Daniel Burt is Awesome.

I don't have internet where I'm living. But Daniel Burt is awesome (see title). He just got new awesome fast internet at work and is letting me use it! So if I'm a little slow on communication and returning emails, it's not because I don't love you, I just can't get to you. :)

Manna from Heaven!!

So, I don't have a job. I have bills, but no job. I have a house, only because I have awesome friends. But I'm not too worried. Yes, I know I moved back to the States in the middle of an economic crisis. God is bigger than an economic crisis, and He does provide!

I'm now staying at Josh and Justin's house, and with that awesome privilege comes so many perks! The biggest perk being that I reap the rewards from their awesome dumpstering.

The other night Josh called and said he needed help because he couldn't fit all the goods in his car! Justin and I came and put what we could in my car. There was so much food! And good food, already in boxes! 22 boxes!! We unloaded and put away and froze and stored 22 boxes of food! And I don't mean small boxes. We're talking fruit, bread, meat, vegetables...everything! That means I never have to go to the store again if I don't want to! What an amazing blessing. Food provided.

Happy Chinese New Year!!

So how did I spend my New Year? Beth invited a ton of people over and we cooked Chinese food! Most of it turned out pretty good. Then we played with sparklers (in lieu of firecrackers in a stairwell), played Rock Band (since we didn't have karaoke), and some people even played mahjiang. There were a few ex-China people there so it was a fun reunion.

Happy Year of the Ox!

Moved

I'm in Nashville now...
Looking for a job...
Wish me luck!

The end of the world as we know it...

We stayed one more night in Shanghai because we didn't want to go from the boat directly to a plane. And good thing! We thought we'd get to fly business class again because we were on special standby tickets, but sadly the plane was full so it was back to economy where we belong. I only slept three hours the whole way, but for some reason, wasn't entirely miserable. I watched 3 movies, played Bejeweled, watched documentaries and TV shows, even listened to Jem's new CD. Lots to do on a 13 hr flight.

I couldn't help but cry when we took off in Shanghai. I had already said goodbye to Yichang, but to say goodbye to all of China was tough too. For whatever part I've had in changing China even a little, it's changed me much much more.

Some of the most amazing people live half a world away...

Slow Boat to China

We wrapped up our night in Osaka and wanted to go to Spa-World, an 8-floor building of spa delights! But sadly no tattoos allowed, so Brad and I weren't allowed in. :(

So instead we went to another local sento (like an onsen but not from natural hot springs). I forgot to mention my last sento experience. In Kyoto, we went to a local sento where a sweet Japanese lady came to my rescue and helped me save face. At the first public bath we went to, shampoo and soap were provided. I made the mistake of assuming they all did. I had already stripped down and gone into the bath room, wearing nothing but my locker key around my wrist. I sat down at the shower station where I realized there was no soap or shampoo. One of the major parts to a public bath is washing thoroughly before getting into the actual tub/tubs. I looked around not knowing what to do, not wanting to go back out into the main dressing room, naked, to look for shampoo or soap from someone. Meanwhile, a sweet older lady sitting next to me struck up a conversation. It was a little hard for me to sit and have a normal conversation, one naked person to another, but she was so sweet and saved me. She offered me her soap and shampoo, never making me feel like an idiot. Turns out she'd been to New York several times. She told me about her grandchildren and how she comes to the sento everynight to have time to herself. It was pretty amazing. Just one more example of Japanese hospitality. She could have been offended and irritated at the dumb foreigner's attempt at Japanese culture, but instead she did everything she could to make me feel comfortable. Amazing.

So anyway, our last night in Japan, in Osaka, we went to another sento. This was our third one on the trip, and by this time I felt like a pro and was actually able to relax and enjoy it. We went to Lawson's (my favorite part of Japan may have been the awesome convenience stores filled with amazing goodies at all hours), loaded up on junk food, and went back to watch Japanese TV in the hopes of seeing a Japanese games show (sadly we never found one).

The next morning we boarded the Su Zhou Hao, a bit nicer than the first boat and also having more people, and set sail on the slow boat back to China...

Foggy smoggy Shanghai...

Osaka

After the Instant Ramen Museum, we headed back to Osaka to Dotonbori, the food district. Osaka is supposed to be the food capital of Japan and we were out to try takoyaki: octopus balls!















It actually wasn't that bad as long as I didn't look inside. It was like cream of octopus soup with a piece of octopus inside fried in a ball.

Japan: Day Four

With one day in Osaka what should we see? The Instant Ramen Museum of course! Ramen is near and dear to our hearts. I grew up with it, and in China, you can't get away from it! So why not go to the home of ramen?!

We felt a little silly at first, traveling way out of our way to go to a ramen museum when we should probably see more "real" sights in Osaka. But once we got there we were thrilled at our choice and even got to make our own package of ramen!

We got to learn about the history of instant noodles and even watched a short video on how it's made. There's a factory upstairs where you can make your own noodles from start to finish. We didn't have that much time, but we did have time to design our own CupNoodle!















First, you color your own design on the cup, then take it to the factory station where you pick your own flavors and watch it be sealed and shrink-wrapped. Pretty cool. There was even a time line of instant ramen, showing all of the packages and flavors from the 1950s to now!

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is sometimes called Japanese pizza (though it's far from pizza). It's made from cabbage, egg, meat, and special BBQ-like Okonomiyaki sauce. Apparently there are two different kinds of okonomiyaki: Hiroshima style and Osaka style. Well, since we were going to be in both places, we decided to try them both and see which was better.
























Hiroshima wins!
Hiroshima style okonomiyaki has noodles and a tortilla and is more layered than Osaka style. Osaka style is more like a cabbage-cake.

Japan: Day Three

Hiroshima Peace Park

With only one day in Hiroshima the Peace Park was all we really had time for. I think it was worth it. It was beautifully and tastefully done. The museum was geared not at placing blame or bashing one country over another but at promoting peace and advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons. It was very informative and heart-breaking.




The A-Bomb Dome is the only remaining structure from before the bomb.

















This memorial holds the names of all the victims regardless of nationality. And behind is a flame (you can't see) that will not be extinguished until all nuclear weapons are destroyed.






















One thing I was interested in seeing was the Children's Monument and seeing the displays about Sadako. Years ago I read a children's book about Sadako, a little girl who developed leukemia after the bombing. It is said that if you fold 1,000 paper cranes your wish would come true, so she spent most of her time folding paper cranes. Some of her paper cranes were distributed at her funeral. Now at the children's monument, elementary school children have displayed art made from paper cranes in honor of Sadako.

Japan: Day Two

We set out for the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji) which is supposed to be the #1 must-see of Kyoto. We found it without too much difficulty (though nothing is in English!). Right as we were walking into the main gate, it started snowing! My pictures don't do it justice. It was beautiful and perfect. We walked around the grounds for a while but had to get back to the hostel to check out by 11...






















The next big thing we wanted to see was Fushimi-Inari. I love the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, and there's one scene in the movie filmed at this place where the little girl runs through the orange torii to the temple, so we trekked across Kyoto (with all our dongxi) to see it for ourselves! Fushimi-Inari is famous for its torii (gates). From what we've researched on our own (again, nothing was in English) it seems torii were used to separate the holy from the unholy, and the more gates you go through, the more sacred the place. This was also the temple for the fox goddess, and we read that if you weren't careful the fox goddess could get in your body through your fingernails?! There were thousands of torii and it was so cool to walk through them. Everything was so picturesque and...magical...everything I hoped Kyoto would be!

This map shows all of the torii. They go on forever! We didn't walk half of it!






Here's me trying to reinact the scene from the movie...








































After Fushimi-Inari we went to Kiyomizu-dera. As we approached the temple, the sun was starting to set, and it started snowing at the same time! I'd never seen anything like it!





















It started snowing pretty hard, and a sweet shopkeeper gave us umbrellas (so nice!) for free! From the top of the hill we could see Kyoto below (again, pictures don't really do it justice!).



























After this temple we decided to go find our next hostel so we could put our stuff down. Finding it, again, proved impossible. We stopped two ladies who spoke no English, but they were so sweet and ended up calling the hostel for us on their cell phones! Then the hostel lady came and met us to walk us to the hostel (so nice!!).

Our main goal that evening was to go to Gion, the old geisha district, where you can supposedly still see geisha walking from tea house to tea house. We were a little disappointed in Gion. It was mainly just a street of really nice restaurants and tea houses, and since we don't read Japanese or know how it all works, there wasn't much to see. But to our great suprise...we did see one geisha! But we weren't quick enough to get a picture.

Japan: Day One

While I was being patted down and searched in customs, Brad had already met Helpful Japanese Man #1. This man said his job was to just help foreigners who needed help. That was us. He showed us where to get on the subway and pointed us in the right direction. So nice! Our first stop was Arima, a small hot spring area near Kobe. For those of you not familiar with the onsen, it's very Japanese and a must when traveling there! Onsens are natural hot spring baths that you enjoy (men and women separate) in your birthday suit. :) Here is where I was amazed. In China, we are stared at at all times...fully clothed. And I don't even want to imagine what it would be like if we weren't! But in Japan, you can walk around naked in a hot spring bath and no one cares...because everyone is naked! Other than forgetting a towel and having to dry off with a shirt, it was a fairly smooth experience!

Here is me after the first onsen experience, drinking some Arima specialty drink, clean and refreshed for the first time in days.














From Arima we headed to Kyoto, the old capital of Japan. We searched for our hostel (Guesthouse Bola Bola) forever and never would have found it if the nice lady from the convenience store hadn't walked us there (so nice!). Our hostel was a little out of the way, but pretty cool! And the owner was very helpful in getting us where we needed to go.

To Japan: the boat.

We didn't miss the boat the second time. We boarded without difficulty and found out that there weren't many people on the boat, so we didn't have to share our Japanese style room with 16 people like we thought! The first night the boat was rocking alot, and our room was near the front of the boat so we felt it alot. Both Brad and I felt a little woozy, but thankfully neither of us was sick (others weren't so lucky). We spent the first day on the boat sleeping mostly. I think the grief of leaving Yichang had hit us and expressed itself in absent-mindedness, stupidity, and exhaustion.
The second day on the boat we spent reading and planning our super short excursion to Japan. We arrived in Kobe on the 12th around noon and had to go through some pretty extensive customs and immigration procedures to get into Japan. But we were in, and ready to go!


Leaving Shanghai...on the open sea...then nearing Kobe...

Japan: Impressions

My picture of Japan has changed significantly from the first time I went. This time I traveled over Western Japan instead of just Tokyo, and I'm sure coming from my experiences in China had something to do with it too. If you haven't traveled to either place, you probably think they're pretty similar...an Asian is an Asian, but they couldn't be more different!

In all of this, let me say, of course I love China and in that love I'm comfortable enough to say all the things that drive me crazy about it. :) I don't know that I'd want to live in Japan forever, but in some ways it was such a breath of fresh air!

So coming from China, here were some things that were shockingly refreshing:
-Merchants don't accost you in Japan! No one screams, "Hey, lady lady! Frienda price for you!" They just stand there sweetly, welcoming you to come take a look.
-The Japanese didn't stare at us! No one looked at us at all, and trust me, there were some times when they probably should have!
-No one shouted "Hallo" to us.
-The taxi drivers were classy! And the taxis had (and used) seat belts! And the taxi doors opened and closed automatically!
-I've never met a friendlier, more hospitable group of people. If we even looked confused people stopped to help us, and not only did they offer help, they would physically take us to wherever we were trying to go so we wouldn't get lost!
-It was so quiet! No one was yelling on cell phones or screaming and haggling over prices!
-People formed lines!
-People were busy and rushing everywhere, but there was no pushing or shoving. Everything was so orderly!

This bowing, respectful culture was really fascinating to me this time around. I'd like to be able to spend more time there. But for now, I'm Stateside and probably not headed to the other side of the world again anytime soon.

Pictures and specific tales to come!

Dao le.

Well, I've arrived in America. I'm in Orlando now, sleeping and catching up on communication. No certain plans of yet, but Nashville is in the near future!

We Made It!

We got to the airport yesterday only to find MaryBeth and Jennifer stranded in the airport! All the flights were yet again delayed. But at least we had great company! Our flight ended up leaving a few hours late but we made it to Shanghai last night. Oh, and they didn't charge us for our extra bags or question our huge carry-ons!

I had reserved a room in the airport hotel (so I thought) through a site on the internet. Turns out I booked the wrong one at a different address so we thought we'd get charged for not canceling early enough. They didn't charge us! Woohoo!

Our hotel is awesome. It's the Motel 168 in the Pudong Airport. If you ever need to spend a night at the airport, this is the place. It's so much swankier than any of the roach motels we usually stay at. :)

So now I guess it's a day walking around Shanghai, then catching the boat tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Zai Jian!

This afternoon we're supposed to leave Yichang...for the second time. And now we've heard there are delays. But hopefully no cancellations. Yichang just can't let go of us. And how can we?

I took a walk around my corner of the world this morning, took some pictures, trying to take it all in. And as I sit here, firecrackers are going off in the middle of the day. Must be a wedding. Or a funeral. Or a kid who found firecrackers.

So will I miss that?
Will I miss split pant babies peeing on the sidewalk?
Or being surrounded by thousands of people who can't control the volume of their voices?
Being pushed by scrappy old ladies and being given the "foreign" price?
Not understanding what's being said most of the time and communicating like a three-year-old?
Being told to drink more hot water and wear more clothes?
Being stared at amidst echoes of "waiguoren!"

Yeah, I guess I will.



















Our corner of the world: Yun Lin Lu "Cloud Forest Road"

Japan or Bust!

Well, it looks like might make it to Japan after all! I spent most of today canceling and changing reservations, searching for boats, and rearranging my previously perfect plan. Now it'll be four days on a boat and four days in Japan, but if it kills us we'll go! So wish us luck, and no snow or fog on the 8th when we try to leave Yichang yet again.

Brad and I spent yet another night at the new hot pot buffet. We've been there an embarrassing number of times since they opened a week ago, but we've got to get it while we can!

Unbelievable

Well, yesterday Brad and I said goodbye to Yichang. Some of my favorite people in the world literally wiped the tears from my eyes and watched us drive away. We said goodbye to our little corner of the world where we've lived the most amazing 2 1/2 years ever...

We got to the airport, worried about overweight bags, and saw that our flight was delayed. (Yichang's airport was built in a fog hole. Brilliant.) Meanwhile it started to snow! We waited at the airport for 4 hours to see if it'd be canceled. It was.

This means we missed the boat. Literally. We were supposed to take a boat from Shanghai to Japan this morning. Where am I now? Yichang. My apartment. My bare, foodless apartment! We have spent the last few days cleaning out, throwing away, giving away, everything (EVERYTHING) in our apartments. And now we're back. We've already said goodbye!

So last night we trudged all our junk back to our building. We went to Pizza Hut and watched the snow, half irritated at all that had happened, half thankful for another night in Yichang. So now we're hiding out. We don't want to see anyone we know! We've already said our tearful goodbyes and don't want to have to do that again. (So if you're in Yichang and you read this...don't find us and don't tell anyone we're here! It's just too much.)

Now we're trying to figure out if Japan is still a possibility. The boat schedule is weird and we're not sure if we can work everything out, figuring in our expiring visas and international flight. We were really hoping for a buffer between China and the U.S. Time to process. Time to adjust our minds. One last foreign adventure. (Although I guess getting out of China in itself will be an adventure.)

We are thankful for a few things in all of this.
1) We got to see the Madam again (our landlady) and she told us she loved us, missed us, and that we were best friends. She did everything she could to welcome us back under such ridiculous circumstances. Brad has always said on the last day he was going to kiss her (hand)...its been an ongoing joke. He forgot yesterday in the midst of goodbyes! So now he'll have a second chance. :)
2) Now we can mail back a few things to make sure our luggage is under the weight limit for our international flight.
3) For whatever reason, I had left some towels, shampoo, slippers, etc in my apartment!
4) Yichang is beautiful in the snow.

Saying Goodbye Is Not Awesome

Three goodbyes down. A billion to go. :(
Pack up 2 years. Clean. :(
Japan. :)
America. :)