Hey bay bay...hey bebe...hey Beibei

Tower of Freedom

Next! In China, that is the equivalent to the same value card being consecutively laid in Egyptian rat slap. China has no concept of lines. Yes they will be formed, but unregulated, similar to a first grade line if the teacher was blind. I experienced this at the Chongqing Medical Traveler's Center under the tutelage of Mr. Tian. Somehow he managed to get us checked and out of the building that was near its maximum capacity in less than an hour and a half. After the outstanding condition of my vitals were verified, Kassy and I boarded our first Chinese bus alone to go meet our buddies in Ja Fong Bei, the heart of Chongqing. If you've ever traveled with me, you will know that things do typically do not go as swimmingly as for Sun Yang. Unfortunately for us, the last stop of the bus was not our desired destination. So we had to hop off and pray we were close. Sensing our distress, a 19 year old boy named Jackson came to our aid and told us through fragmented English that he was also looking to visit the heart of the city and asked if we would like to follow him as he asked various people for directions. After walking about a mile, he took us to the Tower of Freedom. (Chongqing, a brief history- Was at one point the capital of China because its foggy consistency provided great camouflage from Japanese bombers. Once the war was over, the tower was erected in the heart of the city to celebrate China's independence from Japanese tyranny.) Even though we have only spent about 15 minutes with Jackson, we talk to him nearly everyday. Our favorite message came after Kassy told him that she was from Montana. He replied, "I'm delighted to hear you are from Montana, the treasure state mountainous region Gold and silver yellowstone national park rocky mountain. I like America very much, America is developed, advanced and beautiful country. I hope China keep perfect friendship and combination with America forever."

We tried to spend the first night in Chongqing in a hostel, but it was completely full. So we explored the city during the day and took a bus to the Beibei campus to experience some Chinese nightlife. Beibei is the main Southwest University campus and is much larger than Rongchang. It has as many students as the U of M(innesota). The people in Beibei are just as nice but are little more westernized (which means not as many gawkers). The next day was filled with fun, adventure, and headaches from the previous night.

Just as countries south of the border partake in mid afternoon siestas, China has a 2 hour shouxi (show-she) break between 1-3. Part of the reason is because of the heat, the other reason is that people to not want to tan. Unlike America, incredibly pale skin is perceived as a sign of remarkable beauty. China is 100% team Edward (twilight series). After a feast of a lunch, we decided to play some table tennis and plow right through the shouxi hour even though the temperature would have issued a heat advisory. Despite my HHP (Human Health and Performance) 122 Ping Pong class experience, I was throttled by a Chinese student named Will. After words/afterwards we went out to experience a Chongqing styled meal called hot pot. Basically, you can order anything under the sun to put it in a large pot of boiling hot oil placed in the middle of the table. It was the hottest meal I've ever consumed, thermally and spice wise. One negative thing about China that drives you completely nuts, is that beverages are always served at an irritating luke warm temperature whether its beer or tea. On this particular occasion, the room temp pepsi was no remedy for the hallucinogenic effect the food was having on me. All in all the meal was delicious, it just needed a costco size tub of ranch to come with it and a bottle of peptobismal.

We got back to Rongchang the next day through a free one hour shuttle ride that runs between the two University campuses every Thursday and Friday. Otherwise we would have had to taken a 4 hour bus ride. It was a terrific trip filled with many laughs and stories. This concludes part one of a Tale of Two Cities. Part two will consist of some great stories from our home town Rongchang.
  

Gettin' into trouble with Thomas Joyce and John Murray

I now have Internet on my laptop so I can skype when ever. Also I'm planning on having some of my students practice writing English by emailing friends in America, if you would like to receive a message or make a friend from across the world please send me your email address at 15inabucket@gmail.com. If I know your first and last name and you went to the University of Montana, your probably going to get an email anyway. Furthermore, a fellow teacher Thomas Joyce, the man who updates my blogs for me also has one himself at www.thomasinchinar.blogspot.com. His is much more informative, accurate, frequent, and gramatically korrect.