see the Great Wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From there we took a train to Changchun where on June 24<sup>th</sup>, where we married, and I have never looked back.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Since that day I have read many articles, blogs and comments of how to make a marriage to a Chinese woman work, but most articles usually talk about the woman in the relationship and very few are about the man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to dwell on some of the things that have made my marriage to Ying so enduring.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>LISTENING</u>:</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is by far the most important thing you need in a marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we were single we only had ourselves to answer to, but once you get married, you need to get over the “I have my own ideas” attitude and start thinking “What does my spouse think?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is one of the hardest things a person can do, but when you think that your foreign spouse might have a different perspective on a subject it might behoove you to listen, they might surprise you with their insight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the same token your spouse needs to understand that they also need to listen to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more important to you both is learning the art of compromise, when you give a little and they give a little, you’ll find an agreement somewhere in the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may not be the most optimum decision, but these days few things are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I listen to everything Ying tells me, I discuss my thoughts with her and together we usually make the right decision. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>RESPECT:</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if you were to marry somebody from your own country, there will be differences in opinion, religion, politics and a whole host of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marrying somebody from another country you the religious differences may be even greater, but it also introduces differences in culture, food and sociological mores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The same is true with Ying and me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a very devout Buddhist who prays and reads every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though I am not the church going type, I still adhere to my Christian upbringing, but if you look under the veneer of the individual practices you will see that the basic philosophy of all religions has the same golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where cultural differences are more apparent, it is sometimes even harder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us early on have done or said something that while it is acceptable in your culture is a big <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NONO</b> in your spouse’s and vice versa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in situations like this where listening again is important in understanding the feelings of your spouse and will help them understand you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the occasions you visit your spouse’s country, the pressure of trying to avoid committing those social faux pas which are usually more embarrassing to your spouse than you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Respect can also be the little things you do, especially without being asked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if your spouse is from a culture where gender roles are clearly defined you have no idea how a simple gesture, especially when it is a man doing something like washing the dishes, cooking a meal, cleaning the house, taking out the trash and others simple tasks will not only show your respect to your spouse, but earn theirs as well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Another part of respect is being able to change a habit if it bothers your spouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some habits are difficult to change in the best of circumstances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we first married I was a smoker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never thought much of it because both of her parent, most of the men in her family and her nearly all of her friend’s husbands smoked, but it bothered Ying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a year or so, Ying flat out asked, begged and pleaded with me to stop, because she wanted me around for a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The look in her eyes so overwhelmed me that I agreed and immediately stopped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was difficult at first but the joy in her eyes as I stayed smoke free was all I needed to keep going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When friends asked me why and I told them because she asked me to, I know I have earned their respect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When asked if I am ever tempted to smoke again I admit I am but then when I think of the disappointment Ying will feel if I did would make me feel so guilty, that I would rather be stabbed in the heart than suffer Ying’s disappointment</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>HUMOR:</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is nothing more important or more difficult, especially if one of the spouses is a foreigner, than humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are still times when after making a joke I need to stop and explain it to Ying, but instead of getting frustrated, the description itself becomes the basis of even more humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both realized that part of love was being able to laugh at one another and at one's self.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few years ago Ying and I went to Branson, MO for a short holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we were thee we went to see Yakov Smirnoff, the Russian comic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most don’t realize that Yakov has a master’s degree in “positive psychology” and between times he is on the stage making jokes, he teaches at Missouri State and Drury Universities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his show he mentions how humor can make a marriage better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tells of a couple in their 80’s that’ve been very happily married for over sixty-five years. When he asked the wife what made their marriage happy, she replied, “Every day, for sixty-five years, no matter how bad things seemed, he always made me laugh.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he asked the husband what he thought made their marriage happy, simply replied, “She laughs.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">And that is a huge part in mine and Ying’s marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are times when I screw up so badly that Ying is beside herself in anger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When that happens she sometimes says things that can be rather hurtful or insulting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I might get angry myself, but I hold my tongue and generally keep quiet, after which I get the silent treatment for about 30 minutes or so. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When times like this first arose between us, she told me she knew I was angry but was wondering why I kept quiet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My usual response was either, “I’m already so deep in a hole, I don’t want to dig myself any deeper,” or “I’m already in the doghouse, I don’t want to stay any longer than I have to.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she heard that for the first time, she started laughing so hard she forgot what she was mad about, but was still able to apologize for losing her temper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She then asked me, “Am I such a female tiger, that you are afraid of me?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No,” I replied, “You are not a female tiger, you’re a dragon, and yes I am afraid… I’m afraid of losing your respect.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We still have our disagreements, but I still make her and she still laughs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">When we have dinner with friends and guests, Ying gets asked (in Chinese of course) what is like to be married to me she usually tells them to watch this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She will turn to me and in a loud voice say “BOY!” Now when she does that I know what is going on so I usually answer is my most sheepish little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar voice, “<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yes dear?</span>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What are you doing?” “<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nothing.</span>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Why did you do that?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<span style="font-size: 8.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t know. Just because.</span>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By now our friends are laughing at us, we are laughing with them and we all feel good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even now after seven years we still pull little pranks on one another just to keep the laughs going.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>BEING ABLE TO APOLOGIZE:</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of people are afraid to apologize, as if admitting you are human is a mortal sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Asian culture saving face is of the most importance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when things are going completely wrong it will be completely ignored because to admit otherwise would be a blow to one’s prestige, reputation and social standing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seem to have the idea that if they remain aloof of the whole thing the failure would not be blamed on them but others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kicker is that these same people who screwed up in the first place will be allowed to continue to operate because there is “an understanding” between the parties involved, where everyone at the top always benefit while those below them pay the price for their mistakes.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Even among westerners there is a reluctance to admitting your own fault if the blame can be shifted to another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in marriage it is just the two of you and when you screw up, your spouse knows immediately what you did and you know that they know. There is nothing wrong with owning up to mistakes and there are very few situations where an “I’m sorry,” “I apologize,” “forgive me” or an “I forgive you” wouldn’t work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that the willingness to admit your mistakes, apologize and ask forgiveness will enhance your spouse’s respect for you and in turn their acceptance will increase your respect for them. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>SHOWING AFFECTION:</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some spouses come from a culture where public displays of affection (PDA) is frowned upon if not outlawed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in the west where PDA is not discouraged there are some displays that are considered inappropriate, but holding hands, kissing and walking arm in arm is ok.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you are visiting your spouse’s home country and walking in public, it is always best to follow their lead as to what is acceptable and whet is not, but when you are home alone of among family and friends, don’t be afraid of hiding the affection you have for your spouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I show my affections in many different ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we walk we usually hold hands or walk arm in arm. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we aren’t holding hands and some have something like a tree or other object between us I like to interject some humor by saying “bread and butter.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Ying decides she wants to go to a beauty salon and I decide to go home, we will kiss and say see you later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At home I like to surprise her with a kiss on the cheek, a hug, a back scratch, a snuggle or just a simple touch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing I always do whether we are alone or have visitors, is after a meal, I always say thank you and give her a kiss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we first married we met one of her girlfriends and after seeing me either holding Ying’s hand, putting my arm around her, giving her a peck on the cheek or doing any one of the many things newlyweds tend to do she said, “I’m jealous.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since then it has become a running joke between the three of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hug or kiss Ying and she says “I’m still jealous” after which we all have a laugh.</div><div class="MsoNormal">These are just a few of the things that I think have made our marriage work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the bottom line is that I love my wife with all my heart, there is nothing I would not do if she asked me to and I know I can expect the same (within reason) from her.</div>Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-60505035761106636522011-06-12T23:26:00.003+08:002011-06-12T23:40:53.565+08:00Model shootEarly Saturday (June 11th), my wife got a call from her brother asking us if we wanted to go to the nearby Yanji Mao'er Mountain Park with him and some friends. At first I was reluctant, but then I figured that a morning walk in the flora and fauna would do me some good. Since I have been out with her brother and his friends before, I knew they was an avid shutterbugs with an expensive digital SLR camera. I usually felt indequate with my el cheapo digital camera, but I was happy with the pictures I took. Imagine my surprise when I found out that these photographers were from the local TV station, newspaper and magazines. But what really surprised me was when I learned that the fauna was to include these beauties, three fashion models.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYJ01t1hjcXXejE8XUAdbJnsFF8wq98YlZWxmZ-tGUApL8dqhUd09Y_5XbY6iWEwg9BTmK54SKaXu1JaG6_lHh5EQ4cIIdnKhCjlpsZQ9pmcoi3XcwPjlfPKKnYaHEHkmsiNVy66QkxA/s1600/Three+fashion+models+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYJ01t1hjcXXejE8XUAdbJnsFF8wq98YlZWxmZ-tGUApL8dqhUd09Y_5XbY6iWEwg9BTmK54SKaXu1JaG6_lHh5EQ4cIIdnKhCjlpsZQ9pmcoi3XcwPjlfPKKnYaHEHkmsiNVy66QkxA/s320/Three+fashion+models+1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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These girls were drop dead gorgeous and I had a great time taking pictures. I think this one was the cutest...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdGO9W2m3JzRV2a4uj67ANoTqJ_ph7Ss8WknyQwXd7CpVp3-kQfyiaLDDw0KSMSJuFFVHvQ9E3mKXksFLTOWYrZZIEi57HNJduJHVSiVMnUBK3zLU40ftuVNyxfxv763QkEuGdrkaVbE/s1600/pink+model+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdGO9W2m3JzRV2a4uj67ANoTqJ_ph7Ss8WknyQwXd7CpVp3-kQfyiaLDDw0KSMSJuFFVHvQ9E3mKXksFLTOWYrZZIEi57HNJduJHVSiVMnUBK3zLU40ftuVNyxfxv763QkEuGdrkaVbE/s320/pink+model+5.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6gLNVon8NW9YxD-pZL-FzUYvsaik9PPtw5zusfe1BLFLoBcqiuhzahF9FxImI6az178O87PonoLo2wXyjY0DPFCLEmeRryv80SEvgW08kMxyJN4yjF4iGUw03gKdJwcEbvT9MwKdB64/s1600/pink+model+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz6gLNVon8NW9YxD-pZL-FzUYvsaik9PPtw5zusfe1BLFLoBcqiuhzahF9FxImI6az178O87PonoLo2wXyjY0DPFCLEmeRryv80SEvgW08kMxyJN4yjF4iGUw03gKdJwcEbvT9MwKdB64/s320/pink+model+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bk0z97UA8QZXThj0FLPZ1USECjsuWm2tBJ5iCRM7emTN0BfuI0iQCxx542mmsVrnaN7noHbjQVmpsUnl8ZJ6iob5hwUIRjlOTmnIUEspeFHwgREE82Vzbl7n9NN8ZTsSvKsR6sr6LNo/s1600/pb+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bk0z97UA8QZXThj0FLPZ1USECjsuWm2tBJ5iCRM7emTN0BfuI0iQCxx542mmsVrnaN7noHbjQVmpsUnl8ZJ6iob5hwUIRjlOTmnIUEspeFHwgREE82Vzbl7n9NN8ZTsSvKsR6sr6LNo/s320/pb+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I was also able to get some candid shots I knew the professionals did didn't<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoX3rrQW6zF2ksXyPf-P8Q394jLCSL4V4Dh8Pa4gHqoEma2VrkQwBbIlSAkQ-iBUMHu380CYpbuYe-pDuOxI7ll5_jaSRAswSyoFHSzVM7fQh4KMrHKeMkiO_mjejHaJ7LcbKKkYI0A1Y/s1600/pb+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoX3rrQW6zF2ksXyPf-P8Q394jLCSL4V4Dh8Pa4gHqoEma2VrkQwBbIlSAkQ-iBUMHu380CYpbuYe-pDuOxI7ll5_jaSRAswSyoFHSzVM7fQh4KMrHKeMkiO_mjejHaJ7LcbKKkYI0A1Y/s320/pb+5.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>While the other girl was getting her shots she was standing next to me and I was able to get this shot...<br />
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This next girl had a look of innocence about her...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFUNUBGBqbt105vPmXK2RgGVTF1mGqb1EmesLg1oGl2esEUa-Sw3VkWOUO1TWuOVp1Af8GryqczsjewstVCusvYpUNMKFrXX_8-hkJ66Z2TYpaeJw-_0rGOsISyncIWD5ulji1SJekD8/s1600/purp+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFUNUBGBqbt105vPmXK2RgGVTF1mGqb1EmesLg1oGl2esEUa-Sw3VkWOUO1TWuOVp1Af8GryqczsjewstVCusvYpUNMKFrXX_8-hkJ66Z2TYpaeJw-_0rGOsISyncIWD5ulji1SJekD8/s320/purp+7.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1xi-03jhUh0m0LOUHoursIc4zn_1YpVATZENGK0zancFfX0HMHYCWuiV2YmrqVms1axjSlSGOl0v6x1j4Yt7vrQbhdfXrFkjSin7QoejwdC9CcV0zdUQgCo54fckz0d1G5hTNt6o-VY/s1600/purp+8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1xi-03jhUh0m0LOUHoursIc4zn_1YpVATZENGK0zancFfX0HMHYCWuiV2YmrqVms1axjSlSGOl0v6x1j4Yt7vrQbhdfXrFkjSin7QoejwdC9CcV0zdUQgCo54fckz0d1G5hTNt6o-VY/s320/purp+8.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The last girl had to be my favorite... she just had that wholesome girl next door/farmgirl look.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8n0nIx6a52ZICzSo9q-mt6wEn-TEeAuXBbcjISr9PP2iqayolJawrhp8FQS0DqwXlOxobo_sCFQuqnSwRqhTcmHKsXw404rvxahIhqAdR5Lwu_G3LaBESrcpjoeQPZ8WBP-gZIVfy4HY/s1600/w+30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8n0nIx6a52ZICzSo9q-mt6wEn-TEeAuXBbcjISr9PP2iqayolJawrhp8FQS0DqwXlOxobo_sCFQuqnSwRqhTcmHKsXw404rvxahIhqAdR5Lwu_G3LaBESrcpjoeQPZ8WBP-gZIVfy4HY/s320/w+30.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>All in all it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning. I am hoping to get another chance and this time I;ll make sure I have extra batteries for more great pictures.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-26113310640155480052011-06-02T19:25:00.000+08:002011-06-02T19:25:23.640+08:00Baking in the KitchenWhen she was living in the US my wife Ying learned the secrets to baking. Her pizzas and breads were nothing short of amazing. When we came to China, one of our first purchases was a small counter top oven large enough to hold a 13 inch round pizza pan.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://premium1.uploadit.org/Caseyorourke//Countertop-oven-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://premium1.uploadit.org/Caseyorourke//Countertop-oven-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> Today, as she has done many a time before, she made a dough, which I assumed meant she was going to bake some bread. As my students were leaving, she called m into the kitchen asking me how it was supposed to fit in the pan. As I walked in I stopped in disbelief.<br />
"Is this what I think it is?"<br />
"Yes, how are they supposed to fit?"<br />
Imagine my surprise to see before me, of all things...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://premium1.uploadit.org/Caseyorourke//003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://premium1.uploadit.org/Caseyorourke//003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><u><b> CINNAMON ROLLS</b></u><b>!!!!!!!!</b><br />
I showed her how they were to lay flat in the pan, which she let rise for @45 minutes before baking them for 30 minutes at 350 F (@175 C). Thirty-five minutes later She was pulling out of the oven this...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://premium1.uploadit.org/Caseyorourke//005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://premium1.uploadit.org/Caseyorourke//005.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><b> </b>They were perfectly baked inside and out. The centers were hot, soft and gooey goodness. Cinnabon, eat your heart out. I was in heaven. I ate two fresh out of the oven and was reliving my childhood. I forced myself to save a few for breakfast in the morning, but the rest disappeared before you could say in your best Andy Griffith voice....Mmmm Mmmmm Good!<b></b>Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-59485847463390224922011-05-10T17:56:00.000+08:002011-05-10T18:16:01.339+08:00Chinese Holidays in Need of Festive MakeoverI recently read this article while visiting Shanghai. It really made me appreciate and miss the fun we had in our workplace, which made me more determined to try to bring these 'holidays' into my classes and share the festivities with my students. <br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15pt; margin: 11.25pt 0in; mso-outline-level: 1; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Chinese holidays need a festive makeover </span></b></div><div style="background: white; border-bottom: #c50a0c 1pt solid; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #C50A0C .75pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding-bottom: 2pt; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid #C50A0C .75pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 2.0pt 0in; padding-bottom: 0in; padding-left: 0in; padding-right: 0in; padding-top: 0in;"><span style="color: #999999; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">By Eric Fish-- Global Times, March 17, 2011 </span></div></div><div align="left"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="background: white; mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 80px;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; padding-bottom: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-top: 0.75pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZMpWy2nAIKoZd3QCzDYDOYzKjVyQdTpZYjQa2wW5iD1O3q8Vn2-9RxfxOO1Pk6Vt1zh7vdZxMX0LpiDBe70y0_cm-PqSUYi7H3iH4gdMz2CCf2G3zgOhnAYxQNbj8l39YkvD8oc9wM0/s1600/Chinese+holidays.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318px" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZMpWy2nAIKoZd3QCzDYDOYzKjVyQdTpZYjQa2wW5iD1O3q8Vn2-9RxfxOO1Pk6Vt1zh7vdZxMX0LpiDBe70y0_cm-PqSUYi7H3iH4gdMz2CCf2G3zgOhnAYxQNbj8l39YkvD8oc9wM0/s320/Chinese+holidays.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-no-proof: yes;"><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype></span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></span></div></td></tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: #f0f0f0; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: #f0f0f0; border-top: #f0f0f0; padding-bottom: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-top: 0.75pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: grey; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">[ByLiu Rui/GlobalTimes]</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 0in 12pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">On Thursday [March 17th], People all over the world will avoid being pinched by donning their tackiest green clothing and hitting the bars with friends to drink pints of Guinness. Some who are feeling especially lucky might exclaim to the opposite sex, "Kiss me. I'm Irish!"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">St. Patrick's Day is the quintessential Western holiday. What would otherwise be just another forgettable saint's day honoring a Catholic missionary has become an international excuse to drunkenly dress and act stupid with friends.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The customs might be a bit silly and even perpetuate a few Irish stereotypes, but for one day each year, a country of just 6 million people gets almost uniformly positive attention from around the globe. On March 17, everyone is Irish.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">St. Patrick's Day and other internationally successful holidays like Valentine's Day, Halloween, and Christmas draw an unfortunate contrast to their Chinese counterparts. While Chinese festivals are very old, symbolic and meaningful, there's one thing they simply aren't: festive.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Dragon Boat Festival, for instance, is pretty trivial if you don't have access to an expensive racing boat. Tomb-Sweeping Day is exactly what it sounds like, so not really an occasion to be merry. Mid-Autumn Festival has the exchange of moon cakes and the hanging of floating lanterns, but that's hardly anything to get excited about.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The Spring Festival is China's most pervasive holiday, but major customs include humdrum activities like cleaning the house and giving out hongbao (gift money in red envelops). Wearing red and shooting fireworks is festive, but so far hasn't been unique enough to grab much international attention outside cities with high Chinese populations.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Holidays that are successful internationally tend to have multiple customs which are fun, colorful and easily exportable. They give people an excuse to show off their creativity and draw closer to their community, all by acting a little goofy together for just one day.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">Halloween is arguably the perfect such holiday. People of all ages creatively fashion colorful costumes, adults party with friends, and children go trick-or-treating among neighbors. Everyone has a great time and comes closer as a community.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">In recent years China has watched some of these Western celebrations start to overshadow homegrown ones among its people. This in part prompted the government to amend the national holiday scheme in 2008 to give workers the day off to celebrate traditional Chinese festivals.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">But many prevailing international festivals aren't public holidays in the countries they're most celebrated in; and this has actually helped to popularize them.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">Part of the fun of St. Patrick's Day, for example, is to show off festive clothing at work and have themed staff parties.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">If Chinese festivals ever hope to stay competitive at home and abroad, they need to add a little flavor.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">If Lei Feng, a national soldier icon in 1960s, could be depoliticized, his holiday encouraging people to do good deeds has potential. So long as those good deeds could include buying drinks for friends.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">Or there's the little-known Spirit Festival, when people burn fake money and make offerings to their ancestors. Maybe this could go a step further in honoring ancestors by wearing traditional clothing they might have worn in the past. This would be fun and easily adaptable to the culture of any country.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">These are just a few poorly thought out ideas, but it wouldn't be hard to initiate some new customs to jazz up an existing festival. The tradition of watching the CCTV New Year's Gala with family during the Spring Festival is practiced by over 700 million people each year, and it just began in 1983. So is the tradition of complaining about how bad it was this year.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">If China hopes for more soft power and cultural influence abroad, current initiatives like Confucius Institute and PR videos are one route. But an eventful Chinese holiday everyone can enjoy would probably do more to endear China to the world.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">With 1.3 billion people reaching out to every corner of the globe, there's no reason why a Chinese-born celebration shouldn't be internationally recognized. China should follow Ireland's example and give the world a holiday it can relish.</span></div><div style="background: white; line-height: 170%; margin: 0in 2.25pt 14pt;"><em><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;">The author is a master's candidate of Global Business Journalism at Tsinghua University. His blog: sinostand.com. ericfish85@gmail.com</span></em><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 170%;"></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-86530509323199996262011-05-06T13:37:00.000+08:002011-05-06T13:38:56.624+08:00China's new drunk driving laws now in effectEvidently May 1st new drunk driving laws went into effect in China. Prior to that drunk driving was seen as a civil offense or misconduct with a revocation of a drivers license up to three years. Now it is a criminal offense with revocation of up to five years and the possibility of a lifetime ban. It also appears that police are enforcing it because recently, Wednesday night, Ying and I went out with some of her girlfriends to celebrate the daughter of one who was selected for a masters program at the NE Normal University in Changchung. One of the women who drove to the restaurant called her husband to come get the car so she would not have to leave it. Yesterday (Thursday) our nephew was visiting us when my wife's brother called to say he had a few to many beers and asked my nephew to come and drive him home. In the past both of them would have driven home and not thought twice about it. <br />
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A Chinese newspaper even went so far as to show the first person detained under the new drunk driving laws. He may have a grin now, but I doubt he had it the next day. I especially liked his response when the police asked him if he had been drinking, "I did, just a little." It reminds me so much of responses I've heard in the states...."Honest Ossifer, (burb) I only had two drinks, honest (burb)." <br />
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<a href="http://english.caing.com/2011-05-04/100255532.html">http://english.caing.com/2011-05-04/100255532.html</a>Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-25697849016322368762011-05-01T10:10:00.000+08:002011-05-01T10:14:43.273+08:00Watching a sad sight...Today is May 1st, which is a holiday here in China, but right now I don't feel to festive. I saw something that makes me question how efficient emergency services are here in China. The street we live on is a major street here in Yanji which while busy, the traffic is not heavy. About a block from us is an intersection with the main east/west artery from the city center. The traffic on this street is always busy, but the majority of vehicles are either taxis or small busses. Now crossing the streets here in Yanji is sometimes a bit of an adventure because drivers don't readily yield to pedestrians even if you are in the crosswalk. If a driver wants to make a left hand turn and their is oncoming traffic or people crossing, as far as the drivers are concerned, its "DAMN THE TORPEDOS, FULL SPEED AHEAD." But the bus drivers are in a class all their own. When they are in the inside lane, anywhere from half a block to closer to the intersection, their stop is just to the other side of it and if the light has or is about to change to red, they have this nasty little habit of pulling into the oncoming lane, blow through the intersection to get to their stop with no consideration of what might be coming. Many a time I have been crossing the street only to be stopped short as a bus honks its horn a split second before it cuts me off.<br />
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Today this practice if it hasn't seriously injured him, may have killed a man. As I was looking out our apartment window at the intersection I saw a group of people standing in it. As they moved I noticed a motorcycle on its side, an empty bus stopped just past it, then finally a person lying on the street. I immediately knew the bus had run a red light and hit him. As I watched the person and the motorcycle was surrounded by people as a shield while taxis and just weaved their way around and between them. About 15 minutes later the police finally showed up, but other than taking some pictures but didn't do anything to control the trafffic that was continuing to move in and around the accident scene or appear to render any aid of any sort. The ambulance didn't show until 35 minutes later and even then they didn't seem to be much in a hurry, which leads me to believe they guy may had been killed. Less than 15 minutes later the motorcycle was picked up, debris swept away and now the intersection looks like nothing has happened.<br />
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Even though I have been driving for over 40 years, incidents like this scare the bejabbers out of me and just reinforces my decision to not drive in Chinese cities.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-59036597463893963932011-04-30T13:26:00.000+08:002011-04-30T13:26:58.572+08:00Rejoining the workforceSince we came came to China last September, I have not been working per se, but I have been tutoring children of various ages in my home. While the work is rewarding, I get bored between classes. It also happens that my wife is getting tired of the city she grew up in (Yanji) despite the large number of family and friends she has here (she had gotten spoiled, living in Texas), so we decided I would apply for a regular teaching position. The thing is, if the position you was interested is filled, recruiters try to offer you other positions that are not necessarily to your liking. <br />
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One thing most jobs had in common was that the pay was usually low and the area was not to our liking. There was a few cases where the pay and area was ok, but the interview left me cold. Most times it was because the "English Teacher or School Principal" who hired me language skills were so bad that I either did not understand them or made me wonder as to how good the school was. I imagine I have torqued off a few recruiters who went through all the trouble of submitting my information to the school, convincing them I am worth their time, getting me the interview, having the school say they will hire me, only to lose their fee because I said in some cases not only no, but HELL NO!<br />
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I finally accepted a position that offered good pay (10,000 RMB/month) and I'll be teaching US History, English Literature and English type classes in regular Chinese Chinese high schools where the students have decided to forgo the Chinese college placement tests in favor of taking the placement tests for an American university. <br />
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What made this school different was that the recruiter was an employee of the same people I would be working for, his English was excellent during the initial interview. He also told me that I would be interviewed by a history teacher the next day. Lo and behold, the teacher I was talking to was another American. We had a short discussion about teaching methods, then he asked me my opinon about a disagreement he was having with a Chinese US history teacher about the policies of President Woodrow Wilson. Soon afterward the recruiter told me that he would be submitting my name with a recommendation to approve to the head of the school. My wife and I wanted to go to Shanghai/Nanjing area because she has friends there, but we will end up instead in Shijianghuang (south of Beijing) at their No. 2 High School. Since then, my wife has talked to a friend there and they tell her that this school is the top school in the city. She is still afraid that the city would be similar to Yanji, only bigger, but she knows how much this job means to me, so she will make the best of it. I told her that if I do my time here and if we decide to stay another year, I can see if I can transfer to Nanjing, to which she said ok. I am so looking forward to this new job and overjoyed I will actually be working in my major with a little English, I hope, on the side.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-30484038315297044552011-04-17T09:38:00.000+08:002011-04-17T09:38:39.420+08:00Wife's BirthdayYesterday (April 16th) was Ying's (my wife) birthday. We went to her parents house in Helong to celebrate. Needless to say, whenever we go there to eat, they put out an amazing spread of food. Ying, her sisters and nieces all get together and make lots of dumplings. Along with the dumplings they also have other foods which I thoughly enjoy. Needless to say, I was so full from the huge lunch that Ying and I did not need supper or much of a breakfast this morning. Ying made some flour tortillas, scrambled some eggs with tomato, onion, bell pepper and homemade salsa for breakfast tacos. It made me feel like we were back home in Texas.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9126958006602106647.post-64400016158952588092011-04-14T14:52:00.000+08:002011-04-14T14:52:56.600+08:00About time I started...I've been in China for the last six months and figured it was high time I began to write about living and working here. Last month Ying my NBCNUSC (Native Born Chinese Naturalized US Citizen) wife and I went back to the US for vacation (22 March-7 April). Part of the reason we went was to introduce Ying to realitives from my mother's side of the family. Another was to visit family friends in Kerrville, Texas and visit their daughter, whom Ying cared for (she has ALS), but the main reason was to find the Sharp Family Cemetary in central Missouri. My father passed away just before Christmas 2005 in Texas and my mother passed away February this year (2011) in Arizona. Both were creameted, but their wishes were to have their ashes interred in their headstones in Missouri. My brother who also lived in Arizona (appointed my mother's guardian (she had Alzheimers)) had control of the ashes of both mom and dad. Since neither me or my brothers had not been there since we were children we did not remember where it was. My younger brother who lived in Oregon decided he would instead put their ashes in a memorial garden in his yard. I however decided to make it a personal quest to find it. I researched the information I had on the family and based on descriptions had a rough idea where it was. I looked it up on Google Earth but the detail was not such that I could pin it down exactly. I had planned on stopping in Missouri on our way from Illinois to Texas, but the weather was cold and snowing so I decided to hit it on the way back, which we did. Once in Rolla, Missouri Ying and I drove out to the area to look for it, but with a child's memory I could not find it, so we headed back to town to visit the funeral home that my family used, but the people there now couldn't help me so as a last resort I decided to go to the county courthouse. The receptionist there told me that she knew a person who was an expert on local cemeteries. Dorthy James and Ruth Adair were such great helps, They determined the cemetary was just over the county line in Maries county. and found the map of its location. I plotted it on my GPS and Ying and I went to find it. As were getting closer I realized my plot was a little off. I got to a location that I knew was past it so I decided to return and make a copy of the map. On the way back I was driving slower with one eye on my GPS and the other on the road when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw the headstones. I suddenly blurted out, "There it is!" Ying asked me how I knew and I told her it was because of the headstones. She was skeptical till she went into the cemetary and saw that most of the headstones had the Sharp surnane. As we were taking pictures of the markers, Ying reminded me that this was "Tomb Sweeping Day" in China, so it was appropriate that we found it that day instead of a week earlier.Carlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14922831822947197503noreply@blogger.com4