Pics from Malaysia

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In the South

We are out of China for a few weeks as students are on break and are enjoying it so much. We always forget how blue the sky can be until we arrive in Malaysia! Although we love China, we do not love the drabness of everything... It's like a constantly gray world.

We are in Malaysia this week. Today, we enjoyed hiking in the rainforest and were able to see a very rare flower that can grow up to 96cm when in full bloom. To get to the forest housing this flower was quite an adventure in itself. Forty-five minutes on the highway, followed by 20 ridiculously crazy minutes in the Land Rover going up a mountain on a mud path. It was the first off-road experience for all of us; and aside form one moment of fear when the back door flew open, we had a great time laughing and bumping around. We had an awesome driver and tour guide, who somehow avoided getting stuck despite the fact that all the other land rovers kept spinning in the mud. The hike was beautiful, and we are thoroughly exhausted now!

Tomorrow we take a bus from this place to another city further north and with a beach. It will be nice to just relax, drink Malaysian coffee, and read books for a few days.

Can't post photos from this location, but we hope to be able to do so soon.

Heading South

Our city has emptied out, as the last university finished exams yesterday. For the first time in months, we rode a very empty bus into the city this morning. Tonight, though, we will join the others in leaving. We fly to Malaysia at 11:30 this evening and arrive tomorrow morning around 5:30am. We are looking forward to time with friends, warm weather, and cheap Indian food!

We'll update when we have Internet access.

We only thought we knew cold...

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We're back from Harbin and enjoyed our trip there. We both really liked St. Sofia Church (a beautiful old Russian Orthodox church from around 1900); of course, the Harbin Ice Festival; and I even learned how to ski (only $10 and still a deal though it was quite a small slope!). It was all very much like a Winter Wonderland.

Thankfully, it was not nearly as cold as it can get this time of year in Harbin. That being said, it was still really cold. I'm not one to layer up or wear long underwear; but this week, I rarely left the hotel without wearing four layers of pants, five layers on top, and multiple pairs of socks, gloves and mittens. But, aside from our hands (which never could get warm), we stayed toasty with all those layers and enjoyed walking around the city. We have posted pictures here (many of which are not our own pictures since our camera is on the fritz).

Here are a few funny things we saw and learned on our first (and probably only trip) to such a cold place:
1. In extremely cold weather, Matt gets little icicles on his eyelashes.
2. And my nose hairs freeze (a very strange sensation and a bit disgusting, but true).
3. Street vendors use refrigeration to keep drinks from freezing. One Coke we bought froze within 10 minutes.
4. Ice cream is still popular at sub-zero temps. No freezers needed.
5. Car exhaust instantly freezes and makes very slick, little ice circles at traffic lights.
6. At those temps, even rivers freeze solid so that you can walk from one side to the other.

We had a great time seeing a new city and hanging out with our friends. But we are glad to be back in the relatively warm temps of Hangzhou!

Dashing through the Snow

The end of this semester is in sight. Senior students have already left school. But most of our students will begin their journey home either next week or the following week, with a few others sticking around for a week of internships before going home. Either way, the campus is already feeling a bit empty, as those who are not already gone, spend their days in the library cramming for exams.

As for us, Matt's last exam is on Monday, with my final exam being on Jan. 14. On the day after that, we are taking off to a city in the northern part of China called Harbin. It is a cold, cold place near the Russian border, and they have an awesome Ice and Snow Festival every year for about a month. I've wanted to visit the festival since before we even thought of coming to China; and being our final winter here, it's my last chance. Matt was not too keen on the idea at first (the high temperature in this place rarely gets above zero degrees Fahrenheit), but it's grown on him. Now we are both looking forward to it, along with our friends with whom we will travel, and some students that we will meet up with while there. Should be pretty cool! (haha)

Click on the photo below to see a slideshow of the Ice Festival on msnbc.com.

Thoughts on Speaking Exams

It may well be possible that teachers hate exam time even more than the students--at least when the exams are speaking exams. You see, students have a 5-minute time of torture on one day of the week in which they have to speak English for a grade. We teachers, however, sit and listen for several hours everyday as student after student talks about the same things, making the same grammar mistakes in, sometimes, incomprehensible speech. And it is cold in those classrooms when you are sitting still for hours on end. If only I'd been as clever as Matt; he is doing his speaking exams at the nice, warm apartment.

OK... Enough complaining. :-)

Hot Pot in the Dorms

Last night, some of Matt's grad students invited us to have dinner with them in the dorms. It was a great time and pretty smart of them. Since student dorms have no heat, cooking "hot pot" keeps the room pretty warm!


Hot pot is a traditional Chinese style of cooking in which you boil some really spicy soup and then drop meat, veggies, and noodles into it to cook. We ate and ate and ate... For two hours we ate, then I had to leave to meet someone else. Matt stayed longer and ate even more.

Penpals

Back in October, I had this great idea that I thought would be so simple...

I gave my students an assignment to write a letter to one of my friends in America. I would grade their grammar and writing style; and, in turn, they would make friends with someone new who could share with them about life, culture, and all kinds of things! It may have been a great idea, but definitely not a simple one!

After finally gathering all the letters from my students, I sent them off to America (half to one city, half to another city). Needless to say, I underestimated the time it takes to get 150 students to write a letter, then to grade them, send them off, have my state-side friends write response letters, then have them all sent back to China again! Yet, finally, after nearly 3 months, I gave the students their return letters from their penpals this week. I have to say that all the headache, the two hours in line at the post office (3 different times), and the hassle of grading was totally worth it! The students were so excited to get letters from these "strangers" in America.

So, thank you to everyone in Knoxville who participated!

Unfortunately, the Cleveland letters got lost in the mail and then returned to me in China. (Aaagh!) So, I am attempting to send them off again very soon. Be on the lookout for them!

The Post-Christmas Post

It's Saturday here; and although our Christmas party that had been planned for students was unfortunately canceled at the last minute, we've really enjoyed the past few days, anyway. On Christmas Eve, we headed into the downtown for a Christmas concert at a local club.

Then, on Friday, we took it easy around here... Made cinnamon rolls, chatted with the families, opened gifts and hung around most of the day. Students dropped in and out to say Merry Christmas and drop off gifts for us (which really should be another blog in itself considering some of the things we received!). We really enjoyed spending the day with them. At about 3pm, some girls came over insisting to help me finish cooking for our 4pm party with our American friends. So, they helped me finish the Christmas cookies! Then on Friday evening, we got together with friends, ate some yummy finger foods and played games. Our Jenga tower reached 36 stories, which according to the box, means we are "real pros"! Then today, we, along with some local friends, headed out into some of poorer areas and workers' dormitories to spread a little Christmas cheer. It was definitely a highlight of the week!

Click here or on the photo above to see more pictures!

Thank you all for keeping my mom in your thoughts this week. She is out of surgery and recovering well. What a great Christmas gift!