It's Saturday and it's a work day. Alas the price for 8 days off is 7 days on. Thank you Chinese government holiday bureau, you're real sweet to me sometimes. My second Chinese New Year found me with Sarah, her husband, mother, and, of course, sweet baby Ian. My Chinese nephew is too cute for words, usually strange throaty sounds made through a smile seem to sum it up better. I brought him two books from the US: The Lorax and The Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss. Sarah says she reads them everyday! Dr. Seuss was and remains a big favorite of mine--I used his books in Nepal to teach our students. Of course to continue being the good Uncle/college counselor I am, the hongbao (red envelop) I gave him was hopefully a small gift towards education. That, and a stuffed animal snake as it is officially the year of the snake. Whew! I survived the year of the snake.
I entered the New Year with Lynette watching fireworks from our apartment. We watched Freedom Writers, a dangerous film for someone with 4.5 months left in a position to watch. I saw it for the first time on my 18th birthday with very patient friends. I like the story and to be reminded it just takes one person to care for change to occur. Though movies tend to not have enough time to show how hard that change is generate.
Another thing on my mind is Lizzy Plapinger '10. She was in my electronic music class also with Max. She owned a record label in college, Neon Gold, that did well by producing just one song from an artist and making a limited run. So I was caught by surprise when I learned she and Max have teamed up for a band: MS MR. I've posted their new music video on too many people's walls, but whatever, it's so good, called "Fantasy". Check them out!!! Lizzy inspires me to go out for something big too. She's worked really hard and I think will continue to have much success.
So after a few days chilling in Chengdu, reworking some music, and being useless, I flew to Harbin, a northern province above Korea. It was cold which is a vast understatement. It was maybe -14, -15 degrees C (6-8 degrees F) as the high! And I spent many evenings outside after the sun was down (which happens around 5:00PM). Of course Chicago gets that cold, but not for months on end. Due to the cold, much of Harbin is covered under ice. Snow falls, people walk on it, friction melts it, and then it freezes--well that's my explanation, that or Chinese are spitting everywhere and that's the ice. Regardless of why, walking around was fun. I managed to never fall all the way, but black ice was hard to miss.
So--why fly to this remote area? Oh, right, it's not remote because it's China and there are 10 million people there! AND--Harbin's SNOW AND ICE FESTIVAL. Every year around town ice and snow sculptures are made, the locals way to celebrate the descent into Siberian winter I guess. Three parks with steep entrance fees showcased some of the best work. The Snow and Ice main park contained ice sculptures that were at least 4 stories high. And many ice building were climbable to the third story where slides awaited for easy transport down. If you ever go, be sure to bring rain-pants as they make sliding down a fun ride.
I explored much of Harbin with Victor, an American from Beijing who's on his second working trip to China, and two Scottish girls: Susan and Sam. Sam is teaching English in Suzhou, near Shanghai while her sister and mother were visiting from Scotland. Meeting good company in a hostel is one of my favorite parts of traveling and why it can be so much fun to go alone. Besides, who wants to drink alone in an ice bar?
In addition to the parks featuring frozen water, there was also a Siberian tiger reserve. A Chinese reserve, so more like a big zoo. Even one of the signs on the way there translated the Chinese into "zoo". It was wonderful to see the tigers up close, but disheartening to see some of them in small cages. Lincoln Park zoo's cages looked huge in comparison, but zoos are always a little sad. The open habitats were large, but we bussed through it which was again, really cool, but yeah...just strange for a project that's trying to release the tigers into the wild. And then, you could buy a live chicken and throw it into the cage! Crazy! Crazier still, I watched a blue truck drop a goat in a big habitat. The goat looked terrified but the kind tigers quickly alleviated it of any worry. Thank goodness I think tigers are awesome and care little for goats. I saw one lion in a small cage as well, and of course, a few ligers. We joked that the lion was Aslan from Narnia, imprisoned in his cage.
Of course, if Aslan was imprisoned, then the white queen is in power. Judging by the freezing temperatures and ice palace like buildings, I saw this was the case. So Narnia looks good frozen. The last attraction to speak of was the river. With the cold temperatures, it freezes and ice slides from the town rush down onto the surface. Bumper cars, ice bikes (wheels with skates), go karts, ice skating, horse and carriage, and even a taxi cab were scattered around. It was too much fun and our whole company became 5 years old again. Victor and I crossed the river and I decided to take a funny picture by removing my shirts. It was SO COLD and I lasted maybe two minutes. Finally the sun set providing some wonderful photography over the icy river--not too bad for Valentine's Day on ice.
I feel in love on Valentine's day with the coolest music player ever. Looking like a phonograph it could play records, CDs, DVDs, and had a USB input for iPod. Only $2,000 US but Victor and I spent way to long enjoying it's beauty and sound quality. It was a sad moment to leave it and yes, the idea of buying it and shipping home crossed our minds.
I got home safe and brought back a Russian flask and a minor cold. It was good to travel again. Sometimes I forget I can do this. And guess what? People thought my Chinese was good? HA! Not even close to the truth, but I guess confidence can go a long way.
Cheers
I entered the New Year with Lynette watching fireworks from our apartment. We watched Freedom Writers, a dangerous film for someone with 4.5 months left in a position to watch. I saw it for the first time on my 18th birthday with very patient friends. I like the story and to be reminded it just takes one person to care for change to occur. Though movies tend to not have enough time to show how hard that change is generate.
Another thing on my mind is Lizzy Plapinger '10. She was in my electronic music class also with Max. She owned a record label in college, Neon Gold, that did well by producing just one song from an artist and making a limited run. So I was caught by surprise when I learned she and Max have teamed up for a band: MS MR. I've posted their new music video on too many people's walls, but whatever, it's so good, called "Fantasy". Check them out!!! Lizzy inspires me to go out for something big too. She's worked really hard and I think will continue to have much success.
So after a few days chilling in Chengdu, reworking some music, and being useless, I flew to Harbin, a northern province above Korea. It was cold which is a vast understatement. It was maybe -14, -15 degrees C (6-8 degrees F) as the high! And I spent many evenings outside after the sun was down (which happens around 5:00PM). Of course Chicago gets that cold, but not for months on end. Due to the cold, much of Harbin is covered under ice. Snow falls, people walk on it, friction melts it, and then it freezes--well that's my explanation, that or Chinese are spitting everywhere and that's the ice. Regardless of why, walking around was fun. I managed to never fall all the way, but black ice was hard to miss.
So--why fly to this remote area? Oh, right, it's not remote because it's China and there are 10 million people there! AND--Harbin's SNOW AND ICE FESTIVAL. Every year around town ice and snow sculptures are made, the locals way to celebrate the descent into Siberian winter I guess. Three parks with steep entrance fees showcased some of the best work. The Snow and Ice main park contained ice sculptures that were at least 4 stories high. And many ice building were climbable to the third story where slides awaited for easy transport down. If you ever go, be sure to bring rain-pants as they make sliding down a fun ride.
I explored much of Harbin with Victor, an American from Beijing who's on his second working trip to China, and two Scottish girls: Susan and Sam. Sam is teaching English in Suzhou, near Shanghai while her sister and mother were visiting from Scotland. Meeting good company in a hostel is one of my favorite parts of traveling and why it can be so much fun to go alone. Besides, who wants to drink alone in an ice bar?
In addition to the parks featuring frozen water, there was also a Siberian tiger reserve. A Chinese reserve, so more like a big zoo. Even one of the signs on the way there translated the Chinese into "zoo". It was wonderful to see the tigers up close, but disheartening to see some of them in small cages. Lincoln Park zoo's cages looked huge in comparison, but zoos are always a little sad. The open habitats were large, but we bussed through it which was again, really cool, but yeah...just strange for a project that's trying to release the tigers into the wild. And then, you could buy a live chicken and throw it into the cage! Crazy! Crazier still, I watched a blue truck drop a goat in a big habitat. The goat looked terrified but the kind tigers quickly alleviated it of any worry. Thank goodness I think tigers are awesome and care little for goats. I saw one lion in a small cage as well, and of course, a few ligers. We joked that the lion was Aslan from Narnia, imprisoned in his cage.
Of course, if Aslan was imprisoned, then the white queen is in power. Judging by the freezing temperatures and ice palace like buildings, I saw this was the case. So Narnia looks good frozen. The last attraction to speak of was the river. With the cold temperatures, it freezes and ice slides from the town rush down onto the surface. Bumper cars, ice bikes (wheels with skates), go karts, ice skating, horse and carriage, and even a taxi cab were scattered around. It was too much fun and our whole company became 5 years old again. Victor and I crossed the river and I decided to take a funny picture by removing my shirts. It was SO COLD and I lasted maybe two minutes. Finally the sun set providing some wonderful photography over the icy river--not too bad for Valentine's Day on ice.
I feel in love on Valentine's day with the coolest music player ever. Looking like a phonograph it could play records, CDs, DVDs, and had a USB input for iPod. Only $2,000 US but Victor and I spent way to long enjoying it's beauty and sound quality. It was a sad moment to leave it and yes, the idea of buying it and shipping home crossed our minds.
I got home safe and brought back a Russian flask and a minor cold. It was good to travel again. Sometimes I forget I can do this. And guess what? People thought my Chinese was good? HA! Not even close to the truth, but I guess confidence can go a long way.
Cheers
